“It amazed him – he had never been in such a beautiful house before. But what gave it an air of breathless intensity was that Daisy lived there – it was a casual thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him. There was a ripe mystery about it, a hint of bedrooms upstairs more beautiful and cool than other bedrooms, of gay and radiant activities taking place through its corridors and of romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year’s shining motor cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely withered.” (Fitzgerald 155).
This is when Nick is referring to Gatsby’s first visit to Daisy’s house.
Fitzgerald uses imagery effectively so that the reader can picture the house through Gatsby’s eyes. By Gatsby’s tone and impressionistic description, it is evident that he is very amazed with Daisy’s house. He uses words such as “beautiful,” “breathless,” “radiant” and flowers that were “scarcely withered,” to describe Daisy’s house. Gatsby’s intense detail and amazement to her house could perhaps be the underlying inspiration for his extravagant house. His house is also described by Nick as being “colossal,” (Fitzgerald 8), and references many luxuries in his house such as a citrus fruit extracting machine.
This passage also contrasts Gatsby’s and Daisy’s status at that time. Gatsby mentions that Daisy’s house to Daisy was as casual as Gatsby’s tent to him. Daisy lives in a large beautiful house yet she is used to it and does not find it amazing, whereas Gatsby, who is used to poor and simple houses, is bewildered by her house.
It seems as though Gatsby is more amazed and infatuated with Daisy’s wealth and status, than Daisy herself. Throughout the novel, there has not been much reference to Gatsby’s love for Daisy’s personality or looks. Most of the time Gatsby relates Daisy to her status or wealth, for example, he states that “her voice is full of money,” (Fitzgerald 127) or when he says that he was overwhelming aware of “Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor,” (Fitzgerald 157).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find this analysis very interesting. I completely agree that the reason Gatsby is so amazed by Daisy's house is because he's still that poor boy deep down, even though he himself has a beautiful, extravagant house.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't agree that Gatsby was only in love with Daisy for her money and status. I think he truly was in love with her, which is why he went to so much trouble to impress her. I understand why someone might think that Gatsby himself is all about money and status, but I think it's just because Daisy was so absorbed in money and wealth that Gatsby had no other choice but to impress her with materialistic things. :)