Through out chapter 8, there were two things happening. One was describing Gatsby and what he has been thinking about since Myrtles death, with the other being the people around Myrtles home dealing with Myrtles death. I noticed as I was reading that during the sections that were focusing on Gatsby, there was little to no dialogue. This is interesting because it is such a fasted paced part of the story. Fitzgerald mostly focuses on the way Gatsby is thinking about Daisy, (how much he loves her.) Its almost like Nick is inside Gatsby’s head and has faded away as a character. The words used are soft and loving and seem to move slowly along through the story. “He sat with daisy in his arms for a long, silent time…” pg150. Fitzgerald’s writing style drastically changes when he starts to focus on the life around the late Mrs. Myrtle. When Fitzgerald is talking about the people around myrtles home, IE her husband, there is lots of dialogue, and lots of harsh words being used. “Your Morbid George!” pg 158. Also note that pg 158 is entirely dialogue.
I agree that scenes involving Gatsby after the accident contain little dialogue. However I would argue that it is not because Nick is "in his head" or becoming less of a character than narrator than he already is. There is simply nothing left to be said, Gatsby is in the open, his lies have been revealed, and Nick can see him as he really is. Gatsby has nothing to prove, he is merely waiting to see the outcome of his life with Daisy. Will it come crashing down because of the accident and murder? Will he use is extensive influence to slip away unnoticed with Daisy forever?
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