The Great Gatsby 1

While reading along with the class, we came across one chapter that kept us in giggles most the time as we read it. A particularly hilarious passage we come across had the whole class laughing for about a minute straight.

Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom. His head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock, and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but graceful, on the edge of a stiff chair. 



Aside from how I find this mental image immensely amusing, I also like how Scott Fitzgerald described the scene. Gatsby is usually seen as calm and confident, and here he's trying to keep that image up, but when around his obsession/crush, his act falters. Though it's not implied, you can almost see him sweating. Daisy is not described as much, in fact it's the description of the chair that describes her; the "stiff chair" that she sits on the edge of, it gives the imagery of Daisy being tense and just as stiff as the chair, motionless.