1. Warming up with Henry's cars and a hands-on analysis of Myrtle's vehicular homicide
Each kit contains the following: A yellow car, a blue car, a "Myrtle", and a random car coming from the opposite direction.
Level 1: Reenact what happens in Chapter 7 with the cars. Who's in which car on the way there and the way back? Where are they going and why? Who is driving each car? Why do they switch around?
Level 2: Analyze Fitzgerald's choices here. Why did he make this so complicated? Why does it matter that _________ ran over ________? Why is _________'s car? Why are the car colors symbolic? Why this manner of death?
Level 3: What is Fitzgerald trying to teach us about...recklessness? Love? Lust? Dreams? Respect?
2. Enjoying a fishbowl discussion of Chapter 7
3. Wrapping up:
- Why did Myrtle have to die?
- Was her death an intentional murder?
- What rising conflict lead up to this moment?
HW:
1. Make sure your blog entry for Chapter 7 is complete.
2. Our fishbowl discussion of Chapter 8 is Tuesday, April 17. Please read Chapter 8 and complete your journal. Leaders should read ahead so that they can prepare their syllabus.
1. Make sure your blog entry for Chapter 7 is complete.
2. Our fishbowl discussion of Chapter 8 is Tuesday, April 17. Please read Chapter 8 and complete your journal. Leaders should read ahead so that they can prepare their syllabus.
I'm curious to know why Myrtle out of all characters he could have killed off for this specific point in the book
ReplyDeleteThe detail is emphasized on the heart, breasts, and mouth because Myrtle was Tom's mistress and he used her for sex (the breast) the heart because she loved many people, and her mouth because she sweet talked 2 men into loving her
ReplyDeleteDo the colors in this chapter have any connection or anything to do with the colors in the beginning of the book about the parties?
ReplyDeleteI think that Fitzgerald killed Myrtle off to make sure that Tom is now all alone. He no longer has Daisy and he no longer has his mistress. This could be used to drive him to do something reckless.
ReplyDeleteI think events transpired the way that it did, was to invite conflict between eh characters. Nick said that he hated Gatsby at the end of the chapter, until he learned what had happened to daisy and the car. Given this exchange, I think Tom will learn about it and react violently. Fitzgerald is trying to use circumstance to create and inflame conflict.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important that it was Gatsby's car that took her life because he seems to be taking away everything from Tom and this is just adding to that. The car colors are symbolic because they show who did what throughout this scene and it could represent the fact that Gatsby is on the happier with life at the moment( giving him the bright colored car) and Tom's life is spiraling downhill(making his car a darker color.) This scene shows that if your love isn't honest and true towards the other person, then it will be removed from your life through reckless decisions and poor choices.
ReplyDeletei'm wondering why daisy wouldn't have stopped the car. did she know it was myrtle? is that why she hadn't stopped or even slowed down?
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Daisy was going so fast that she wasn't able to stop the car in time once she realized what was about to happen. "It all happened in a minute, but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew. Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back. The second my hand reached the wheel I felt the shock- it must have killed her instantly" (143-144). With this, it seems as if everything just happened so fast and with what had already happened amongst the commotion with Gatsby and Tom, Daisy just seemed on edge. Therefore when Daisy saw Myrtle, Daisy must have just felt more lost than before.
Delete"Human sympathy has its limits, and we were content to let all their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind" (Fitzgerald 135). With this quote that was before the accident, it made me get a better understanding of what Daisy was thinking. Since so much was going on I think that Dasiy was overwhelmed. I don't think that Daisy meant to hit Myrtle. She probably wanted to leave what just happened so "it would fade with the city lights".
DeleteMyrtle's death might lead to more truth being revealed, because a character might have been afraid of saying something that they thought would get back to her.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Fitzgerald decided to kill myrtle out of all the characters because Tom and her weren't much involved anymore, and her death in the book was tragic but not necessary to continue the story.
ReplyDeleteThe color yellow symbolizes happiness, positivity, and hope. I thought it was ironic that the yellow car was the one to end Myrtle's life.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald is trying to teach us that recklessness doesn't come by itself, it comes with more emotions like anger, sadness, and regret. In this chapter Daisy's emotions change based on her actions.
ReplyDeleteI believe the author chose to kill myrtle had to die so that tom would lose all the people he loved other than his daughter, because losing daisy was already a lot but the author probably wants to really push tom to his limits and see a burst of unexplored emotion come from tom. I also think describing myrtle's lifeless heart and breast to reflect on how she broke wilson's heart and daisy's heart and now it is reflected on her own heart.Its hard to say whether daisy would have really loved tom if he hadn't cheated because we know she did and still loves tom so I don't believe she would want harm and try to purposely kills tom's mistress if she didn't truly love tom.
ReplyDeleteDid Daisy have an idea that Myrtle was Tom's mistress, and that's why she didn't try to stop?
ReplyDeleteI thought this same thing because Daisy knew Tom had a mistress and she doesn't seem like the person that would carelessly run over someone and not turn back.
DeleteI think that Daisy had some idea of who Tom's mistress might have been, but they were also driving so fast and they were all drunk so it may have been a combo of several things.
DeleteMaybe she was so focused on escaping the scene and her decision of what she wants, whether Gatsby or Tom, that when Myrtle ran out she hadn't even processed what was occurring in reality which is why she continued. I don't think Daisy would deliberately try to majorly injure or kill anyone for that matter.
DeleteThroughout the novel, we see a lot of colors being symbolized like the color green. But really, we haven't really talked a lot about the color yellow. The color yellow is brought up in Gatsby's yellow car, his golden tie, and Daisy being the "Golden Girl". I think that the color yellow/gold symbolizes money and wealth. It shows how money is great motivator to have a nice things like the yellow car and the golden tie. But it also shows how money and wealth can lead to greed. With that greed, it can also lead to jealousy and even death as we see Myrtle's death.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Fitzgerald placed Daisy as the one to kill Myrtle almost as a representation of love and lust. Obviously, Daisy did not purposely hit Myrtle but since she is the one who killed Myrtle it seems as if Fitzgerald placed her here to be more impactful to the story. Love, lust and recklessness seem like they all go hand and hand. Finding real love seems to allow those (in this case Daisy and Gatsby) almost block out the rest of the world. Almost similar to the idea that it is just them and nobody else. This allows them to become more reckless with their surrounds. The lust obviously comes in with Tom and Myrtle's relationship and perceptions with Daisy and Gatsby. However it almost seems as if love and lust can bring someone to the point of recklessness, in two completely different ways.
ReplyDeleteI think Fitzgerald make it complicated because he didn't want the audience to have a clear understanding of why this happened and he didn't want the observers in the book to have an explanation of what happened either. I personally think that Daisy was the one driving because as a reader I've gone back and forth with if Gatsby has good intentions and is an honest man and if he was the one that killed Myrtle I would think he has another motive than just to get Daisy. Now Daisy could have killed her on purpose if she had known she was the girl her husband was cheating with.
ReplyDeleteI think that Myrtle HAD TO die. I feel like the book wouldn't reach a major conflict point if it didn't happen. Tom found out that Daisy never loved him the same day that Myrtle died; so it wasn't like he could get over Daisy and move on fully to Myrtle. I don't really think that it was a coincidence that both things happened on the same day. Tom is taking a really hard blow, and I think that it will make him angry, and maybe we could see him act out int he chapters to follow. As to wither it was intentional, I don't know what to think. One thing is that because Myrtle thought that it was Tom in the car, maybe she was trying to be killed, and therefore all of the blame would be put on Jordan and Tom; (it would cause mayhem after death type thing).
ReplyDeleteI think Myrtle had to die because she represented conflict in the book between the main characters, i believe the point the author was trying to emphasize here was that no good comes from evil no matter who it involves. And they will always have a price to pay.
ReplyDeleteDaisy hitting Myrtle with Gatsby's car seems to be Daisy's extreme action which has finally came out after years of build up. Even if Daisy was not completely aware of Myrtle's relationship with Tom, the symbolism of this event is still evident. Daisy has stood by Tom's side for years now, despite his disloyal actions. Finally, Daisy did something about it by getting rid of one of the main sources of the problem. She was finally fed up with Tom's mistreatment of her, and was ready to destroy the past in hopes of a new, better future with Gatsby, who she drove off with right away.
ReplyDeleteI think that Fitzgerald used this scene to create conflict within the reader. For the whole book so far readers have sympathized for Daisy because of Tom, but now readers question her motives. Before this moment, the reader feels no sympathy for Tom because of his affair but now people feel bad for him because he loved Myrtle. Earlier, people considered Gatsby an honorable man, but after this, even Nick questions his character.
ReplyDeleteI feel it is important it was Gatsby's car because he seems to be slowly taking Daisy away from Tom. He is taking his golden girl in a golden/yellow car. Tom is driving the blue car because he is depressed and things are beginning to go down hill.
ReplyDelete"Go on. He won't annoy you. I think he realizes that his presumptuous little flirtation is over."(135) Does Tom actually think that Gatsby is out of the picture because of his outburst? Does Daisy want to leave because of this or just the whole situation is making her want to?
ReplyDeleteI think that Tom is used to people backing down once they have upset him. I don't think Tom realizes that Gatsby has worked so hard to be able to be with Daisy, so he won't go down without a fight.
DeleteI believe that she was quite overwhelmed by even the idea of confronting Tom about this, so when the fight began it was so much that it kind of encouraged her to hide back in the shell she's been in with Tom as, I guess, a survival instinct.
Delete"Hot Hot Hot." pg 117. Daisy announces that she feels very hot quite a bit while in the hotel. What symbolism does this have?
ReplyDeleteDaisy is becoming overwhelmed between making the decision to take Gatsby or Tom. She wants the best of both worlds, but is slowly coming to the realization that it is impossible to maintain.
DeleteIt seems as if she mentions this quite a bit almost to push them to move on. Daisy does not want to cause more commotion and just wants to have a good day. She wants to have a decent time with someone she once loved and the person she loved now.
DeleteDaisy had to be the one to kill Myrtle because once Tom finds out he will become extremely mad, and I infer will blame her for ruining his happiness.
ReplyDeleteOn page 132 it says: "Oh you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now-- isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob hopelessly. I did love him once-- but I loved you too." Why is it that Daisy gets that you can't live in the past but Gatsby still doesn't get it?
ReplyDeleteI think that Gatsby is so fixated on what his life was like before with Daisy and he wants to go back to that because maybe that was the highlight of his life and he wants to relive it. Gatsby is also a character that seems to live in his imagination, where Daisy is much more realistic.
DeleteGatsby has built this half of his life around Daisy. He wants her so bad that he will do anything to seek her out and make her his. He has built her up to be something more than she really is in his head, because she is all he ever thinks about. I don't think that Gatsby can continue on his success, if he loses Daisy.
DeleteIt seems as if Gatsby still doesn't get that you can not live in the past cause it seems as if he almost put his life on hold for Daisy. Sometime before he went out to war, Fitzgerald mentions that Gatsby was not able to take care of Daisy. It seems as if when Gatsby was in the war, Daisy must have be the one thing he can hold to once getting out of the war. However during all of this, Daisy is trying to move on with her life, even though we find out that she really did not want to marry Tom, however, once she did it seems as if she was in love with him for a bit. Going back to the Hero's journey, this could go hand and hand with the idea that Gatsby is in a never complete journey that seems to end at the abyss part and repeat again.
DeleteWell, It's like with that one guy he sailed with as a younger man, the one that constantly called him "old sport". And when that guy died, and it was put in the past, Gatsby still kept alive by beginning to call people old sport as well. I think it's with people whom have impacted his life in a significant way. It is just whom he is.
Delete"Human sympathy has its limits, and we were content to let all their tragic arguments fade with the city lights behind. Thirty- the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair" (135).
ReplyDeleteHow do sympathy and a decade of loneliness go hand and hand?
Has Nick lost all emotion from being completely overwhelmed with everyone else's lives, why or why not?
I wouldn't say that he lost all emotion because I think that is something that is hard to loose without a major tragedy, but I do think he is kind of numb to some of the pain that is occurring.
Delete"You've got something on now that Walters is afraid to tell me about." pg 134. What kind of blood does Gatsby have on his hands? What has he done that he feels guilt about it?
ReplyDeleteAfter discovering what Gatsby and Daisy had done, how did Nick's opinion of them change? What has Nick learned about people from the start of the summer in NY to now?
ReplyDeleteNick is definitely disappointed in them, however he looks up to Gatsby too much for his opinion of him to actually change.
DeleteNick has learned a little bit about love. I don't think Nick's opinion changed dramatically, but he does feel some guilt for having to be apart of the whole thing.
DeleteI think Nick's opinion has changed a ton since the time he went to his first Gatsby party. With how little he speaks and how little of an opinion he has you can tell he doesn't understand their world. I feel like he would find more enjoyment in a simple life with Jordan in a small house. Because he's been surrounded by these extravagant people, he has learned to be their friends and do as they do.
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ReplyDeleteThe daughter Pammy is mentioned so breifly, but still mentioned. Why do you think she was mentioned? Could it be to make the situation with Daisy leaving Tom more complicated. Daisy seems to not take much care of her daughter. ALSO it said the nurse was taking care of Pammy instead of a nanny. COuld the daughter be sick?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing. I think the child is only used as a connection between Daisy and Tom, neither of them seem to care about the kid too much but it may be a reason why it's hard for Daisy to leave Tom.
Delete"'Was Daisy driving?' 'Yes,' he said after a moment, 'but of course I'll say I was,'" (143). If/when Tom confronts Gatsby and Daisy about hitting Myrtle, will Tom be able to tell that Daisy was the one to do it? When people are feeling guilty, one can usually see the through things based on their skin color/emotion in their face; will Daisy give off some of these traits and have her cover blown?
ReplyDeleteThe heat is mentioned in almost every page in this chapter and weather usually symbolized big events in the book. What could this mean?
ReplyDeleteThis is going to sound sort of stupid, but I think that the heat can almost be foreshadowing some of the events that happen later in the chapter. There is almost a heat in Tom now, after finding out about Daisy, and then it is like a fire almost and it spreads into Myrtle being killed. Also, based on this quote - "Her voice was cold," (132), I think that the heat mentioned early almost makes this quote more dramatic. Your voice can't really be cold, your breath can, but not your voice; so I think Fitzgerald was really trying to emphasize importance of this one moment, and he did so by having this change of hot to cold.
DeleteThat definitely didn't sound stupid I loved that! The conversations between all the characters seemed heated throughout the chapter.
DeleteI think the heat is symbolizing the rising tension in the book between the characters. Things have been subtle up until this point and now everything is gonna get out of control.
DeletePage 120
ReplyDelete"That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine- do you hear?" "It was a yellow car"
Tom repeatedly says that the yellow car isn't his, and that it was in fact a yellow car. Does the yellow car represent Daisy, the "Golden Girl"? Tom is adamant about saying that the car is not his. He speaks the truth, but he is only so persistent in order to weasel himself out of a rut with the law. Did he only keep Daisy around when she was convenient, and when she wasn't is that why he always kicked her around and was disrespectful?
Gatsby is talking to Daisy, "Just tell him the truth- that you never loved him- and its all wiped out forever." Page 132. Why does Gatsby continue to bring this subject up? Why is it so important for Gatsby to hear those words?
ReplyDeleteGatsby is all about re-living the past, and in order to go back to when they first met Daisy can't have loved another person. Gatsby is delusional in this sense and is asking too much of Daisy. This is also probably why Gatsby doesn't really believe the baby is real until he see for himself.
DeleteWow great response!!!!!!
DeleteWhen all the commotion happens on page 131-132, how does the audience see similarities and differences between Gatsby and Tom?
ReplyDeleteI see that there is little to no difference between Tom and Gatsby. Both of them are arrogant and egotistical who focus on their own self. They do not see anything that happens to other people because of their own actions.
Delete"She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me." (130).
ReplyDeleteWhy is Gatsby so in love with Daisy when she doesn't seem like a genuine person? Obviously she is a "golden girl" and that is something he aspired to have, but how can he love someone who wouldn't marry him because he was poor?
Gatsby exposes his lies here of how he wasn't born with money, why would he lie about this all along?
Delete"...but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew. Well, first Daisy turned away from the woman toward the other car, and then she lost her nerve and turned back." (Pg. 143)
ReplyDeleteOne idea that seems to be emphasized throughout this chapter is confusion. First, Daisy and Gatsby are unsure of who should drive. Next, Myrtle is confused and uncertain of who is in the yellow car. Daisy then doesn't know whether to swerve into the car or to hit Myrtle. All of these separate confusions seem to contribute to Daisy's confusion of who it is that she wants to be with. Despite her desire to be with Gatsby, there is still part of her holding onto Tom. On top of that, Gatsby and Tom argue tirelessly of who Daisy really loves, as they too are unsure. At this point in the novel, nothing really seems to be known for sure. Because of this, there is chaos.
"No...I just remembered that today's my birthday" (pg 135). This quote shows how selfless Nick is that he let himself be troubled by these people that he didn't even need to acknowledge his birthday.
ReplyDelete