The Great Gatsby Group

Question:

goodstby
goodstby
Student
High School - 11th Grade

In Chapter 7, what is ironic about Tom saying that he has second sight?

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Posted by goodstby on Friday January 18, 2008 at 12:34 PM and tagged with chapter 7, great gatsby, irony, second sight, the great gatsby, tom.

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  1. cybil Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Having second sight means having the ability to see into the future. If Tom had this ability, he would have seen that Daisy and Gatsby would have an affair. Furthermore, he would have anticipated Myrtle's death and could perhaps have prevented it by staying at home that day. As it is, Tom is clueless about the future; he lives entirely in the present with little thought about the effects of his actions. 

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    Posted by cybil on Friday January 18, 2008 at 1:02 PM


  2. sagetrieb Teacher
    Doctorate

    Even as Tom says “I have a—almost a second sight, sometimes that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science---,” Nick, and we with him, smile at (or ridicule) Tom’s ridiculous posturing. Even the long dash in the text has meaning, for it indicates the man is unable to see sufficiently into the future to finish his sentence. The dash represents that absence in knowledge that corresponds to Daisy asking what they will do with themselves for the rest of that day, the next, and the next thirty years (125). As if to emphasize this, when Tom pauses (with the dash), Nick says “the immediate contingency overtook him.” “Contingency” means “possibility,” indicating Tom’s limitations are such that the slightest chance in events will leave him speechless, unable to complete a thought.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby

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    Posted by sagetrieb on Tuesday January 22, 2008 at 5:43 PM