I"ll pay you every penny back." Shows that he has been working all his life, but sill needs to borrow money. .
Whilst striving to attain the dream the central characters of the texts exhibit different emotions; exhaustion and energy. Gatsby is a vision of pure yearning and energy; " He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way." This image is one of desire, and we later discover that he was "stretching out" to try and reach for Daisy; his dream. Gatsby's dream is connected with images of light, a pure and positive entity, which is ethereal, and untouchable. After Nick and Gatsby had lunch, Nick arrives home in East Egg to discover Gatsby's house, which was intensely lit up; " My house was on fire the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal upon the shrubbery." The light symbolises a beacon, which Gatsby hopes will lure Daisy to his house, but the "unreal" indicates that Gatsby is drawn to a fantasy vision of Daisy rather than reality, and so his dream is fragile. .
When Gatsby believes that his dream has been fulfilled, Fitzgerald describes that, "He literally glowed; without a word or a gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room." It seems as though Gatsby is glowing like a torch. This energy and light symbolise the vibrancy of ambition created by the American Dream. .
Another character that oozes with energy is Myrtle; who seems alive and vibrant. Myrtle has "an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering." "Smouldering" is a passionate description, which creates a sense of her body generating heat and energy. .
Both Gatsby and Myrtle's energy are highlighted because of the Buchanan's lethargy, which is revealed in Daisy's inability to shape their future; "Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? What do people plan?" and their equally empty past; "They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrest fully," These quotations indicate that they have an empty life, with nothing to do; yet them seem exhausted having done nothing.
