Blog 2: How Diction Creates Tone

          When Nick is describing the moment he saw the pool that Gatsby died in mere moments before, the diction used creates a morbid tone that portrays to the readers that “the holocaust was complete” (162).  It is depicted that “there was a faint, barely perceptible movement of the water as the fresh flow from one end urged its way toward the drain at the other” (162).  The use of the words “faint” and “barely perceptible” indicate how Gatsby’s death could not have been predicted by anyone, and was caused by a random occurrence of events catalyzed by misinformation.  This creates a morbid tone in that it shows how one’s life can end at any moment due to a misunderstanding on someone else’s part; and how it is unfortunate that Gatsby, who dreamt of starting a new life, as seen through the use of the word “fresh,” was unable to, and everything he had been working for went down “the drain.”  A gloomy tone is further represented when Nick states that “a small gust of wind that scarcely corrugated the surface was enough to disturb its accidental course with its accidental burden” (162).  The “small gust of wind” symbolizes the innocent vision Gatsby had of marrying Daisy, and how this emotion, which “scarcely corrugated” him physically, eventually led to his demise due to the “accidental” events that came about from his quest to regaining his true love.  The author portrays how fortuitous events can evoke pain and suffering so great that inexorably, the only way one can escape it is through death, a theme which in turn formulates a “disturb[ed]” and morbid tone.  He also goes on to detail how there were “little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves” (162).  The “ripples” represent the minor events in our lives that may unknowingly become “waves” that cast “shadows” on our future.  The use of diction with such negative connotation establishes a dreary tone by revealing how every action has a consequence that may drastically alter the course of our lives.  By implementing somber diction in Nick’s description of the scene of Gatsby’s death, F. Scott Fitzgerald not only formulates a morbid tone, but is concurrently able to integrate one of the novel’s major thematic concepts.