·
“But
with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave
that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away,
trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily,
undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room” (134).
Fitzgerald uses
multiple commas in this sentence to effectively display the detachment that
Daisy and Jay are feeling. As
Gatsby finally has the reality that Daisy loves Tom hit him Nick Callaway breaks
apart what is happening piece by piece.
The commas separating the words are used to leave the reader with a
sense of desperation as Daisy and Gatsby move apart, their love forever gone.
·
“And I like large parties. They’re
so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy” (54).
As Jordan Baker is standing
with Nick Callaway at one of Gatsby’s parties, Fitzgerald uses telegraphic
sentences to add emphasis to Jordan’s dialogue. Jordan has just told Nick that she thinks Gatsby killed
someone, but uses the above statement to quickly change the subject. This adds an abrupt tone in the passage
makes the reader not only ponder her statement but also why she changed the
subject, as if she may have had something to hide.
Great examples, I agree that the commas disrupt the sentence, which causes the reader to infer that Gatsby's and Daisy's love is falling apart; good inference and very insigntful commentary. I also chose your second example because it shows Daisy's cluttered mind; she likes large parties because they are so private, which juxtaposes her ideas, creating the sense that Daisy is unstable. Fitzgerald frequently interjects telegraphic sentences to disrupt the reader and emphasize a previous point. I wonder what would happen if Gatsby and Daisy started dating, and Gatsby did not die nd lose the girl he was living for.
ReplyDeleteYour choices of Fitzgerald's syntax is well thought-out. While reading the first example about Daisy and Gatsby in the book, I did not connect that their love was ending, so I commend you for realizing that. It's sometimes hard to see all the author's intricate tie-ins.
ReplyDeleteYou also included a thorough analysis about the syntax in this sentence, which flows nicely and conveys the author's purpose clearly.
I particularily liked Jordan's paradoxical comment in the novel. You correctly analyzed it in depth so well done.