The Great Gatsby: Chapter V (pages 81-90)

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby there is a lot of detail to describe each scene in the novel. In order to create this detail, Fitzgerald uses large amounts of imagery. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby throughout the book as a very energetic and constant moving man. It almost seems as though Gatsby is always talking and interrupting others because he is so outgoing. This chapter shows a different side to Gatsby when he is waiting to see Daisy for the first time in almost five years. The clothing Gatsby is wearing is of very high quality but Gatsby, "Was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes" (Fitzgerald, 84). The reader already has a sense that Gatsby is nervous, but this quote is able to evoke a picture in the readers mind of how ill Gatsby looks. By picturing this the reader may realise that Gatsby has passed the point of just being nervous and is now worrying himself sick over the whole situation. The novel even goes on further stating that he was so nervous that his conversation lacked depth and expression. This comes to show that Gatsby truly is in love with Daisy and has dreamed about this day for a long time.