Friday, November 19, 2010

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 reveals the changes in Gatsby as his affair with Daisy progresses, and the true faces of some of the other characters. Gatsby fires all of his old servants, and replaces them with shady individuals connected to Meyer Wolfshiem to be able to prevent gossip from spreading and keep his relationship secret. He also stops having parties, which were only held to lure Daisy in.

Tom becomes certain that Daisy is cheating on him, and this infuriates him. However, Tom remains calm, since he is aware that Daisy will probably never be willing to leave him, and Tom easily pulls Daisy back to his side. Tom is showed as a sexist hypocrite in this chapter, as he believes that it is tolerable for him to have a highly public affair yet can't stand the idea that Daisy loves another man. Ironically, Wilson, the man Tom was playing around with, telling him that he would sell him a car, yet never actually doing it, suddenly becomes Tom's equal when he finds out his wife too is cheating on him.

In addition to all this, an important difference between Tom and Gatsby and further connections between the story and Fitzgerald's life is exposed. Tom believes that he is superior to Gatsby, since he presumes that he is a moral person with natural social graces and that Gatsby isn't. On the other hand, Gatsby has the decency to keep his affair secret and not cause any embarrassment for others.

Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby while staying in France, where his wife Zelda Sayre cheated on him with a French naval aviator. Perhaps this relationship was what inspired the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. Furthermore, the feelings of Tom and Wilson when they find out that their wives are being unfaithful are most probably reflections of Fitzgerald's real feelings. 

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