The Great Gatsby Chapter 6: Gatsby's Mystery is Solved

When Daisy and Tom attend Gatsby’s party in chapter 6, Gatsby becomes disappointed because he believes Daisy did not enjoy herself. By disliking his party, Gatsby feels that she has grown to dislike the person he has grown to be over the past five years. Thus, Gatsby declares that he feels “far away from her” because they have grown to enjoy different entertainments, and have therefore grown apart (Fitzgerald 109). However, Nick tells Gatsby that he cannot expect Daisy to fulfill his expectations because five years have passed, and Gatsby can not expect their past relation to be reinvigorated into a different setting in the present. Gatsby becomes very excited and says, “’Can’t repeat the past?... Why of course you can!’” (Fitzgerald 110). Fitzgerald reveals that Gatsby believes that he can revive the partnership he once had with Daisy five years earlier. Fitzgerald reveals the source of Gatsby’s mysterious aura. He appears to be peculiar because he struggles to live in the present. Nick declares that Gatsby “wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby fails to recognize that both he and Daisy have become different people since their relationship. Even if Gatsby were to “recover” characteristics of the man he thinks he has lost over time, Daisy has still grown into a completely different woman. Fitzgerald’s continuous depiction of Gatsby in the darkness and shadows makes sense because living in his shadow symbolizes how he lives in the past. Gatsby is looking backward and therefore looking at the shadow he casts.