IMAGERY

"There was a faint, barely perceptible movement of the water as the fresh flow from one end urged its way toward the drain at the other. With little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly fown the pool. A small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface was enough to disturb its accidental course with accidental burden. The touch of a cluster of leaves revolved it slowly, tracing, like the leg of transit, a thin red circle in the water" (pg 162). When I was reading this paragraph I was so captivated by the realistic imagery. I felt as though I could have almost witnessed this catastrophe. My best friend and I have pools, so I know what it's like for leaves to bunch up if you don't skim frequently. Gatsby had recently been talking about how his pool didn't get much action, so a cluster of leaves is very plausible. I can also relate to the movement of the air mattress up and down the pool. Whenever I lay out on a raft, I don't stay still for a second, unless I'm holding onto something. Therefore, a small gust of wind could easilly disturb the mattress. As for the "thin red circle in the water," I am thoroughly disturbed by that, because I have never witnessed anything like that. However, I imagine it to look like the water you wash your paintbrush off in after you paint a red apple or something.

INTERNAL CONFLICT

"'Oh, you want too much!' she cried to Gatsby. 'I love you now--isn't that enough? I can't help what's past.' She began to sob helplessly. 'I did love him once--but I loved you too'" (pg 132). Daisy is possessed by great internal conflict. She fell in love with Gatsby before he left for war, but she wanted a normal life while he was gone and didn't know if he was ever going to come back. She fell in love with Tom and married him while Gatsby was away. Now that Gatsby has returned back into her life she doesn't know what to do! She knows it would be wrong for her to leave her husband, but he has an affair on the side; therefore, she feels like it is acceptable for her to do the same. That was going over fine for her until Tom starts to realize what is going on, and Gatsby just comes out and tells him that she doesn't love him. I feel like she doesn't know if she loves him or not, because of the bad things that he has done to her in the past, but she still really cares about him, feels a sense of loyalty towards him, and wouldn't want to hurt him. I hate how we don't get closure on their relationship at the end of the novel. I want to know if they end up happy together or if they have more affairs.

ALLUSION

"'I told her she might be able to fool me but she couldn't fool God. I took her to the window'--with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it--'and I said 'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, but you can't fool God!'' Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night" (pg 158).

The way that Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is constantly watching over the novel makes him seem like God. Wilson even goes as far as referring to Eckleburg as God. This allusion makes the novel seem more corrupt in my opinion, because they know that what they are doing is wrong, but the do it anyways under the eyes of God. I think that this is one of the reasons that this novel is so unversal, because we all sin. Most people do things wrong, even though they know they are wrong, and whether they realize that God is watching or not, He is. It also shows that at least some of the people in this novel have a faith. It is never established which denomination, but I think that also makes it universal, because many people can relate to a belief in God. It makes one think about their own lives and how they feel about God watching everything they do.

WHERE IS THE LOVE???

Daisy married Tom while Gatsby was off at war, because she constantly needs someone to be there for her. On the surface, their marriage looks nice and content; however, Tom is cheating on her. Even worse, he is cheating on her with a married woman, Myrtle. Myrtle's husband, George, seems to just accept the affair, as if there is nothing he can do about it. I feel really bad for Daisy in the beginning of the story, because she just puts up with it as well, but later she reunites with Gatsby, and it is obvious that she still loves him. It's sad because two wrongs don't make a right, but what is she supposed to do? Stay with her husband while he cheats on her? Cheat on him back with Gatsby? Or end her relationship with her husband for Gatsby? I would hope that she would pick choice C, but that is probably unrealistic.

SETTING

East Egg and West Egg are so close geographically, yet so far apart when it comes to lifestyle. They are both concerned with material goods and wealth, but the people from East Egg are newly rich. They are constantly trying to impress and show up others. They do not have connections like the people of West Egg do. I think it's strange that Nick lives in East Egg, because he does have connections after attending Yale. However, it is a good thing that he lives in East Egg or he might have never met Gatsby. Gatsby likes to show off his wealth by throwing lavish parties and inviting tons of people that he doesn't know. I think it would be very interesting and fun to attend one of the parties that Gatsby throws.

MEYER WOLFSHEIM

There is something very suspicious about Wolfsheim from the moment he is introduced to this novel. We are informed that he conducts under the counter business. This reminds me of the mafia. When I was reading this, I was thinking, "I wonder how many people he's killed in his life..." My family is Italian, so I've always had an interest in the mafia. Later we find out that he used to bootleg alcohol and that Gatsby was involved with the business. That is part of the reason that Gatsby is so wealthy now. Nick is curious as to whether Gatsby is still involved in the business, because he still has a good relationship with Wolfsheim. I doubt that Gatsby is fully involved anymore, but maybe he does it on the side sometimes when he needs some extra money.

IRONY

For some reason, Nick is strangely intrigued by Gatsby. He spends a lot of time thinking about him before he even knows him. Then, once he meets him, he tries to find out his background and the way that he earns his income. Ironically, this man that Nick is so interested in is in love with his cousin, Daisy. It's funny, because, even though he is related to Daisy and decently close with her, she failed to mention her past with Gatsby. It turns out that the reason he worked so hard all of his life was to win Daisy's attention. Once Gatsby went off to war and came back to find that Daisy had married while he was away, he had a goal to get her back. It just shows how small the world is when such a connection is uncovered in this novel.