WeatherThe weather in this chapter represents the mood of Gatsby. This is an example of Pathetic Fallacy. When Daisy arrives at Nick's house, it is raining. This reflects Mr. Gatsby's mood in that he is very nervous, awkward, anxious, etc. The sun also shows their love reawakening just as it begins to come out.
"‘It’s stopped raining.’ ‘Has it?’ When he realized what I was talking about, that there were twinkle-bells of sunshine in the room, he smiled like a weather man, like an ecstatic patron of recurrent light, and repeated the news to Daisy. ‘What do you think of that? It’s stopped raining.’ ‘I’m glad, Jay.’ Her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy." |
SYMBOLISMGatsby's RoomIt is said that Gatsby's bedroom is the simplest of all rooms in his house. This room represents his true image. Nobody sees this room, therefore he does not feel the need to hide anything or put on a front of any kind. It is completely genuine and shows who he truly is.
"Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real. Once he nearly toppled down a flight of stairs. His bedroom was the simplest room of all-" (91) The green lightThe green light represents his desire for a relationship with Daisy. The light guides him and gives him hope. This symbol is in many other sections of the book as well, representing a new beginning or a promise.
“You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” Gatsby's English shirtsWhen Gatsby is showing Daisy his house, they stop in his room and he shows her many, many expensive shirts. These shirts represent his wealth.
"He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray." Nick's ClockWhen Gatsby, Nick, and Daisy are sitting in the living room of Nick's home, Gatsby knocks a clock off of the mantle, and catches it. This clock is symbolic of the time he has lost with Daisy and how he is making it up or "catching it", if you will.
"Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in place. Then he sat down, rigidly, his elbow on the arm of the sofa and his chin in his hand." |