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Maddie Bell

Mr. Smith

Junior Ela

06 May 2024

In the 20th century, Francis Key Scott wrote a timeless novel, which is known by the

name of The Great Gatsby. The narrative features Jay Gatsby, a millionaire pursuing his true

love, Daisy Buchanan. However, Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, another millionaire known

for his old money. Throughout the novel, conflict between Tom and Gatsby becomes apparent

through various arguments. The movie remake of the book, created by Baz Luhrmann, also

illustrates the ongoing conflicts between these characters. The novel, when analyzed through a

gender lens, explores the language of toxic masculinity in the ongoing fight for control over

Daisy; Luhrmann amplifies this concept by showing the extent of masculine control through

visuals and dialogue between characters.

In the book, Fitzgerald uses declarative sentences to allow the reader to comprehend the

possessive relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. Tom accuses Gatsby of having an affair with

Daisy, and in return, Gatsby claims, “‘ Your wife doesn’t love you,’ said Gatsby quietly. ‘She’s

never loved you. She loves me.’ . . . ‘She never loved you, do you hear?’ he cried. ‘She only

married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake,

but in her heart she never loved anyone except me’” (Fitzgerald 137). When Gatsby claims

Daisy’s feelings Fitzgerald uses declarative statements such as “‘She’s never loved you, do you

hear’” and “‘She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me’”
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(Fitzgerald 137). Through these statements, the reader can understand the aspect of control

Gatsby has over Daisy. Even though it has been five years, Gatsby is confident Daisy still loves

him, even though she is happily married to Tom. Using his confidence, Gatsby makes Daisy’s

decision without considering her opinion, allowing him to persuade and control her feelings. As

the conversation continues, Gatsby uses more declarative statements to hopefully persuade Daisy

into believing she still loves him. Tom is confused about how Gatsby and Daisy have continually

seen each other for five years. Gatsby responds, “‘No, we couldn’t meet. But both of us loved

each other all that time, old sport, and you didn’t know. I used to laugh sometimes’ . . . ‘to think

that you didn’t know’” (Fitzgerald 138). Similar to the declarative statements above, Fitzgerald

includes “‘But both of us loved each other all that time’” (Fitzgerald 138) to represent Gatsby’s

attempt at controlling Daisy’s feelings. Gatsby’s declarative statements ultimately make Daisy's

decisions for her. Even though time has passed, Gatsby declares that Daisy’s feelings of love

have not changed, making it more likely that Daisy will believe Gatsby’s lie instead of using her

true gut feelings. Despite Gatsby’s strong attempt at controlling Daisy’s feelings, he is

unsuccessful. Later in the conversation, Daisy remarks that she did love Tom because she states,

“‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom’” (Fitzgerald 140), as they were happily married for

multiple years. Although Daisy is easily persuaded into believing Gatsby’s claims, as she

remembers her genuine love for Tom and the happiness he has given her, she starts to understand

Gatsby’s tactic of persuading her into a different life.

In addition to declarative statements, Fitzgerald uses probing and leading questions to

represent Tom’s manipulation to control Daisy’s feelings. As Gatsby and Tom begin to argue

over Daisy, Tom becomes aggravated at his wife for having an affair with another man. Looking
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to pry more information from Daisy, Tom asks, “‘You’ve been seeing this fellow for five years’”

(Fitzgerald 138). Tom’s questioning is typical as his partner has had a secret relationship with

another man. However, in the context of the argument between him and Gatsby, Tom’s question

comes off as manipulative. Despite Tom being Daisy’s husband, she has a right to keep her

relationship with Gatsby private. Therefore, Tom manipulates Daisy by asking her questions to

find more information about the secret relationship. Tom hopes that by asking Daisy these

specific questions, she will reveal more information about the relationship than she realizes.

However, due to Gatsby’s confidence, he chooses to disclose how long he and Daisy have been

“together” to spite Tom for marrying her. Furthermore, as the conversation carries on, Tom

continues to ask questions. Hoping to understand how Daisy could have lied to him all this time,

he says, “‘Not at Kapiolani . . . Not that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep

your shoes dry’” (Fitzgerald 139). As Tom begins to understand the relationship between Gatsby

and Daisy, he asks questions that manipulate Daisy’s feelings. Tom’s short leading questions

almost make Daisy feel bad about having an affair with Gatsby. Tom questions Daisy by using

moments in their relationship where she did love him, causing her to revisit her true feelings of

love. Towards the end of the conversation, Daisy reveals that she did love Tom despite the

rockiness of their relationship.

In the movie, Luhrmann utilizes visuals and dialogue to amplify the concept of masculine

control over Daisy, allowing the viewer to understand the dynamic of her relationships with Tom

and Gatsby. In the hotel scene, after Tom reveals to Gatsby that he knows about their affair, Tom

questions Daisy angrily. However, Gatsby takes it upon himself to answer the questions,

knowing Daisy will not answer. After hearing Gatsby’s response, Tom laughs in Gatsby’s face
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because he does not believe the “relationship” Gatsby claims between him and Daisy. Although

feeling threatened by Gatsby, Tom sternly declares Daisy’s love for him. Later in this scene, Tom

uses an upset tone when asking leading questions to Daisy making her feel bad about what she

has done despite their marriage. Luhrumann’s usage of different tones in Tom’s character

strengthens the concept of masculine control because the tone change represents that Tom cares

about his relationship with Daisy, and if he were to lose control of his wife he would be angry as

he lived all this time believing Daisy was his own. However, Gatsby claims Daisy has

continually loved him for years and Tom responds to Gatsby by laughing at his face. Tom is

happily married to Daisy, and he believes Daisy is entirely in love with him. Tom’s assumption

gives him enough confidence to laugh in Gatsby’s face and then claim Daisy loves him using an

assertive tone. Although they both argue for Daisy’s love in this conversation, Gatsby and Tom

fulfill the masculine role within a relationship in the 20th century. They project their own opinion

onto their significant other, which, in this case, is Daisy. As Tom and Gatsby argue about their

relationships with Daisy, Gatsby becomes infuriated. Additionally, Gatsby’s face becomes

noticeably red as he starts yelling after Tom claims will take better care of Daisy. Using his

pent-up anger, Gatsby throws his glass at the wall and then grabs Tom by the collar, coming

close to punching him in the face. Gatsby quickly realizes his outburst, and Tom begins to laugh

evilly as Gatsby has gone too far by losing his temper. Gatsby is so adamant about Daisy loving

him that he reacts physically as Tom is claiming Daisy is happy in their marriage. The fight for

control over Daisy causes Gatsby to lose his temper completely, visually showing the viewer

Gatsby cares for Daisy. However, Tom’s evil laugh shows his happiness as he knows he is under

Gatsby’s skin and has some form of control over Daisy. The visual aspect of the movie illustrates
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this scene very differently from how a reader may interpret it. Visually, since there are real

people bringing emotion into this scene, the audience can better understand the large emotions

both Tom and Gatsby experience in their struggle for control over Daisy. Differently, the novel

allows the reader to interpret the arguments based on the language Fitzgerald uses as there aren’t

actors physically creating the scene.

Through a gender lens, the novel explores the language of toxic masculinity in the

constant struggle for control over Daisy; similarly, Luhrmann visually conveys the level of male

dominance over Daisy, which further illustrates this concept. Although Fitzgerlad presents the

story through a novel and Luhrmann through a movie, overall, both accurately depict the typical

gender roles within a relationship during the 20th century.

Skill N Foundational Proficient Advanced

Y

Thesis Establishes *previous and *previous and

a basic Indicates the Effectively & clearly
claim relationship conveys the
Mentions between texts relationship between
both texts Claim is a texts & and the
Specifically reasonable message or
mentions or interpretation interpretation that
alludes to a and moves can be determined
critical lens beyond Clearly developed
summary throughout essay
Developed
throughout
essay

Claims Makes a *Previous (and) *Previous (and)

statement Somewhat Considers the thesis
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that requires considers the of the paper

evidence to thesis Effective use of
support Somewhat transition
developed words/phrases
through Clearly developed
paragraph through paragraph

Evidence Includes *previous and *previous and

evidence Includes multiple Includes a variety of
from both pieces of specific, meaningful,
texts (either evidence/ and well-chosen
quotes or examples that evidence that relates
examples) clearly relate to to the thesis
Most the thesis,
evidence individual claims,
relates to and critical lens
lens Includes multiple
pieces of
evidence in each
body paragraph

Analysis Somewhat Explains how Explains

explains evidence well-selected points
how supports topic of comparison
evidence sentence of among evidence
supports individual and their connection
topic paragraphs to the thesis
sentence Explains how
and thesis evidence
supports the
thesis of the
essay
Some use of film
specific
vocabulary

MLA Some elements missing No errors in MLA format

or some errors in MLA
format

Conventio Shows Most quotes are All quotes are

ns evidence of correctly correctly integrated
basic integrated Shows evidence of
proofreadin Follows essay careful proofreading
g organization
Shows evidence
of proofreading
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Fluency Simple use Demonstrates Strong use of of

of use of grade vocabulary, diction,
vocabulary level vocabulary, sentence structures
Simple diction, sentence
sentence structures
structures Accurate use of
text specific
vocabulary