What Does The Tea Hour Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

“At the gray tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low, sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor.” Living a life with gold or silver slippers is the American Dream, but the color gray implies that the goal is less valuable and blurry due to the moral corruption that occurs when it is achieved. Tea hour is primarily for the upper class since they have time to converse and drink tea. When Fitzgerald writes “rooms,” he means the rich, many of them, and they are suffering from a consistent “low, sweet fever.” This fever is unconscious since it does not happen physically but spiritually. The sweet part is the life of wealth the victims suffer, but

She wanted her life shaped now, immediately — and the decision must be made by some force — of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality — that was close at hand. That force took shape in the middle of spring with the arrival of Tom Buchanan.” Daisy is indecisive whether she wants to wait for Gatsby or find another man. She is acting selfish because Gatsby is not on vacation and purposely isolating her. He is deployed, fighting for their country, yet here she is, not working or doing anything with her life, and all she does is complain. The amount of love that Gatsby feels for Daisy is large compared to the love she feels for him. Clearly, her love is not genuine because she is not willing to bear the difficulty of being temporarily alone in return for the joy that she could have felt once Gatsby returned. In the end, Daisy marries Tom to have a fixed life where things are less complicated. Tom could mold her life and make decisions for her, leaving her with less struggles. Some decisions are challenging to make, and Daisy not want to face those challenges. She wants another person or thing to be her cushion. Plus, her relationship with Tom is practical because they can take advantage of each other’s image and money. They blend with each other since they come from wealthy families. Daisy lives her life through other people’s eyes. Gatsby used to be her operating system, not because he was controlling her,

Doubtless there was a certain struggle and a certain relief.” Daisy is attracted to Tom due to his physical appearance and his social class, not due to his qualities like she was with Gatsby. She is “flattered” by him but does not fall in love with him. The struggle that she feels when choosing Tom is letting go of Gatsby, her true love. The relief is the sense of security she feels from having someone back in the position of operating her life and the monetary stability that Tom provides. She is feels less lonely and pressured since she has Tom to use his money, leave her problems behind, run away, and have someone take on those problems