Chapter+7

This chapter takes place on a very hot day. Nick has just driven to Tom and Daisy's house for lunch. Jay Gatsby and Jordan Baker are there as well. During the visit, Gatsby and Daisy are unable to conceal their love for each other well enough, and Tom is now certain they are seeing each other, making him unstable and combative through the chapter, particularly towards Gatsby. The group then decides to go out for drinks, but Tom and Gatsby battering back and forth ruins it for the rest, so the group decides to go back home. On the way home, Tom, Nick, and Jordan, driving in a different car than Gatsby and Daisy, come across a gruesome accident. Myrtle Wilson has been killed by a speeding automobile. Tom is greatly affected by this event. When Nick goes to tell Gatsby about the incident, he learns that it was Daisy who hit Myrtle. Gatsby, who had been hiding in the bushes across Daisy's house, says he is making sure Tom doesn't hurt Daisy.

**** Unfamiliar Vocabulary: ****
 * __Dilatory__ - tending to delay or procrastinate
 * __Doubtfully__ - of uncertain outcome or result
 * __Relinquished__ - to renounce or surrender

Feminist Perspective:
Daisy has begun seeing Gatsby, showing that she is unfaithful. Since she is the archetype for upper class women in the 20s, this insinuates that many women in the 20s were unfaithful and therefore not to be trusted. Toward the end of the chapter, Tom and Daisy reconcile, proving that women are not only untrustworthy, but fickle, as well.

Marxist Perspective:
Social classes remain divided in chapter seven. A small example of this would be a gas station attendant representing the working class serving Tom who represents the upper class.

Themes:
Passion is the main theme in this chapter. There are Daisy and Nick who no longer can refuse their feelings for each other; Tom who notices the attraction and vows to destroy it; Gatsby who is completely blinded by his love for Daisy that he no longer throws magnificent parties and fires much of his servants. The hot weather described in this chapter only feeds to the "heat of the moment" passion among the characters.

Colors:
Again, Daisy is shown as having a "small white neck." This could be ironic, since she has just had an affair with Gatsby, and now, back in the arms of her husband, is being depicted as innocent.