The Great Gatsby Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Page # 113-145

Chapter Summary:

Gatsby changes his normal routine of parties on he weekend and also fires his old servants for new ones so they won’t gossip about him and Daisy being together. Tom, Nick, Daisy, Gatsby, and Jordan all have lunch and drinks on the hottest day of the year at Daisy’s house and Tom begins suspect something more between Gatsby and Daisy fairly quick. Also Gatsby and Nick meet Daisy’s girl for the first time there. Gatsby and Daisy aren’t that sneaky about their love and then the straight shooter that Tom is, puts two and two together about his wife and Gatsby, so to try to diverge the situation, he persists about Daisy’s earlier suggestion to go to town, but they end up going to a hotel instead. Tom insults, confronts, and questions Gatsby about his past, which results in some answers about his job, family, schooling, and Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship being revealed. Then they all leave the hotel angered and there was accident on the road, where we later learn that Daisy hit Myrtle in Gatsby’s car and the chapter ends with Gatsby waiting outside Daisy’s house in the bushes making sure she gets to sleep safe.

Character Analysis: Pammy (Daisy Buchanan’s Daughter)

Quote: “How do you like your mother’s friends?” Daisy turned her head so that she faced Gatsby. “Do think they are pretty?” (Daisy 117)

“Where’s Daddy?” (Pammy 117)

Best Qualities:

She is a shy young girl who wears a white virgin dress. She seems very innocent, and too young to understand the situation. Her best qualities are that, “She doesn’t look like her father…She looks like me. She’s got my hair and my shape of the face.” (Daisy 117) Since she resembles her mother’s beauty, she must be a very pretty young girl who in the future can easily marry a rich man from East Egg like her mother. Her problem is she seems naive and not very disrespectful to the guests, but she is under odd circumstances when she enters the room and she is only a child, so she may have an excuse.

Character Role in Novel:

The child may play a larger role later in the novel deepening the plot of the love between Gatsby and Daisy. When Gatsby met Pammy, “he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don’t think he ever really believed in its existence before.” (Nick 117) In think later in the story when Daisy has to decide between Tom or Gatsby this will be a factor in her decision. Gatsby wants Daisy to forget the last 5 years of her life and just run away with him, but how is a mother going to run away from her own child? Gatsby still hasn’t had the realization that the girl exists and he believes that nothing has happened in the last 5 years for Daisy. Also it is weird though that Daisy is very distant from her child and it seems the nurse that cares for her has a closer relationship to Pammy than her own mother. (117) I think Daisy doesn’t care for Pammy because she is all about the show and has little emotion, or maybe she doesn’t love the child because it is the daughter of Tom. Either way Pammy will deepen the plot and make the decision for Daisy harder in the end of the book in deciding who will she go with.

Meaningful Quote: “On the green Sound, stagnant in the heat, one small sail crawled slowly toward the fresher sea. Gatsby’s eyes followed it momentarily; he raised his hand and pointed across the bay.” (Nick 118)

Significance:

I think this passage is significant because the sail crawling slowly toward the “fresher sea,” represents Gatsby future. I interpreted the lonely white sail is Gatsby and it is gradually moving to “fresher” sea, like Gatsby will have to do if Daisy goes with him or is she stays with Tom. I think the “one” sail is foreshadowing that Daisy will stay with Tom and lonely Gatsby must gradually move on and finally have a “fresher” start after 5 years of slowly “crawling” and waiting. This quote stands out to me because like many things in life you must always learn to move on. Even little things can be hard to break in your routine, but I realized that it is important to always look for a fresh outlook on life, even if you’re up or down. Gatsby’s problem is he is reminiscing too much on the past when he should be thinking about the future. I have learned that when you think about the past it makes you sick or sad, so it is better to move on set sail and start new everyday.