The Way Writers Use Endings Of Texts To Explore Different Aspects Of Love

Question 1

“I was desolate and sick of an old passion”

Answer 1

• This repeated last line parallels to Gatsby and his continuing obsession over Daisy. The adjective “sick” compares the woman to a disease which he is unable to cure; he misses her so much that she is causing him physical pain. He is almost grieving this relationship.
• It is also rhythmically different. Broadly the metre in the rest of the poem is iambic with the stress on the second syllable. In this line the metre changes. The word “desolate” is dactylic, with a stressed first syllable and two unstressed following syllables. It gives emphasis mid-way rather than at the end of the line. It is the dominant image of the poem .

Question 2

“Five years of unwavering devotion”

Answer 2

• Illustrates the magnanimity of Gatsby’s delusion and his obsessive drive to be with Daisy again

Question 3

“He hadn’t used the pool all summer”

Answer 3

• He wanted to use the pool one last time before it gets drain, so leaves would not get into the pipes. That represents he still has the desire for luxury and still had the dream of achieving it.
• The drainage of the pool represents Gatsby’s entire dream of luxury diminishing.
• When Gatsby says he had not used the pool all summer, it means he never realized his dream.
• When he gets murdered in the pool, it represents that he was trapped because of his dreams.

Question 4

“[Gatsby] must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream”

Answer 4

• With this quote, Nick reflects on Gatsby’s last moments of life.
• The “old warm world” is the hopefulness of winning Daisy which previously drove his life’s journey and sustained his rise to riches.
• The idea of a “single dream” shows how devoted and genuine his commitment was to Daisy, which more or less meant all his eggs were in one basket, risking everything on her.
• Though it shows that he had many blind spots, it is somewhat admirable that he was able to sustain his commitment to her so strongly.

Question 5

“I cried for madder music and stronger wine”

Answer 5

• There is desperation in Dowson’s “cry” for the consonantly rhymed “madder music and stronger wine”: metaphors for the passion he feels for this other lover or prostitute.
• He uses a lexical field of nouns that express his desires: “music”, “wine”, and “roses”. Clearly he believes they could reach great heights.
• This is juxtaposed with the “finished feast” and the lamps expiring. There is a sense that the passion doesn’t belong to the real world; it needs artificial light and when they “expire” the reality is greyness and darkness.
• So, nothing can truly satisfy his desire or bring him happiness without Cynarae- it is a hopeless existence.
• The alliteration of “madder music” exacerbates the frustration in his voice as he tries to drown out Cynarae with the sound of music. The superlative “madder” emulates the height of his desperation and extreme desire. He is going through an addiction.

Question 6

“I did love him once, but I loved you too!”

Answer 6

• Highlights Daisy’s façade of helplessness, and her manipulation of those around her.

Question 7

“Honeymoon”

Answer 7

• Shows Tom’s disrespect to Daisy, he commits infidelity moments after they are married.

Question 8

“Ev’n sated with variety”

Answer 8

• Image of greed, gluttony and selfishness. Objectifies women as objects of physical intimacy

Question 9

“It’s a bitch”

Answer 9

• Tom’s class anxieties are in part allayed with his relationship with Myrtle.
• In Myrtle, he finds an opportunity to assert his dominance.
• His financial status further allows him to control her; he chooses her apartment, gives her a stipend, and essentially buys her as she buys her “bitch” of a dog.

Question 10

“I saw pale kings and princes too”

Answer 10

• The high born population — kings, princes, warriors — are described as “pale” and “death-pale”.
• The strength and status of these once-powerful people have been depleted, drained of blood.
• The repetition reinforces this, with the added “death-pale” for emphasis. - The only powerful entity is the “Belle Dame”.
• The reader has no doubt that something disastrous will happen to the speaker.

Question 11

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness”

Answer 11

• highlights their recklessness and carelessness to everyone around them, especially those of a lower class.

Question 12

“Whatever it was that kept them together”

Answer 12

• Nick is unable to give a reason apart from their dual carelessness to why Tom and Daisy are still together, this emphasises their flawed and manipulative characters

Question 13

“Though the sedge is withered from the lake/ And no birds sing”

Answer 13

• The “sedge” is a marsh plant.
• The fact that it is ‘withered’ suggests it is winter, a brutal, cold, sad season; the season of death.
• This matches the mood of the knight, an example of pathetic fallacy
• Keats subverts the traditional iambic meter — that is three or four ‘feet’ or metric beats to the line — of a ballad. This is a departure traditional ballad rhythm

Question 14

“Beautiful shirts”

Answer 14

• Shows Daisy’s superficiality and materialistic nature.
• She only loves Gatsby’s wealth, not him personally.