Symbols/Motifs
The Heat
The heat is a form of pathetic fallacy, displaying the emotion of the events taking place within the chapter. This chapter is the climax of the novel which features the “compressed heat [exploding] into sound” (Fitzgerald,127) between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy’s love. The core of the chapter is stifling hot, “certainly the warmest of the summer” (114), and no matter the precautions Daisy takes to make the heat subside, she is unable to do so. Throughout the chapter, Daisy is scrambling to cool down the setting by sitting in the “breeze of the fans”(115), asking Jordan to “open another window”(127), makes the “suggestion to hire five bathrooms and take cold baths”(126) and to drink “mint juleps”(126). The heat shows the inescapable conflict that is going to occur between Gatsby and Tom and “[Daisy] realizes at last what she was doing – and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done now. It was too late." (133). The heat shows the overtaking of Daisy’s white exterior, as her petals are wilting in the intense conflict and all that is left is her yellow core.
Daisy's Voice
Daisy’s voice is alluring and is the primary reason why she is able to be the “golden girl”(120). She is fully aware of the fact that she can “play murmurous tricks in her throat”(105) in order to draw people close to her. In this chapter, Daisy encourages the group that for the rest of the day, they are going to New York as “her voice got [them] to [their] feet and out on the blazing gravel drive”(119). Both Tom and Gatsby attentively listen to her, and neither of the men protest when she wants them to stop fighting. Daisy’s voice is natural; she was born with a rich voice that can lure men in, just as she was born into wealth. It gives an insight into her true character, and why Gatsby puts on a “Platonic conception of himself “(99), to capture Daisy’s love. Daisy has a dangerous combination of a superficial personality and an enchanting voice that leads Gatsby into a trap to win her as the final puzzle piece in his American Dream. She is the main playing card that is keeping his dream alive, if not for her his dream will "fall in like a card house"(114).
Gatsby's Face
Throughout chapter seven, Gatsby makes a certain facial expression that appears numerous times that Nicks comments on. The face is “unfamiliar yet vaguely recognizable”(121) and appears whenever anyone mentions the business he is involved in, as well as when he realizes realities. Nick first acknowledges his facial expression in the Buchanan’s house when Daisy and Tom’s daughter enters the room. The reality of the fact that Daisy and Tom are forever bound together with a child challenges his idea of erasing the past, as he looks at the child as if he “hadn’t ever believed in its existence before”(117). Alas, during the climax of the novel, Tom confronts Gatsby’s association with crime, and the look appears upon his face "as if he had killed a man"(135). Tom's knowledge about Gatsby reveals the reality of Tom’s motives against Gatsby. For the first time in the novel, Nick does not have a clue what Gatsby’s thoughts or feelings are, as he cannot decipher his facial expressions.
Yellow
Yellow is symbolic in The Great Gatsby for moral decay, corruption, and desire for wealth. In Chapter 7, gold and yellow are prominent symbols in explaining a deeper meaning into the imagery that Fitzgerald is using to explain events. Yellow is the colour of Gatsby’s beautiful, luxurious car. Yellow is seen around the tragic death of Myrtle, in which Daisy hits her with the car. Myrtle was killed by Gatsby’s yellow Rolls Royce, in front of her yellow brick house under the yellow spectacled eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Gatsby’s car is a symbol for moral decay as it is used in Daisy’s hit and run. The yellow glasses of T.J Eckleburg are able to see the sin and moral decay that Daisy has committed, that others are not able to see. The glasses illustrate how the people in the 20’s cannot see things clearly, which is foreshadowing for future events.
White
White symbolizes false purity and innocence in The Great Gatsby and is Daisy’s favourite colour. White is associated with Daisy the most in this novel as her exterior is to look like the petals on a daisy.Characters in The Great Gatsby are trying to hide their corrupt intentions by covering themselves in white. Both Daisy and Jordan are “powdered white over their tan”(115), and once Daisy begins to talk to Gatsby,“ a tiny gust of powder rose from her”(117). This reveals the corruption within Daisy’s voice. Gatsby's most famous outfit is his white suit, with a silver shirt, and a gold tie. No matter how much Gatsby tries to display innocence, corruption is always tied around his neck.
Pink
Pink represents Gatsby’s social class and his innocent view on losing his American dream. Pink is a colour that is created by mixing red and white. Red represents the illusory of the American dream and white represents false innocence . Pink symbolizes the ending of Gatsby’s American dream, leaving him with false innocence and naive perspective that he can gain it back. Gatsby “wears a pink suit” in chapter 7 and Tom comments that there is no way that Gatsby “is an Oxford man”(122), maybe from “Oxford, New Mexico...or something like that”(122). At the end of the chapter, Gatsby is standing in the dark,outside of the Buchanan's house looking at the “pink glow from Daisy’s room on the ground floor” (146). He stands out as a strange figure standing in the gardens with “the luminosity of his pink suit under the moon" (136), utterly lost now that his dream has died. He holds on to the last piece of all he's ever known as an adult by standing guard outside Daisy's house.
Sailboat
Nick mentions a sail boat when he and Gatsby are at Tom and Daisy's house. "Gatsby's eyes follow it momentarily "as it crawls slowly towards the fresher sea" (118). This sailboat represents the patience and time it takes Jay to finally reach his place of better waters with Daisy and that he is slowly on his way, yet there are unexpected obstacles. The mentioning of the slow speed suggests that Gatsby has waited patiently until now, and will need to wait a fair amount of time. The sails reliance on wind is equivalent to Jays reliance on everything he does to please Daisy, in order for him to get his happiness, and continue down the path of his dreams.