Respond to this passage or a part of it:
"...One autumn night, five years before, they had been walking down the street when the leaves were falling, and they came to a place where there were no trees and the sidewalk was white with moonlight. They stopped here and turned toward each other. Now it was a cool night with that mysterious excitement in it which comes at the two changes of the year. The quiet lights in the houses were humming out into the darkness and there was a stir and bustle among the stars. Out of the corner of his eye Gatsby saw that the blocks of the sidewalks really formed a ladder and mounted to a secret place above the trees--he could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder.
His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy's white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" (110-111).
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9 comments:
These capters in 'The Great Gatsby' are really focused on the characterization of Jay Gatsby. He reveals to Nick his previous relationship with Daisy that was cut short because of Daisy's binge that eluded her memories. Gatsby also reveals that now that they are aquaintances, he feels the love for Daisy again and wants to form that intimate relationship again. This description of the 'autumn night, five years before' gives the reader a feel of what a relationship between the two could be. The incredible description of the scene and the feelings express of the 'incarnation being completed' is a fantastic overview of good things to come.
*alex putnam
I feel as though this situation "completed" Gatsby as a person. He had everything a man would want except for true love. At the moment of the kiss, he had accomplished everything. This is represented by a short section of the quote that states,"At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete." Now that Daisy is no longer in his life, it is incomplete once again and he has to capture her love to "complete" his life.
Joe DePalo
I <3333 these quotes! Gatsby is so descriptive when writing his scenes and creates each one to be so visually appealing. The first quote describes the scene with fantastic details, "The quiet lights in the houses were humming out into the darkness and there was a stir and bustle among the stars."
Then, the next paragraph really focuses on Gatsby's feelings toward Daisy, and how she is the "completing" factor in his life. It is interesting to see how much Gatsby cares for Daisy, and the true love he has for her.
-BK
i like this quote because it shows the love and desire Gatsby had for Daisy and how he saw her as the final step in his life. The quote talks about the staircase leading up to the pap of life, I think that characterized his feelings for Daisy. I think the quote reinforces the feelings that Gatsby has for Daisy and he won't ever forget that autumn night, and he still longs to relive that moment.
Eric Wu
i like this quote because it shows the love and desire Gatsby had for Daisy and how he saw her as the final step in his life. The quote talks about the staircase leading up to the pap of life, I think that characterized his feelings for Daisy. I think the quote reinforces the feelings that Gatsby has for Daisy and he won't ever forget that autumn night, and he still longs to relive that moment.
Eric Wu
I liked how the chapter ended with this quote because I feel that it revealed the reason behind Gatsby's ambition. It also was a good way to sum up the entire chapter because the main focus of this chapter (and the one before it) was the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. The second part of this quote shows what Nick meant when he said that he felt that Daisy wouldn't live up to Gatsby's vision of her. When the quote says "He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God," It really shows that even Gatsby knows that Daisy won't live up to his expectations of her and that his mind will never romp again. In other words, once he kisses her, the whole dream bubble "pops" and the reality of her just being a human being instead of the goddess he depicts her as will sink in.
-Scott Hagen
I thought that Joe's quote was only half right. Yes, Gatsby is looking for love from Daisy, but no, he has not "achieved" completion. He still has his work cut out for him becuase there is not way that a person's life is "complete" just from a petty kiss.
Eric Leone
I really like what Scott wrote when he said:
"It really shows that even Gatsby knows that Daisy won't live up to his expectations of her and that his mind will never romp again. In other words, once he kisses her, the whole dream bubble "pops" and the reality of her just being a human being instead of the goddess he depicts her as will sink in."
And I agree with most, but I'm wondering how much of this is what Gatsby told Nick, or what Nick is imagining? A big part of me thinks that Nick is trying to reshape this story and fill in missing pieces by trying to figure out what was going on in Gatsby's mind. Remember, Nick is telling this story after time has passed.
I think this passage shows a great deal about Gatsby and who he is inside. He seems to be really attracted to Daisy and her presence makes him seem that he is madly in love with her. I think that Ms. Coppens has an interesting point about how Nick could be imagining things because the descriptions about the kiss are quite vivid. "At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" (111). Nick makes is seem like without Daisy, Gatsby is no one and she makes him alive. I find Nicks descriptions about the characters very interesting. I also do agree that he could be filling in and reshaping events from the past.
~Maryam Semenov
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