The Great Gatsby: Chapters 4-5

(1) “It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard-drinking people.”

The author is making a simple statement about if someone does not drink around people who get drunk easily they will have an advantage over them. By not drinking the person has a clearer mind and can play off any irregularity that might happen in life because the heavy drinkers are to slow to notice. The author is telling the reader if you want an advantage over a lot of people in America do not drink. The fact is America is known for being a society that drinks heavily. Being the person that doesn’t drink you will come out with a great reputation because you could hold your tongue when they couldn’t. (114 words)

(2) “While the rain continued it had seemed like the murmur of their voices, rising and swelling a little now and then with gusts of emotion”

The author uses a metaphor comparing Gatsby and Daisy’s voices to the rain that was falling. When the two first met at Nick’s house they barely spoke to one another like how the rain sounded outside. Gatsby would express some emotion which was awkwardness and nervousness. Their conversation began slowly; however, there were also a few moments of good discussion.  This is what Nick believed to hear when a gust of wind would blow causing the rain to fall harder.  People are often anxious and shy when they first see old acquaintances similar to the discomfort experienced by Gatsby and Daisy.  (103 words)

(3) “Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault”

Gatsby created an unreal expectation of how things would be when he and Daisy meet again. Daisy fell short of his dreams because she did not know of the expectations in his heart; therefore, she had no control of them. This situation made by Fitzgerald is a comparison to how some love is in society today. People find a significant other that they adore and after being apart from them for a certain amount of time, they start to create an unrealistic picture of how life would be when they meet again. That’s the problem with love sometimes people create a fantasy and when it doesn’t become real they are heart broken.  (114 words)

(4) “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”

A man that has closed his heart to something or someone will not let it be challenged by new ideas or anger. People tend to do this in society when they feel what is locked up in their heart is better than the other options given to him. Gatsby does this with Daisy because he shuts out any idea of there being a better girl for him. A grumpy old man is a prime example of how this is displayed in today’s society. The elderly man is angered by someone telling him he needs to sell his house when he knows it will never happen. He maintains a negative attitude because it is easier to cope with disappointment. (119 words)

(5) “I think that voice held him most, with its fluctuating, feverish warmth, because it couldn’t be over-dreamed — that voice was a deathless song.”

The voice of Daisy was warming to Gatsby because her voice could never die in his heart and would play over in his dreams. By hearing her voice he felt those feelings and knew that she was not a dream but actually near him. In life a person has to cherish those voices that make them feel happy and not just the feelings that can be manipulated. Those voices are the only thing that will never die and play over like a song in your head when you need them the most. By Fitzgerald showing the voice creates warmth in a person this is his way of showing what should truly matter to people. (114 words)