Let’s not forget that Nick does care about Daisy, so seeing her husband eagerly introduce him to the girl he’s cheating on her with probably won’t be much fun for him. But he doesn’t feel like arguing with Tom.

Tom thinks he is so superior to Nick that he doesn’t see why introducing his wife’s cousin to his mistress would be uncomfortable for Nick. He pretty much figures that Nick is lucky to be getting away from his boring life and doing something that mattered.

This description of Tom is consistent with what we learned in Chapter 1. He is “supercilious”, meaning he thinks he is better than people. And he still throws Nick around like a rag doll when he wants him to go somewhere.

Nick is essentially recommending that Daisy takes the child and leaves Tom. But even with all of Tom’s physical and emotional abuse, Daisy is still content with staying with him and his money.

Even if Nick’s marriage rumors are just meaningless gossip, it makes him feel a little better that the upper class took an interest in him. But he is still feeling pretty negative after learning about Tom’s mistress and seeing the way Tom and Daisy treat people.

Tom doesn’t like the idea of women just running from partner to partner, he claims the “traditional” family is much more proper. This is the old money in him speaking. Which is very ironic and hypocritical since he is cheating on his wife for a married woman.

And Daisy doesn’t take too kindly to this comment. Trouble in paradise.

Daisy does have things in common in Tom, even if it doesn’t always seem that way. She needs self approval from everyone, much like Tom, and has adopted some of the negative, condescending “old money” ideas.

Without completely coming out and saying it, Daisy is clearly implying that Tom isn’t there for her and her daughter when they need it. Tom makes her feel lonely when he is cheating on her and tending his polo ponies.

Ether is what used to be used to ease the pain of childbirth in the 1920’s.

You can’t blame Daisy for being a little down considering her husband is obviously cheating on her. She is just as negative as Tom who claims “civilization’s going to pieces”, but Daisy’s negativity is less misplaced.

Classic Nick here. He is true to his word and goes along with whatever it is Daisy wants to talk about without complaining. But he is also poking fun at Daisy and how she thinks everyone wants to hear about her life. He really doesn’t care that much about the baby, but goes along to avoid conflict and get a quick jab in.

The “fifth guest” here is the phone going off while Tom’s mistress tries to reach him. Everyone in the room knows what is really going on now, and it leads to a very tense situation.

Daisy usually puts up with Tom’s white supremacy rants and boasts about his polo ponies. But even he knows better than to tick her off while the woman he’s cheating on her with calls him during dinner.

And Nick and Jordan are just the uncomfortable bystanders to Tom and Daisy’s disagreement. Some people might have enjoyed watching all this tension and drama going on, but Nick just wants to get out of there at this point.