The Great Gatsby, Ch. 7 Questions

Why is it so important to Gatsby that Daisy say she never loved Tom?

Because Gatsby wants to erase the past and pretend Daisy never wanted Tom, so they can get married and move on.

Describe the hit-and-run scene

Michaelis, a Greek man who runs the restaurant next to Wilson's garage, tells them that Myrtle was the victim - a car coming from New York City struck her, paused, then sped away.

What is the scene that Nick observes taking place between Tom and Daisy in the kitchen?

They're sitting opposite of each other and Tom has his hand over hers. He is talking very intently with Daisy nodding. They aren't happy or unhappy. It seems like they're very close almost plotting, trying to set their story straight.

Why does this scene suggest ill for Gatsby?

Tom and Daisy are getting closer, and the closer they get the more Gatsby gets bumped out of the picture.

Why, do you suppose, Fitzgerald links the behavior of the characters to the hottest day of the summer?

Well it's really hot weather and the heat makes the characters uncomfortable and more irritable, so it's really tense between Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy.

Daisy says that Tom is "revolting". To what, can you imagine, is she referring?

Because Tom's saying that Daisy can't leave him but yet he cheated on her so many times. She had it with the sickening affairs and the "sprees"

Why does Daisy have a tough time saying, as Gatsby wishes, that she never loved Tom?

Because at one point she did love Tom, and Gatsby. She's also afraid that once she says she never loved Tom she will be Gatsby's permanently.

Why does Tom make the point to Wilson that he just drove the coupe from New York and the yellow car does not actually belong to him?

Because he is afraid that Wilson will remember that Tom was in the yellow car earlier and think that he killed Myrtle. He wants to make sure Wilson doesn't suspect him or think he did it.

What causes Tom to realize that his wife has been having an affair with Gatsby?

Daisy and Gatsby make eye contact.

Besides Myrtle's, what other eyes "Kept their vigil" on the activities along the roadway?

Dr. T.J. Eckleberg

How has Gatsby earned most of his money, and what does Tom say that startles Gatsby?

He and Wolfsheim bought a lot of streetside drug stores and sold grain alcohol over the counter. Tom also says Gatsby has something big going on but Walter Chase won't tell him because he's afraid Wolfsheim will kill him.

What indication is there that Tom really was fond of Myrtle?

He cries when he is in the car alone.

Why, do you suppose, Tom decides to let Wilson finally have the car he has been promising him?

He feels guilty.

As always, there is a grain of truth in what Gatsby says. In what sense is he an Oxford man?

He went to college there for 5 months.

When Gatsby briefly meets Daisy's little girl, he is somewhat unnerved. Symbolically, what does the little girl represent?

How irresponsible Daisy is.

What does Gatsby understand about Daisy's voice that Nick does not?

It is full of money/the American Dream.

Describe the driving arrangement that brings five characters into the city.

Jordan, Nick, and Tom take Gatsby's yellow car while Daisy and Gatsby take Tom's blue coupe.

What is Daisy's reaction to this news?

She stares terrified between Gatsby and her husband, and she starts to withdraw into herself. She's never seen this side of Gatsby before and it scares her.

What indication is there at this point that, in Myrtle's mind anyway, Tom has been more than a fling?

She's jealous.

What does the reader learn that Tom does not know?

That Daisy was driving the car that killed Myrtle, not Gatsby.