After reading chapter 7

[Mariel]

Ealy in this chapter we read "The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer." How relevant is this to the plot?

Are there any changes in focalisation in this chapter? What is the purpose? What is the effect?

[Macarena]

I totally agree with Melisa. While you are reading the novel, you can perceive or imagine that Gatsby is full of growing anger towards Tom, and viceversa. "The warmest day of the summer" represents that deep anger inside Gatsby. It also represents a chaotic, stressful situation that they are living.
As regards the focalisation in this chapter, we can see an abrupt change when Gatsby and Daisy are coming back home and they run over Myrtle (Tom's mistress). That's the moment when everything changes and everyone accused Gatsby for the murder. As a result, the only person that remained with him was Nick. I think the purpose of this focalisation is to show us that people wanted Gatsby because he was a wealthy man. That caused me indignation because he was guilty of something that he hadn't done, and even his long-time lover had left him alone. It was a question of interests, and don't like it.

[Mariel]

You should revise the concept of focalisation...

[María]

I totally agree with Meli and Maca, the weather was related to the tense atmosphere. All the characters were in a bad mood because of this warm day. Besides, Tom knew that Daisy was in love with Nick and as a consequence he was furious with him.
As regards focalisation I´m not sure but in my opinion there is a change from internal focalisation to external focalisation because since chapter 7 Nick didn´t impart any information as to characters´ thoughts or feelings, he assumed a role outside of them and he didn´t add any interpretation or analysis. Only at the end of the novel he expressed what he thought about Daisy and Tom behaviors’.

[Mariel]

Good points about the hot weather and the characters' feelings!

María suitably mentions this shift from internal to external focalisation, yet the voice continues to be Nick's although there are details of scenes that he couldn't have witnessed. Is this a case of faulty focalisation or does the text account for this shift? Tip: you will find the info later in the novel.

[Carolina]

I had not been thinking what Melisa said. She is right. Red is the colour of anger, rage and hatred. On the other hand, blue represents sadness, cold, desolation. May be the weather represents the atmosphere between the characters and it was the ‘last summer’ because then Gatsby died. I also agree with Maria that because of the warm day they were in bad mood, and the tension and temper of the characters rose. I don’t agree with Melisa when she said that the focalization changed from the Gatsby’s love to the accident. I think that the Gatsby’s love is still shows in this chapter because he loves Daisy so much that he tries to protect her hiding that she killed Myrtle and not telling the truth.

[Alberto]

In my opinion I think the quote selected from the book hints at the fact that the climax is soon approaching. I get this impression since the main action in the story occurs during a summer and in the quote it says that it's almost the last day of the summer.
Talking about focalisation, there is a scene in which Nick talks about the eye witness account by Michaelis of the accident. This is obviously not something he witnessed. However, it does give the reader helpful information to follow along the unraveling of the plot.

[Florencia]

I completely agree with my partners! It is noticed the great variety of colour symbols that the author portrays in this novel.Not only is it connected to weather but also with other things such as cars, clothes, the green ligth that represents Gatsby´s hope to reunite with his love again for example. As regards this change of focalisation, in my opinion I would say that this is an estrategy of the author in order to clear why Gatsby was assessinated. In order to give more details to the readers. As being Nick the narrator of the story, it is obvious that many events could not be evidenced by him and as Alberto stated above, it gives an important information to us as readers to reveal the tragic end.

[Franco]

I agree with my partners’ interpretation as regards the weather and the characters’ mood. I would say that apart from anger, there is a lot of emphasis on the idea of the characters feeling anxious, nervous or under pressure.
As regards the shift in focalisation, I believe the text accounts for the scene Nick could not have witnessed in chapter IX page 171, when it says: “When Michaelis’s testimony at the inquest brought to light Wilson’s suspicions of his wife I thought the whole tale would shortly be served up in racy pasquinade...” It is very likely that Nick got to know what had happened because of Michaelis’s testimony.

[Lorena]

I absolutely agree with my partners. The seasons denoted the characters' mood and feelings and also the atmosphere they generated in every scene. As regards the changes in focalization I agree with Franco. I think that, although Nick did not witnessed the accident, he could have heard it from Michaelis' testimony. As Nick wrote the story some time after everything happened, he chose how to tell the events. That gave the story an effect of unreliability.

[Mariel]

Heat exacerbates emotions and in this case announces the tragedy that is going to unfold. It is the last summer not necessarily because of Gatsby's death, but because from the start we know that at the end of these events Nick left New York and returned to the Midwest.

The use of a limited narrator can be a constraint for the writer, but here he finds a logical solution to introduce the account of the accident (and the events leading up to it)through Michaelis’s testimony at the inquest, which Nick attended. The version of the events that emerges from it also provides Nick with another opportunity to question the validity of "absolute truth"