You make it worse by crabbing about it.The Great Gatsby · 2013 — Chapter 14 of 18 · 4'30" · B2
Tom Calls Gatsby Nobody From Nowhere, Explained: Nobody From Nowhere
The argument starts over the heat and turns into a fight about who Gatsby really is. "What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?" Tom's line frames the whole scene: he is not defending his wife but his position, and Gatsby's answer is to demand that Daisy erase the past.
What happens
On a sweltering afternoon at Tom's house, tempers fray over the heat before the argument turns on Gatsby, whose vague Oxford story and shadowy origins get thrown back at him as "Mr. Nobody From Nowhere." Gatsby strikes back by insisting Daisy never loved Tom, and the room is forced to choose sides as Daisy hesitates and the fight spins out of control.
Listen for
once in a whilethe latest thingcount me outcrab about
00:00 / 04:30Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
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Phrase of the scene
once in a while
偶尔；时不时
汤姆在摊牌时解释自己偶尔会出去放纵，但总会回到黛西身边。
We still meet for lunch once in a while.
Also in this scene
- the latest thing
最新的时髦；时下流行（此处含讽意）
- count me out
别把我算进去；我不参与
- crab about
to complain repeatedly and annoyingly about something
Everything marked in this scene
37 notes across 111 lines
liaison
You make it worse by crabbing about it.Why not let her alone, old sport?If you're going to make personal remarks......I understand that you're an Oxford man.You see, it was an opportunity they gave to some of us officers...He isn't causing a row, you're causing a row. Please have a little self-control.He isn't causing a row, you're causing a row. Please have a little self-control....the latest thing is to sit back......the latest thing is to sit back......and let Mr. Nobody From Nowhere......make love to your wife....you can count me out.liaison
...you can count me out....at family life and family institutions......throw everything overboard, we'll have intermarriage...Your wife doesn't love you.simple present negative
Your wife doesn't love you.elision
Your wife doesn't love you.No, you see, she never loved you....anyone but me.It's been going on for five years....both of us loved each other all that time. Didn't we?And I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her...be damned if
And I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her......unless you brought the groceries to the back door.But all the rest of that......is a goddamn lie....is a goddamn lie.She does. And what's more, I love Daisy too.Now, once in a while......I go off on a spree. I always come back....I go off on a spree. I always come back.And in my heart I love her all the time.Just tell him the truth. Go on.passive voice
That you never loved him and this will all be wiped out forever....this pain will be wiped out...Tom Calls Gatsby Nobody From Nowhere, explained
What's really going on
The heat is the excuse, not the subject. Tom spends the opening minutes complaining about the temperature, and the complaint is a tell: he is a man losing his grip on a room he expects to control. The real fight begins when Gatsby's polished story meets a question he cannot answer—where and when he went to Oxford—and Tom seizes the gap. "What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?" is less a question than a claim of ownership: the house, the wife, the marriage, all of it his. The counter is absolute: "Your wife doesn't love you." Gatsby needs Daisy to say she never loved Tom, because only then does five years of waiting become a mistake instead of a life. Daisy's "I never loved him" arrives late and small, and it satisfies no one. The insult that finally lands is "Mr. Nobody From Nowhere"—the class card played when facts run out.
Theme
ClassThe insult "Mr. Nobody From Nowhere" turns Gatsby's unknown origins into the real charge, as if breeding outranks everything else in the room.
PowerTom fights to keep control of his house, his marriage and the story, while Gatsby tries to take all three by demanding Daisy's confession.
What you'll learn
- Use the rest of for what remains
- Hear Nobody From Nowhere as insult
- Refuse with count me out
- Catch goddamn as exploding anger
Listen for
- crabbing about it — liaison
- count me out — liaison
- doesn't love you — elision
What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?It sounds like a question but functions as a claim of ownership. The house and the marriage are asserted as property, and anyone stirring trouble in them is trespassing.
It's been going on for five years.A blunt timeline that turns an affair into a long-standing arrangement. Five years undercuts the idea that any of this is a passing fling or a misunderstanding.
And I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her...An expression of disbelief laced with class contempt. The speaker cannot imagine how someone of Gatsby's standing ever got close to Daisy at all.
She does. And what's more, I love Daisy too.A counter-claim that doubles down: not only does she love him, but he loves her as well. It turns the argument into a contest of who is more entitled to her.
Questions about this scene
Why is Gatsby dismissed as "Nobody From Nowhere"?
He can't pin down when or where he went to Oxford, and the gap is used to attack his origins rather than debate him. The label is a class weapon: no family, no pedigree, therefore no claim.
Does Daisy mean it when she says she never loved Tom?
She says "I never loved him" only after being pressed, and the delivery is flat rather than certain. The film leaves it open whether she is choosing Gatsby, protecting herself, or simply ending the argument.
Why does Gatsby insist that Daisy erase the past?
He wants five years of her marriage rewritten, not just ended, because he has spent that time building a life aimed at her. "Your wife doesn't love you" is his opening move; demanding she say he was never loved is the finish.
Who is on Daisy's side in the argument?
Nick sympathizes with Gatsby, while the others mostly watch. Daisy is caught between the two men and only speaks when pushed, which is why her one confession lands with so little authority.
The Great Gatsby · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 15in our bloodTom Exposes Gatsby at the Hotel
Chapter 1reserve all judgmentsNick Begins His Story
Chapter 2have the decencyNick Dines with the Buchanans
Chapter 3sit on the sidelineTom's Secret Apartment Party
Chapter 4old sportNick Searches for Gatsby
Chapter 5a pack of liesGatsby Tells Nick His Life Story
Chapter 6keeps his mouth shutGatsby's Lunch with a Gambler
Chapter 7pomp and circumstanceJordan Tells Gatsby's Backstory
Chapter 8acting like a little boyGatsby's Awkward Reunion with Daisy
Chapter 9If it wasn't forGatsby Shows Daisy His Mansion
Chapter 10to your likingTom and Daisy Join Gatsby's Party
Chapter 11make a point ofDaisy Wants to Run Away
Chapter 12repeat the pastGatsby Refuses to Let the Past Go
Chapter 13Have it your own wayGatsby Meets Tom at Lunch
Watching · Chapter 14Nobody From NowhereTom Calls Gatsby Nobody From Nowhere
Chapter 15in our bloodTom Exposes Gatsby at the Hotel
Chapter 16pull yourself togetherThe Yellow Car After the Crash
Chapter 17keep your voice downGatsby Waits Outside Daisy's House
Chapter 18made something of myselfGatsby Keeps Vigil Until DawnChapter 14 of 18 · about 16 min to go