The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
So chapter 7 ends with a huge twist and odd coincidence when Daisy, driving back in Gatsby's car whom the Wilsons thought was Tom's car, hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, and then continues to drive before Tom, Jordan, and Nick arrive in Tom's actual car. Yes, it is a crazy and complex situation of Soap opera proportions. However, what I found most interesting throughout this turn of events, was the sympathy that I began to feel towards Tom. We actually gain a glimpse of this once aloof and dispassionate man feel sympathy towards someone else. Even as he drives back towards west egg tears begin to flow down his face as he whimpers, "The God damned coward... He didn't even stop his car" (Fitzgerald 141). Originally when Tom had seen what was left of Myrtle, it was suspected that Gatsby had been driving.
I keep taking notice that every time Nick begins to view Gatsby in a negative light, the man finds some way to re-establish his rapport with Nick and divert the attention away from the doubt. This time, I felt as though Nick was at the edge where even conversing with Gatsby was too much. However, this time he relinquishes his doubt of the man upon learning that it was actually Daisy who had been driving and who was too terrified to stop. It appears that the resolution of Gatsby's most recent vice seems to wash away the presence of any other transgressions that Nick still held in his mind. For the time being, Tom's earlier foreboding of Gatsby's shady business is swept aside, but I do believe the subject of Gatsby's unexplained amassed wealth will soon take center stage.
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