The Great Gatsby

Gatsby: pages 121-132

This section is Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is just awkward from beginning to end!  It starts out with the men trying to be civil with each other, but it escalates to a heated argument at a surprising speed!  The escalation was initiated by Tom when he spat at Gatsby, "'What kind of row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?'" (Fitzgerald, 129).  From that point on, Daisy is caught in the middle of two slightly delusional men.  Gatsby believes she is just as devoted to him as he is to her, and Tom arrogantly insists that Daisy's heart is all his.  "'Your wife doesn't love you...She's never loved you.  She loves me'" (Fitzgerald, 130).  It seems like Gatsby is trying just as hard to convince Daisy of her undying love for him as he is Tom!  Daisy is barely able to say that she never loved her husband, and I think that terrified Gatsby.  For the first time in five years, he is doubting her feelings for him.  This is leading up to the climax of the novel.  Daisy can't go back on what has happened: she has confessed her love for Gatsby, but is reluctant to leave her husband.  She is the one who will have to make the ultimate choice.  I want her to go to Gatsby, but Daisy doesn't seem like much of a risk taker, and staying with Tom wouldn't be that much of a risk.