Syntax

Blog # 3: Syntax

·      “He literally glowed; without a word or gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (87).

Gatsby, after many years, is finally reuniting with Daisy, his long lost love and the girl he has been attempting to allure by throwing lavish parties. At the start, Gatsby is hesitant and is concerned with the fact that Daisy might have lost her love for him. To his delight, Gatsby learns that Daisy returns these mutual feelings of love. Gatsby is overjoyed, and the sentence displays it clearly with the employment of the semicolon. The semicolon serves to disconnect his joyous state of mind, beginning with “He literally glowed,” to bring it to the readers main focus that he is now surging with love and happiness, as described in what follows the semicolon. Normally, Nicks attitude towards Gatsby is ambivalent and doubtful, but in this instance, he can not help but write of Gatsby’s newfound love with nostalgia since it is one of the few times that he admires him

·      “I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone-he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glance seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of the dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (15).

While Nick is returning home, he catches sight of Gatsby in the darkness. The sentences are complex and compound-complex, allowing for the passage to have fluidity, which emphasizes the dreaminess of the situation and the mysteriousness of Gatsby. The hyphen utilized is indicative of a pause and expands Nick’s illusionary thoughts regarding the green light, which represents money. Here, the tone is seen as calm, curious, and quiet, almost resembling a psychedelic experience.

·      “I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor” (13).

While Nick is visiting Tom and Daisy, he describes a sudden chaotic moment. The second sentence of the two is compound and is composed of a polysyndeton. The compound sentence serves to illustrate Nick’s constant rambling thoughts as he goes on to portray the transition in scene. Firstly, upon meeting Daisy, he is in tune with his surroundings as her hears the “whip and snap,” creating somewhat of a nervous, curious tone, which should be expected since Tom enters. The appearance of Tom, seen in the compound sentence, signals a transition in the tone, as his dull personality radiates throughout the room since the chaotic feelings of the scene have vanished, and the only feelings lingering are that of force and harshness, seen with the “boom” in the entry of Tom.