The Great Gatsby: Syntax

·         “She looked at him blindly. ‘Why--- how could I love him---Possibly’”(132)?

Fitzgerald achieves a struggling tone within the arguments between her, Tom and

Gatsby. The troublesome tone in Daisy’s voice is an element that is essential to the overall cynical tone of the narrator. The syntax here, dashed lines and interrupted word order, explicitly portray Daisy’s fickle nature and immoral conduct. Gatsby unfairly asks Daisy to recant her love for Tom, and though she follows through, the structure of the sentence is alluding to the Daisy’s hesitation towards commitment in that her response is broken and not straight-forward. Her inability to commit and remain loyal to one of the men is low and manipulative. Fitzgerald show’s great skill in character and plot development by employing ragged, choppy sentences.

·         We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk and vivid with new flowers, through dressing rooms and poolrooms and bathrooms, with sunken baths…” (91).

It is no question that wealth was idolized by Gatsby and most of the characters in the story. Nicks narration of the scene when Gatsby shows Daisy his exquisite home acquires a cynical and annoyed tone. Nick seems peeved by the excitement over possessions and slight under appreciation  of wealth. The quote, which lists the grand rooms and their over the top décor, is characterized by the repetition of the word “and” and the drawn out length. Rather than using comma’s, Fitzgerald repeatedly incorporated the word “and”. The repetition in the sentence represents the monotonous repetition that is perhaps on Nick’s mind. He sees a society that repeatedly indulges themselves, yet never increases their happiness. As for the length of the sentence, it appears to trail off in the end, showing the narrators lack of fascination with material possessions.