Tom is the killjoy in this passage from The Great Gatsby, which is appropriate since he will play the same role when he smacks Myrtle and when he puts a stop to the flirtation, as he thinks of it, of Daisy and Gatsby. He causes the shift in this passage.
The writer, or more accurately, the speaker, relates the shift, however. Overall, he accomplishes the shift by reversing the imagery. The other rhetorical elements you mention contribute to the overall effect of the imagery.
The white dresses are "fluttering" and "rippling" as if just returning from a "flight," and the women are "buoyed up" as if they are floating in midair by an "anchored balloon." The diction contributes to the visual imagery. But the "whip" and "snap" and "groan" (diction contributing to sound imagery) become a "boom" and the shift occurs. Instead of the light, airy imagery, and in addition to "boom," we get "shut," "caught," "died," and "slowly to the floor." This juxtaposition--placing opposites side by side--of imagery, contributed to by the diction, enhances the effect of the shift. The speaker reverses the imagery, and thereby reverses the tone.
Of course, the light, poignant picture of the women floating is an illusion. And like other illusion in The Great Gatsby, it is brought to an abrupt end.
No comments:
Post a Comment