Climax

The Great Gatsby

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chap VII, pgs 113-133

Climax!  Everyone finally seems to figure out what is going on.  Tom heard Daisy tell Gatsby that she loved him and Mr. Wilson found out some unfavorable things about his wife and was therefore taking her far away.  Mr. Wilson “had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him on another world, and the shock had made him physically sick” (Fitzgerald, 124).  Though Wilson does not yet suspect Tom, he tells Tom that “my wife and I want to go West” (Fitzgerald, 123).  Wilson actually ended up trying to lock Myrtle in her room until they left, showing very uncharacteristic strength and determination.

Fighting, fighting, fighting

On the other side, Tom, Nick, Jordan, Daisy, and Gatsby all end up in a hotel room together, causing the heat and the tension to build.  Tom soon blows up when Daisy tells him to have self- control, yelling, “ ‘I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that’s the idea you can count me out…’ ” (Fitzgerald, 130)  Gatsby and Tom fight over Daisy with mounting intensity; if you were in the room, you could cut the romantic tension and uncomfortable feeling with a knife.  Throughout the argument, Tom refuses to even consider the fact that Daisy might love Gatsby or that she might leave him for Gatsby.  Eventually Daisy speaks up.  She cries to Gatsby, “ ‘I love you now- isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.’ She began to sob helplessly. ‘I did love him once- but I loved you too.’ ” (Fitzgerald, 132)  And even though Daisy loved Tom once, she loves Gatsby more and has loved him longer and plans on leaving Tom.  The climax of the novel includes the outpouring of all the secrets, revelation of more of Gatsby’s past, and not a lot of hope for a satisfying resolution.  The only thing that has not been put out in the open yet is the fact that Mr. Wilson does not know that his wife has been seeing Tom.  The rest of the novel will be the falling action and resolution, which should be interesting due to the intricateness and complication of the situation.