F. Scott Fitzgerald
Uncharacteristically, during this section, there is comparatively little dialogue. However, Fitzgerald fills this vacuum with a style that includes detailed imagery to develop a mood that varies from tense to relieved as does the mood of the interactions among Nick, Gatsby, and Daisy on the day of the arranged tea party.
The imagery begins with the weather. Before Daisy arrived, it had been raining for most of the day. As a result, when Daisy pulled up in her car through the bare trees, the yard, despite Gatsby's planning, was filled with puddles, the trees were a dismal sight, and the sky was still dreary with a chance for more rain. Still, the unpleasant atmosphere penetrated Nick's house as well. The initial lack of conversation portrayed everyone's uneasiness. Understandably, Gatsby in particular felt the need to feign calmness: "Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom" (Fitzgerald, 86). Even though Gatsby desired that every little detail put Daisy at ease so that he could impress her, every detail from the weather to the lawn to the placement of his hands to the dynamics of the conversation served to ensure the opposite. In fact, the mood shifts when Gatsby ceases to try to impress Daisy with details that are not his.
While bare trees greeted Daisy to Nick's home, colorful flowers greeted her to Gatsby's home. Gatsby led Nick and Daisy on a tour of his home which had undergone no special preparations for Lily's arrival but still contained the most beautiful rooms and libraries. However, the most significant detail of his house that evinced the strongest response from Daisy came from his humble bedroom which contained little more than a bed, a wardrobe, a bathroom, and a dull gold toilet set. While the splendor of the rest of his house enabled Gatsby to rest assured that Daisy was enjoying what she was seeing as many have before, his bedroom had previously only been for him to see. Consequently, his bedroom represented Gatsby's true character without any affectations designed to ingratiate himself to anyone. Luckily for Gatsby, Daisy responded to his shirts, which represent his character in a larger sense, by saying she had never seen something so beautiful in her own life.
The progression of the moods of this section.
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