SOUNDS+and+SILENCE

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- The horn shows how Gatsby uses material possessions to display his wealth and status. Usually car horns are quite simple but Gatsby's car horn is a 'three noted' horn, showing how he needs to have better things than others, and is unafraid to show off his wealth.
 * **pages** || **students** || **SOUNDS** **w/significance** || **SILENCE w/significance** ||
 * 68-71 || Teresa, Pamela || (68) ‘Gatsby’s gorgeous car lurched up the rocky drive to my door and gave out a burst of melody from its three noted horn’

(69) ‘We hadn’t reached West Egg Village before Gatsby began leaving his elegant sentences unfinished and slapping himself indecisively on the knee… ’ – Before Gatsby tells Nick about his life, Gatsby shows signs of restlessness and nervousness

“Look here, old sport,” he broke out surprisingly. “What’s your opinion of me anyhow?” “Well, I’m going to tell you something about my life,” – Gatsby wanted to clarify the rumors and accusations about him that had been floating around to Nick

‘He hurried the phrase “educated at Oxford,” or swallowed it or choked on it …’ – showing that Gatsby is uncomfortable and most likely hiding something, there is more to his story than he reveals

‘His voice was solemn as if the memory of that sudden extinction of a clan still haunted him.’ (70) When Gatsby tells Nick that his family had died and he inherited a good deal of money, his voice is very solemn and serious. Even though later on in the book this statement is proved untrue, it is as if that when Gatsby took on a new identity, he abandoned his old life, which included his family as well.

‘With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter’ – Nick was skeptical about Gatsby’s claims about his past (71) || ‘I had talked with him perhaps half a dozen times in the past month and found, to my disappointment, that he had little to say.’ – Nick’s first impression of Gatsby is significantly different from the subsequent times he met him. After spending more time with Gatsby, Nick realizes that he is not as great as he had thought him to be. This shows that Gatsby does not live up to the impression he gives others ||

The sound of the rash, loud motorcycle is contrasted with the elegant, quiet Rolls Royce, indicating Nick's view of Gatsby's affluence and position in society.
 * ||  || Sounds || Silence ||
 * 72-75 || Evan, Abhinav || "With fenders spread like wings we scattered light through half Long Island City — only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug — jug — SPAT!” of a motorcycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside." (72)

"As we crossed Blackwell’s Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry." (73) Nick laughs aloud at the sight of three dark-skinned people (and notably compares them to animals-- bucks) while in the car. This could be because he's remembering the book that Tom was talking about at their earlier meeting (about how other races were going to dominate white people very soon. Nick may feel a bit out of place as he never shared his emotion with Gatsby, who was sitting right next to him.

"“I handed the money to Katspaugh and I sid: ‘all right, Katspaugh, don’t pay him a penny till he shuts his mouth.’ He shut it then and there.[...] “I understand you’re looking for a business gonnegtion.””(74-75) Wolfshiem's misuse of the English language characterizes him as uneducated-- probably someone in a business that doesn't necessarily value grammar etc. This, combined with the fact that he apparently fixed the World Series, probably spooks Nick.

"“Did he go?” I asked innocently." (75) Nick's innocence is contrasted with the seedy nature of the man he's meeting. Wolfshiem is probably referring to an event that is related to his underground (probably illegal) work, while Nick doesn't necessarily understand that when he's talking to Wolfshiem. || "He wouldn’t say another word. His correctness grew on him as we neared the city. We passed Port Roosevelt, where there was a glimpse of red-belted ocean-going ships, and sped along a cobbled slum lined with the dark, undeserted saloons of the faded-gilt nineteen-hundreds." (72) The silence indicates Gatsby's awkwardness when he's talking about Daisy. Despite the fact that Nick doesn't even know what meeting he's setting up, Gatsby refuses to elaborate and remains silent. He drops his traditional jovial 'old sport' and other mannerisms that traditionally characterize him. || "the red white and blue banners in front of all the houses stretched out stiff and said tut-tut-tut-tut in a disapporving way."
 * 76-79 || Adrian, Crystal || Adrian (79)

This symbolized how even the flags disapproved of Gatsby's visits to Daisy.

Crystal (76, 77)

"Several years," he answered in a gratified way. Mr. Wolfshiem seems to talk of Gatsby in a pleased manner with appreciation in his voice. Illustrates Gatsby's position among his acquaintances, he is well respected and his peers think very fondly of him. "Don't hurry, Meyer," said Gatsby, without //enthusiasm//. Shows that even though Gatsby is polite and well-mannered on the surface, he does not actually care about many of the people that he associates with. "You're very polite but I belong to another generation," he announced //solemnly//. He responds in a serious manner, which is a large shift from his earlier tone of speaking. || "he fixed the world series?" "how did he happen to do that?" I asked after a minute. This silence showed Nick's uncomfort with the idea that such a massive event could be manipulated by someone Gatsby knew. "...'There's the kind of man you'd like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister.' " He paused. When Mr. Wolfshiem finishes praising Gatsby, he doesn't get a response from Nick until he says 'I see you're looking at my cuff buttons.' In reality Nick wasn't, but the silence and his action shows that he finds little interest in what the other is saying. The whole conversation seems to follow this pattern, not caring too much about what the others are saying. || The noises brought by the four private cars, which carried a hundred people in total to attend Daisy and Tom's wedding. The significant amount of noises produced by the large crowd accompanies the extravagant size of the ceremony.
 * Sound:**
 * 80-83 || Emily, Daisy || 'He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel.' (Pg. 80)

'Take 'em downstairs and five 'em back to whoever they belong to, Tell 'em all Daisy's change' her mine. Say Daisy's change' her mine!' (Pg. 81) Daisy got drunk before the bridal dinner, and was crying and yelling. Where she kept on repeating she has changed her mind about the wedding. Her outburst of emotions is the last struggle before getting over Gatsby.

82-83 (Emily)
 * Sound:**

Jordan's voice: Telling the story of Daisy and Gatsby, Daisy hearing news of Gatsby after years. Jordan's tone seems matter-of-fact or perhaps with extreme etiquette because the story seems to lack emotion, merely bland narration that is only decorated with Daisy's quotes. This amplifies the mood of the actual happenings Jordan is explaining to Nick.

Daisy's unusually drunken tone: Confusion, misery, unhappiness at the thought of marrying Tom Buchanan, trying to tell Jordan to return the pearls Tom had given her.

Jordan's tone: Daisy marries Tom without the complaint witnessed the 'night before'--without so much as a shiver (quiet, no sound, possibly married rather joyfully with no sign of regret or misery)

Daisy's uneasy voice whenever Tom leaves: "where's Tom gone?" and abstracted expression until he returned as well as " looking at him with unfathomable delight" suggests her true unhappiness with Tom yet her desire to cover up this unhappiness and live the conventional life of a married couple.

Jordan continues the story: mention of a "fast crowd" that Daisy and daughter moved along w/ "young, rich and wild" suggests Daisy again trying to cover up her sorrows with materialistic objects. Yet the fact that Daisy does not drink implies that Daisy is still unhappy about her marriage (no celebration, but not trying to make her misery overt by becoming drunk).

Daisy's 'strangest' voice : "What Gatsby?" (in the novel, her previous quote is quite far away, which foreshadows a return to the confused and miserable state she was previously in that has not been witnessed [at least in the story Jordan is telling] for a while).

A shift in tone when Jordan and Nick are speaking to one another: Awkward, uneasy tone between the two also shows a return to reality because the two characters do not usually speak to each other for so long such as Jordan did when she was narrating. Also supports and emphasizes the (**Silence**:) Nick's surprise in Gatsby's request through Jordan's tone of speech (Gatsby had spent 5 years throwing mansion parties just so he could "come over" to a stranger's garden one afternoon) || 80-81 (Daisy) Silence: 'She was effectually prevented, but she wasn't on speaking terms with her family for several weeks.' (Pg. 80) Daisy wasn't on speaking terms with her family because they prevented her from saying goodbye to a soldier who was going overseas. Portrays the anguish Daisy felt towards her family and emphasizes the significance of the soldier. Silence: 'But she didn't say another word.' (Pg. 81) After Daisy witnesses the wet letter falling to pieces, she didn't say another word, representing her silent obedience.
 * Silence:**

apart from the clear voices of little girls: symbolizes a return back to current time, or reality, after Jordan has been telling the story. Draws us back to what is really happening after the anecdote offered. || On page 84, when he is thinking about Jordan, Nick hears a sentence "beating in his ears." This shows how when he is with Jordan, he cannot think as clearly, for example he can distort something rude into something beautiful and gracious. In addition, this beating makes the reader think of a heartbeat, which illustrates Nick's intense excitement and anxiety from being alone with Jordan. On the following page, 85, Jordan murmurs that "Daisy ought to have something in her life." The word murmur carries a sort of seductive, sensual connotation, and so in this way it is shown how Jordan convinces Nick to do her bidding through her womanly charms, whether she genuinely likes him or just wants to help Daisy and Gatsby and is using him to do so.In the next chapter, when Nick returns to his house, he is confronted with a very lonely atmosphere. Firstly, the silence (discribed to the right) makes any life seem out of place by the usually bustling garden of Jay Gatsby. This loneliness is accentuated by the following noise of Nick's taxi, which "groans away" (p. 86) into the night. The word groan suggests that the taxi sadly rolls away into the darkness to leave Nick standing in the quiet obscurity next to his neighbour's normally chaotic mansion. It was pouring rain the day Daisy agreed to come over for tea (Fitzgerald 88), the harsh weather and loud sound of rain falling reflects Gatsby's nervousness as he waits and prepares for her arrival. Along with the heavy rain, the intensity of noise surrounding the house is emphasized by the lawn-mower cutting grass across Nick’s lawn (Fitzgerald 88). This chaos of noise outside in contrast to the awkard silence that floast through his empty mansion further emphasizes his anxiety for reuniting with Daisy. || When Nick sees that Gatsby's house is "blazing with light," (p 86) the silence in the air broken only by wind in the trees. This contrasts very sharply with the music and chatter usually emanating from Gatsby's house at that time of night and therefore gives Nick standing there alone a very lonely feel. ||
 * 84-88 || Liam, Alice || ***Liam**:
 * 89-92 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">TJ, Avril || *Avril (page 89,91), TJ (Page 90, 92)


 * Page 90**- "//the sound of a motor"// Usually the sound of a motor would be quite disruptive, but because Gatsby and Nick know that its Daisy it brings both tension and relief, because Gatsby didn't believe that Daisy was going to show, but also brings tension as Gatsby's grows even more nervous.

//"The exhilirating ripple"// The ripple of Daisy's voice was a special sound towards Gatsby, because he hasn't heard her voice for so long it brings both comfort and excitment


 * Page 91-** //"...There was a light, dignified knocking at the front door. "// The knock portrays Gatsby's manner, allowing the others to know exactly what kind of presence he brings to the room, Gatsby appears to be a very refined and formal character.


 * Page 91-**//"Aware of the loud beating of my own heart i pulled the door against the increasing rain"// The moment is so awkward and silent that Nick only hears his own heart beating and the sound of the rain, something he would otherwise not pay attention to.


 * Page 91-**//"I heard a sort of choking murmur and part of a laugh followerd by Daisy's voice on a clear artificial note"// The choking murmur is coming from Gatsby, who's obviously very nervous and uncomfortable of first, so is Daisy though. Her voice is usually portrayed as "exhilirating" (page 90) but here in this quote it is unnatural and awkward.


 * Page 91-**//"We've met before, muttered Gatsby"// instead of being his usual, and speaking in a clear and refined matter, Gatsby is muttering. Portrays his discomfort.

The awkward silence continues, Nick feels uncomfortable in his own house. ||
 * Sound:** The sounds in these couple of pages are important to plot development and mood. When Nick says he is "Aware of the loud beating of my own heart i pulled the door against the increasing rain" (91) the sounds of his loud beating heart and the increasing rain builds up the suspension to this awkward date between Nick and Daisy. It informs the reader that the mood is changing. An increase in heartbeats indicates nervousness, picks up the pace and increases the suspense of the chapter.- || **Page 90-**//"For half a minute there wasn't a sound"//
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">93-102 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Maura, So Yeon, Lesedi || Maura (96-98)

Daisy's voice

As they are walking toward Gatsby's house, Nick describes Daisy to be admiring the beautiful scenery around Gatsby’s mansion in "enchanting murmurs" (p.96). Once inside the mansion, Daisy cries into a pile of Gatsby's shirts, her voice said to be "muffled in the thick folds" (p. 98). * Murmuring, muffled voice contrasst to Daisy's usual bright, thrilling voice
 * Her voice being obscured under Gatsby's expensive shirts could represent Daisy hiding behind wealth

__** Laughter **__ ** ﻿ ** As Gatsby closes the door to his library Nick swears he hears the "ghostly laughter" (p.96) of Owl Eyes, the man that he met in the library during Gatsby's party * Owl Eyes admires Gatsby because of how he decorated his library with unread books so as to fool and impress his guests, Daisy in particular
 * Owl Eyes laughter being heard at this point serves as a reminder to readers of what the library is - of what Gatsby's whole house is - a show

Gatsby also laughs, right after Daisy delightedly takes a brush from “a toilet set of pure dull gold” (p. 97)


 * Gatsby is laughing at himself
 * Put so much work into making his house look as impressive as possible for Daisy, only to have her be most enamored by a toilet brush

So Yeon (99-102)

//“I adore it!” exclaimed Daisy… (99)//: As time passes, Daisy feels more at ease about staying with Gatsby. Their reunion seems to be successful when it is clearly demonstrated that she is opening herself to Gatsby; her pleased and quite excited expression is underlined through her voice.  //She [Daisy] whispered [to Gatsby////] (99):// The quiet talk shared between the two characters highlights the quickly regained intimacy of their relationship. Acts of whispering, speaking to each other in low volume so that others cannot possibly hear underline how comfortable they feel about physically getting close to each other in order to whisper.

//Gatsby calls a young man////, Klipspringer////, to play the piano (99-100)//: Gatsby’s requests Klipspringer to play the piano for Gatsby is willing to do anything in order to increase Daisy’s level of satisfaction and comfort she feels at his place. The song that is played on the piano throughout this selected section of the text plays the pivotal role of finally releasing the tension that has long existed in their relationship, gradually bringing them together.

//Outside the wind was loud and there was a faint flow of thunder along the Sound (101)//: contrast is underlined. The music room’s warm atmosphere filled with love highlights the reunion of Gatsby and Daisy, while the outside is raining heavily. Since they are immersed in the love-struck mood in the music room, with the beautiful melody of the piano, they do not seem to take notice of the turbulent, harsh weather outside. Gatsby’s profound feeling of love is causing him to be quite oblivious to the cold outside reality that actually contrasts with the warm atmosphere inside, thus foreshadowing that their rekindled love will confront challenges soon and end up being temporary.

//She said something low in his ear he turned toward her with a rush of emotion “…that voice held him most with its fluctuating, feverish warmth because it couldn’t be over-dreamed–that voice was a deathless song.” (101)//: Their growing intimacy is again emphasized, and the description that her voice “was a deathless song” demonstrates Daisy’s importance to Gatsby – even her voice is capable of arousing a violent stir of excitement, warmth and happiness within Gatsby. ** “I’m glad, Jay” Her throat, full of arching, grieving beauty, (94). **  Even though, Daisy says she is glad, there is a part of her that is having a hard time accepting the fact that Gatsby is back in her life. Similar to when a person tries holding in their tears and the pain begins in their throat. The actual tears come later, which implies that Daisy is going to go through a rough time. This foreshadows Gatsby’s death. || ** “It’s stopped raining” (94) ** Gatsby seems to be overjoyed that it has stopped raining. This suggests that his lonely, cold and dull days are over now that he is reunited with Daisy.

__** Gatsby's Mansion **__ As they he and Daisy are about to enter Gatsby's mansion, Nick says that there is "no sound but bird voices in the trees" (p. 96) * Calm, almost sweet silence contrast with usual loud sounds coming from Gatsby's mansion Nick feels as if there are guests hiding in the house, as if they were waiting, "breathlessly silent" (p. 96), behind the furniture.
 * Such a big contrast to the usual hustle and bustle around the mansion
 * image of guests hiding gives off unnatural, uncomfortable feeling
 * -reflects Gatsby's awkward, uncomfortable actions when with Daisy ||

Patterns ? Conclusions?