Upon my second reading of this book, still I find that one of the most memorable scenes is the exchange in the hotel room where Tom and Gatsby confront each other (beginning on page 126 in my version). What stands out to me the most is really how Fitzgerald framed the scene; continuous references to the extreme heat and the discomfort felt by everyone further emphasized the discomfort, tension and drama of the scene itself. All the characters, as well as the reader, just want the scene to end as soon as possible.
However, I find this same discomfort to be present throughout the book. It seems that in nearly every exchange of dialogue (I think specifically of most involving Tom), Fitzgerald goes out of his way to make them incredibly disjointed and awkward. Very often one character cuts another off, and most every conversation it seems ends with silence, which Fitzgerald seems to emphasize. What is Fitzgerald attempting to convey by doing this? Could he be making commentary about class, as we believe he is doing with other aspects of the narrative, or is it just something to do with his characters’ personalities and how they clash with one another?
I interpreted it as a portrayal of two forces clashing, Tom and Gatsby. Tom lashes out on Gatsby for calling him an “old sport” and then corners him on his Oxford experience, but Gatsby maneuvers rather deftly in this conversation, one-upping Tom in almost every situation. I would also like to talk more about the tangent in their conversation about Biloxi. I wonder if his inclusion at their wedding represents Gatsby’s current inclusion in their lives. I also had a clarifying question about p. 132. When Daisy says, “Why-how could I love him-possibly?”, who is the he she refers to, Gatsby or Tom? Who, also, then replies, “You never loved him.”?