The Tense Tea Turns Tantalizing! (Quotes, symbols, details...)
9 comments:
Anonymous
said...
An apparent change in Gatsby’s demeanor becomes extremely prevalent prior to his meeting Daisy Buchanan for tea. The importance he places on this visit is evident through his concern that all the details are perfect and his anxious state, which contrasts sharply with his characteristic relaxed temperament. How he’s described when he first arrives at Nick’s house captures his anxious state: “He was pale and there were dark signs of sleeplessness under his eyes.” The reader can pretty confidently infer that he has a romantic interest in Daisy, originating from some past experiences together. When Daisy arrives there is a period of time characterized by intense awkwardness. Poor Gatsby, usually characterized by suaveness was struggling to keep his cool. Nick described the atmosphere, saying, “Gatsby, his hands still in his pocket, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom…from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but graceful, on the edge of a stiff chair (86).” This description personally makes me cringe; how Gatsby and Daisy were situated in the room, and the descriptions of their demeanors create an intense feeling of awkwardness that personally made me cringe. However, Gatsby and Nick soon leave the room to prepare tea and Nick tells Gatsby, “You’re acting like a little boy (88)”. Motivated by this comment and seemingly his own wish to win Daisy’s favor, he soon turns the tables and the change in atmosphere is drastic. Following the change the two interact in a romantic manner, and it seems that they have rekindled whatever past they once had together. The new quality is described by Nick’s comment, “They were sitting at either end of the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone”. -:) Carolyn
I think this whole scene is just hilariously awkward. Like when Gatsby starts knocking things off the mantle and then blurts out to the minute when the last time he saw Daisy was. Nick's just like, "um, okay, I'm out of here" and when he returns, voila! Daisy's in tears and love is in the air. I wonder what excatly happened in there. It seems like a new day was born when the rain stopped.
"'We haven't met for many years,' said Daisy, her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be. 'Five years next November.' The automatic quality of Gatsby's answer set us all back least another minute." (87)
........If that's not awkward then I don't know what is.
The rain at this "tea-party" seems to symbolize the awkwardness and the hesitation that Daisy feels. It is raining when she first arrives. Her arrival is most certainly awkward. It stops raining when her and Gatsby are having fun. Once the rain starts again, they no longer share beautiful moments, and in fact sit on opposite ends of the roomwhile listening to Mr. Klipspringer play piano.
You know things are going to be awkward when you have to send someone to mow the host's lawn because you are so nervous. The rain, a perfect-party ruining factor that he cannot control, really sets him over the edge. He wants to leave because she is a few minutes late. When he walks out of the room to talk to Nick, his immature attitude becomes apparent. He has spent his whole life thinking of this image of her, and now that she is here, he does not know what to do. It kind of reminds me of East Of Eden, except that daisy is not a witch. He is in love with what he sees her as, not what she actually is.
"Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes," (86).
This scene foreshadows the encounter that Gatsby has been imagining for years between himself and Daisy. He didn't want the situation to be awkward, but obviously this scene alludes to the awkwardness that will partake in Nick's house between the two. Gatsby believes he is making a terrible mistake by meeting Daisy after so many years of seperation, morever the fact that Daisy is married makes the topic even more difficult to confront. When Gatsby looks at Nick with sad eyes, it symbolizes the lost relationship that he once had with Daisy. This could make the situation even more awkward, if that is possible.
the tea at Nick's house gave a lot more insight into Gatsby's personality and his true emotions. Before he asked Nick to invite Daisy for tea, Gatsby was a cool, calm, nonchalant, seemingly confident man. But once it became apparant how he felt about Daisy, he became a completely different person- a nervous, self-conscious, uncomfortable blubbering fool. Once the tea was underway he was even worse, saying things that embarrassed him and showed explicitly how obsessed Gatsby is and was with Daisy. Examples of this were when he spoke of how he saw the green light coming from her house, and how he instantly remembered how long it had been since they met. Gatsby evolved greatly over the course of the tea, gradually becoming more comfortable, then becoming incredulous to Daisy's presence. Once the group was at Gatsby's house he was certainly a very different person, in Nick's words "he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes"(91). i thought that the occurrance with the shirts was the strangest detail of all that afternoon. I hope Fitzgerald further elaborates on the reasoning behind her actions.
Gatsby was a nervous wreck on the day that Daisy went over to Nick's house for tea. The fact that he wanted Nick's grass to be cut shows that he always needs to have things his way. Gatsby also sent flowers to Nick's house for the get-together. It seems like Gatsby completely takes over Nick's invitation like he is at his house just because he is too shy to invite Daisy over himself. During the tea, Gatsby and Daisy sat on opposite ends of the couch, and they barely had anything to say. There were many awkward silences. It states: "They were sitting at either end of the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air..." (89). I agree with the comment about the rain, because it stopped when Gatsby and Daisy really warmed up to each other.
9 comments:
An apparent change in Gatsby’s demeanor becomes extremely prevalent prior to his meeting Daisy Buchanan for tea. The importance he places on this visit is evident through his concern that all the details are perfect and his anxious state, which contrasts sharply with his characteristic relaxed temperament. How he’s described when he first arrives at Nick’s house captures his anxious state: “He was pale and there were dark signs of sleeplessness under his eyes.” The reader can pretty confidently infer that he has a romantic interest in Daisy, originating from some past experiences together. When Daisy arrives there is a period of time characterized by intense awkwardness. Poor Gatsby, usually characterized by suaveness was struggling to keep his cool. Nick described the atmosphere, saying, “Gatsby, his hands still in his pocket, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom…from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but graceful, on the edge of a stiff chair (86).” This description personally makes me cringe; how Gatsby and Daisy were situated in the room, and the descriptions of their demeanors create an intense feeling of awkwardness that personally made me cringe. However, Gatsby and Nick soon leave the room to prepare tea and Nick tells Gatsby, “You’re acting like a little boy (88)”. Motivated by this comment and seemingly his own wish to win Daisy’s favor, he soon turns the tables and the change in atmosphere is drastic. Following the change the two interact in a romantic manner, and it seems that they have rekindled whatever past they once had together. The new quality is described by Nick’s comment, “They were sitting at either end of the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air, and every vestige of embarrassment was gone”.
-:) Carolyn
I think this whole scene is just hilariously awkward. Like when Gatsby starts knocking things off the mantle and then blurts out to the minute when the last time he saw Daisy was. Nick's just like, "um, okay, I'm out of here" and when he returns, voila! Daisy's in tears and love is in the air. I wonder what excatly happened in there. It seems like a new day was born when the rain stopped.
"'We haven't met for many years,' said Daisy, her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be.
'Five years next November.'
The automatic quality of Gatsby's answer set us all back least another minute." (87)
........If that's not awkward then I don't know what is.
The rain at this "tea-party" seems to symbolize the awkwardness and the hesitation that Daisy feels. It is raining when she first arrives. Her arrival is most certainly awkward. It stops raining when her and Gatsby are having fun. Once the rain starts again, they no longer share beautiful moments, and in fact sit on opposite ends of the roomwhile listening to Mr. Klipspringer play piano.
Jacob Burnstein
You know things are going to be awkward when you have to send someone to mow the host's lawn because you are so nervous. The rain, a perfect-party ruining factor that he cannot control, really sets him over the edge. He wants to leave because she is a few minutes late. When he walks out of the room to talk to Nick, his immature attitude becomes apparent. He has spent his whole life thinking of this image of her, and now that she is here, he does not know what to do. It kind of reminds me of East Of Eden, except that daisy is not a witch. He is in love with what he sees her as, not what she actually is.
- Cameron Duquette
"Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes," (86).
This scene foreshadows the encounter that Gatsby has been imagining for years between himself and Daisy. He didn't want the situation to be awkward, but obviously this scene alludes to the awkwardness that will partake in Nick's house between the two. Gatsby believes he is making a terrible mistake by meeting Daisy after so many years of seperation, morever the fact that Daisy is married makes the topic even more difficult to confront. When Gatsby looks at Nick with sad eyes, it symbolizes the lost relationship that he once had with Daisy. This could make the situation even more awkward, if that is possible.
Eric Leone
the tea at Nick's house gave a lot more insight into Gatsby's personality and his true emotions. Before he asked Nick to invite Daisy for tea, Gatsby was a cool, calm, nonchalant, seemingly confident man. But once it became apparant how he felt about Daisy, he became a completely different person- a nervous, self-conscious, uncomfortable blubbering fool. Once the tea was underway he was even worse, saying things that embarrassed him and showed explicitly how obsessed Gatsby is and was with Daisy. Examples of this were when he spoke of how he saw the green light coming from her house, and how he instantly remembered how long it had been since they met.
Gatsby evolved greatly over the course of the tea, gradually becoming more comfortable, then becoming incredulous to Daisy's presence. Once the group was at Gatsby's house he was certainly a very different person, in Nick's words "he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes"(91).
i thought that the occurrance with the shirts was the strangest detail of all that afternoon. I hope Fitzgerald further elaborates on the reasoning behind her actions.
Gatsby was a nervous wreck on the day that Daisy went over to Nick's house for tea. The fact that he wanted Nick's grass to be cut shows that he always needs to have things his way. Gatsby also sent flowers to Nick's house for the get-together. It seems like Gatsby completely takes over Nick's invitation like he is at his house just because he is too shy to invite Daisy over himself.
During the tea, Gatsby and Daisy sat on opposite ends of the couch, and they barely had anything to say. There were many awkward silences. It states: "They were sitting at either end of the couch, looking at each other as if some question had been asked, or was in the air..." (89). I agree with the comment about the rain, because it stopped when Gatsby and Daisy really warmed up to each other.
- Zenya Molnar
Cameron- You're my hero for your East of Eden connection! You are exactly right!
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