Hello and welcome to "Read it and (Don't) Weep," the podcast that will help you breeze through your high school literature classes. Are you tired of struggling to understand the themes and characters in classic works of literature? Do you wish you could just read the condensed version and be done with it? Well, I’ve got you covered! I am your host, Jackey Taggart, and I taught high school English for almost 20 years. 

Join me each episode as I dive into the world of high school literature and break down the essential elements of each work. From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, I'll cover it all. My goal is to give you valuable insights and analysis on some of the most popular high school literary texts, as well as tips and tricks for acing your tests and essays.  Let’s start reading!

Welcome back!  In this episode, we are going to discuss Chapter 5 in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. If you have not read Chapters 1-4, it might be a good idea to read those chapters and listen to my other episodes before continuing.  

In this episode, we get to see the meet cute between Daisy and Gatsby.  Wait, no, that’s not true.  I guess it would be the second meet cute as the first was five years ago, but it will be the first meet cute readers get to see; you are going to love this chapter!

It begins when Nick arrives home after his date with Jordan.  As he gets home, he sees Gatsby’s house shining so bright it looks like it is on fire, but no one is there – no guests or partygoers. Lights in different parts of the house are flickering as if someone is moving from room to room turning the light on and off.  As Nick watches, Gatsby walks towards him across the lawn between their homes.  Gatsby tries to make small talk, but Nick finally tells hm what he is too embarrassed to ask, Nick plans to ask Daisy over for tea later this week.  While he doesn’t say it, Gatsby is relieved and begins making plans for Daisy’s arrival.  First up, Nick’s lawn needs to be mowed.  Gatsby will send his gardener over. Then, as repayment for the favor, Gatsby asks Nick is he would be interested in making some additional money doing, “a rather confidential sort of thing.” This again hints at some of Gatsby’s dealings with Wolfsheim.  Nick shuts him down saying he cannot take on any more work at the moment.  

Nick calls Daisy the next morning and invites her to tea and specifically tells her not to bring her husband.

The big day finally arrives, and it is pouring rain! Now, we have not yet discussed weather as an important symbol in the novel, so let’s pause for a minute to discuss the weather.  Rain is a traditional symbol in literature.  It can symbolize renewal and rebirth – such as the renewal of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, but rain can also be an extension of the characters’ emotions.  This is a view that I tend to consider as Gatsby is an emotional mess in this chapter.  He moves through three different emotional states – nervous anticipation, overwhelming happiness, then vulnerability.  Let’s look at each.

The morning of Daisy’s arrival, Gatsby sends his gardener over to mow the lawn, in the poring rain.  If you have ever tried to mow wet grass, you will know that it makes an even bigger mess.  But Gatsby is all about appearances, so the lawn must be cut. Then, Gatsby has flowers delivered to Nick’s house.  Not just a bouquet or two, but a whole greenhouse according to Nick.   At about 3 o’clock, Gatsby arrives at Nick’s place.  He is wearing a white suit with a silver shirt, and gold tie.  Talk about trying to flaunt his wealth – Gatsby is the living embodiment of his wealth! Silver and gold mean money. He wants to impress Daisy so badly and prove that he is now worthy of her affections.  And he is so nervous!!!  He is wandering around Nick’s house making comments that when Nick replies, he doesn’t seem to realize that he has said anything.  Gatsby sits, stands, sits again, tries to read, keeps looking out the window until he finally gets up and declares that Daisy is not coming and tries to leave.  

I tend to empathize with him in this scene.  He has been waiting to be reunited with Daisy for five years and he is mere moments from achieving this goal.   I am sure he is just bursting with adrenaline and nervous energy.  Have you ever felt this way? So excited you just feel like you are going to explode?  What were you so nervous or excited about?  How did everything turn out?  Take a few minutes to jot down some ideas in your reading journal before continuing to read. 

At that moment, they hear a car pulling up and they both jump up. Nick goes out to greet Daisy and brings her into the sitting room to meet – no one.  The room is empty.  Where did Gatsby go? There is a knock on the door.  Gatsby was so nervous that he ran out the back door into the rain and came back around to the front door, now a dripping, wet mess.  Gatsby enters Nick’s house once again and walks pointedly into the sitting room, leaving Nick standing confused at the door.  

At this point the tension is so great even Nick isn’t sure what to do next.  He decides to go into the sitting room when he hears Daisy’s say, “I certainly am awfully glad to see you again.”

Nick finds Gatsby standing by the mantle with Daisy sitting nervously on the edge of her seat.  Gatsby tries to casually tell Nick that he and Daisy have met before when he accidentally knocks the clock off the mantle. While Gatsby catches it before it hits the ground, it is a distraction to break the overwhelming tension in the room. 

Remember I said to pay attention to time, or items that represent time, the clock in this scene is significant.  It is a symbol of the passage of time.  While Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship was in the past, time stands still for a moment, transporting them back to their time together. But as we know, time stops for no one, and five years have passed since they last saw one another, specifically five years this November. A lot can happen in five years.  Think about it, what was going on in your life five years ago? How have you changed? I know I certainly have.

At this point, Gatsby loses his nerve and bolts into the kitchen saying he has made a terrible mistake.  Nick tells him he is being rude, and Gatsby makes one final attempt to face the woman of his dreams.  

Nick decides to give them some privacy and heads outside.  It is still raining so Nick stands under a tree and becomes very philosophical.  He is pondering Gatsby’s house and the original owners and comes to a philosophical conclusion – “Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry.”  What the heck does he mean?  So, let’s break it down.  Hopefully you remember from your world history class that serfs were the lowest level of the feudal system.  They were bound to work on the land of the wealthy landowners. Now look at the second half of this quote. Peasants aren’t much higher in society than a serf, maybe one baby step up.  They are associated with the lower class and a lack of upward mobility. What does this mean in the context of this quote? Well, Americans, while they may occasionally be okay with working hard for someone else (like a serf), they are against being a part of a society which lacks social mobility (like peasants).  This is a reference to the American Dream, the idea of self-reliance, and the pursuit of a better life.  Fitzgerald is commenting how Americans generally don't like being controlled by others and always want to improve their social and economic status. It shows how Americans value their individuality and have a strong desire to succeed, which reflects the general concept of the American Dream.

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Ok, enough deep-thinking stuff, back to Gatsby and Daisy.  Nick heads back in the house to find Gatsby’s emotional state has changed from nervousness to sheer joy.  He was literally glowing with happiness. Nick’s return shatters the protective bubble Gatsby and Daisy were in for the last half-hour and brings them back to reality.

At this point, it has stopped raining, so Gatsby suggests they go to his house.  He basically wants to show off all his wealth and success to Daisy. But as they depart, Nick catches Gatsby in a lie.  Gatsby tells Daisy that it took him “just three years to earn the money” to buy his house.  Wait, what?  I thought you inherited your money from your dead relatives in the Midwest town of San Francisco? Cue awkward conversation.  I did, but I lost it in the panic of the war. Don’t ask me about my business, no wait, do you want to be involved? Have you changed your mind?  Hmmm….  It seems Gatsby gets a little rattled when he is around Daisy and can’t keep his stories straight. Keep this in the back of your mind for later as this gives the reader yet another “hint” that Gatsby did not earn his money honestly.

Back to our tour of Gatsby’s house. Gatsby is ecstatic to show Daisy his house and assess its value based on her responses.  They even run into Kilpspringer “the border” doing exercises in one of the rooms. They finally arrive in Gatsby’s bedroom, which is much simpler than the rest of the house, where he begins throwing all of his shirts out on the bed. Linen shirts, silk shirts, striped shirts, plaid shirts.  All selected for Gatsby from a man in England who buys his clothes for him.  Then Daisy breaks down in tears because “they’re such beautiful shirts.”  Wow.  That’s quite a response to a bunch of shirts.  Why does Daisy respond this way? 

Well, there could be a few reasons.  First, it had been quite an emotional day for her.  She is suddenly and surprisingly reunited with a man from her past that she once considered running away with.  She learns that he has spent the past five years building his fortune with the sole purpose of winning her back.  She is conflicted because while she desires the finer things in life, she also desires love, something her current marriage lacks. That’s a lot to process in a few hours.  The shirts also represent Gatsby’s immense wealth, which again was achieved to bring him from a soldier (lower class) to someone of high social status and wealth.  His pursuit of the American Dream to achieve his goal, his green light – her love and affection. 

A few aspects to note before the end of the chapter.  Gatsby has a picture on his desk of a man named Dan Cody, who is also deceased.  He will become important later, so make a note of his name.  Gatsby also receives a telephone call about business making him angry.   Finally, Gatsby forces Kilpsringer to come play the piano and sing and entertain them. Notice the song he plays. Now, most of you listening have probably never heard this song before as it is OLD.  I, personally, never heard the original, but I know of it because it was used in a commercial for Carnival Cruises way back in my youth. But you don’t need to recognize the tune to notice that the lyrics focus on wealth and fun.  This emphasizes one of Fitzgerald’s main themes in the novel, which is the superficiality and emptiness of the characters’ lives.  Most if not all of our characters, including Nick, are concerned with going to parties and having fun.  There are no deep human connections between our characters.  Personally, it reminds me of social media. I have lots of Facebook friends, but there are no real human connections.  Think about this for a few minutes and write about it in your reading journal.  What do you think Fitzgerald is trying to say about society in the 1920s?

Before I finish this episode, I want to discuss one more important theme within the novel, and that is the idea of illusion versus reality.  Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that when you woke up you swore it had actually happened?  How did you feel when you finally realized it was all just a dream?  To look at it another way, have you ever experienced a strong desire for something or someone, you work hard to attain that goal, only to find that once you do, it falls short of your expectations? Reality fails to align with the illusion you have created. 

Quick side story, I remember when I was in high school.  I had the biggest crush on the lead singer of a popular rock band.  Not giving any names as some of you listening will know this band.  Anyway, I had all their albums. I saw them several times in concert.  As this was way before social media, I belonged to their official fan club and received newsletters by mail every month.  I could truly image myself meeting this man, falling in love, and living happily ever after.  If not the lead singer, then definitely the lead guitarist. But as I got older, I realized I didn’t want to meet this man in person.  My illusion of him was so strong and was such a powerful influence in my life, he could never live up to hype.  To this day, I have never met him in person, and I hope I never do.  Instead, I get to hold on to that childhood fantasy of meeting him, falling madly in love, and having him whisk me away to live happily every after. This same idea can be applied to Gatsby and Daisy. 

At the beginning of this chapter, Nick is filled with the same anticipation as Gatsby is, but by the end he comes to the realization that Gatsby has “over-dreamed” his goal.  What does that mean? Well, Gatsby has been longing for his dream (becoming wealthy, being seen as upper class, and reuniting with the love of his life) for so long that the real-life Daisy will never be able to live up to the “colossal vitality of his illusion”. Sometimes dreams are better than reality. 

Some critics see this as the beginning of the end for Gatsby. He fails to recognize that Daisy doesn't match his idealized dream of her. The colossal significance of the green light has vanished, the realization of the dream has begun, and there is no going back to the safety of the fantasy where Gatsby has total control. This is the vulnerability that Gatsby feels by the end of the chapter.  He is now fully exposed and is no longer hiding in the shadows reaching for that green light. His dream has become reality.   

What do you think will happen next?  Will Gatsby and Daisy run off together and live happily ever after?  Do you see their relationship surviving?  What about Tom?  Jot your ideas down in your reading journal so you can come back to your initial ideas as you continue reading.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Read it and (Don’t) Weep. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you will be notified when new episodes are released. If you liked today’s show, please leave a review so others can discover my show.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, drop me an email at readitanddontweep@gmail.com, or reach out to me on social media. I would love to hear from you. The links are in the show notes.  

Thank you for listening.  I am Jackey Taggart and remember to read it and don’t weep. 

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