The Great Gatsby Group

Question:

samicali
samicali
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In Chapter five of "The Great Gatsby", why is Gatsby dressed in a gold tie and silver shirt?

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Posted by samicali on Wednesday March 25, 2009 at 8:11 PM and tagged with characters, dress, gatsby, the great gatsby.

Answers:

  1. dneshan
    dneshan Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Jay Gatsby’s clothes symbolize his need to be ostentatious and show off what he has to impress the love of his life.  In chapter 5, Gatsby is going to be reunited with his lost love Daisy for the first time in five years.  He knows that she will be impressed by his money, however they are meeting at Nick’s house, not Gatsby’s house.  Gatsby has to find a way to show off how wealthy he has become so that Daisy will be impressed by his money and, therefore, fall in love with him.  Gatsby’s need to show off and be pretentious is also evident throughout the novel in other sections; for example when his car is described – he has a green Rolls Royce – and when Daisy goes to look at his house and she sees all of the different color shirts that he owns.  The need for Gatsby to wear clothes that will make him stand out coincides for the need that he feels to impress Daisy in order to get her to fall in love with him.

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

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    Posted by dneshan on Thursday March 26, 2009 at 2:25 AM