Chapter 5

Summary

Later that evening Nick meets Gatsby on the lawn.  Gatsby now sees a way to realize his dream, and Nick may be the instrument to bring about the realization of all his hopes.  Gatsby bends over backwards to please Nick and get on his good side, and eventually Nick agrees to invite Daisy to his home.  On the day of the meeting, it is raining heavily and Gatsby is extremely nervous and when Daisy arrives he disappears and walks outside in the downpour.  When he returns, he meets Daisy and initially there is awkwardness about their meeting.  Nick decides to leave them alone and when he returns, they are blissfully happy.  The three then go to Gatsby’s mansion and Gatsby in awe of its grandeur and the luxurious lifestyle enjoys Daisy.  Gatsby feels confident to reveal his passion for Daisy and tells her of his infatuation and how he has gazed at the green light shining at the end of Daisy’s Dock. Nick cannot see how his cousin Daisy can live up to the expectation that Gatsby has, however, he leaves the two together while the resident pianist Klipspringer plays a popular tune ‘Ain’t we got fun’.

Interpretation

The main two players of the plot are together. From now on the story moves inevitably to its climax in Chapters 7 and 8.  After Gatsby’s history with Daisy is revealed, it was bound to happen that these two characters should move towards a meeting.  Daisy’s guided tour of Gatsby’s home is one of the main sections of the novel.  His possessions are the culmination of years of work and dreaming to amass this splendor to impress Daisy, and now that they have met, his goal is attained.  When Daisy enters the mansion, everything in it must be re-evaluated and mere material objects lose their reality in her presence because she is representative of a higher reality towards which all of Gatsby’s possessions are dedicated. One of the main symbols is Gatsby’s collection of shirts, which are not mere garments to be worn, but enchanted objects created by money, significant only in as much as they contribute to winning the ideal vision.  Everything, which Gatsby owns, exists for the attainment of his dream and this is different from the materialistic Buchanan’s, Jordan or Myrtle, who use objects for their own enjoyment. What Gatsby does not realize is that when he attains his dream, there will be nothing left to conquer or achieve.

Nick leaves the house almost totally ignored, having fulfilled his part in bringing these two characters together.