Diction

• "bizarre and not a little sinister" (5)

• "everything that happened had a dim, hazy cast over it,..." (29).

• "...signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand" (41).

• "...,in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world" (68).

• "...when the demoniac Finn brought it in on a tray" (87).

• "I think that voice held him the most, with its fluctuating, feverish warmth, because, because it couldn't be over-dreamed-that voice was a deathless song" (96). 

• "...I was in New York...trying to escape from her senile Aunt" (100).

• "flushed with his impassioned gibberish" (130).

Fitzgerald used diction throughout his novel to create a sinister, confused, and panic driven tone and environment.  Words and phrases used such as "senile", "sinister", and "deathless song" buttress Fitzgerald's tone in the novel.  For example, Nick explains how the people he have known have been "bizarre and not a little sinister" (5).  We see here Nick showing and somewhat foreshadowing the people he knows.  This sets off a rather sinister tone in the novel.  Also, to set up a panic driven tone, Fitzgerald utilizes quotes such as "when the demoniac Finn brought it in on a tray" (87).  This mirrors a tone panic, by saying that things were demoniac.  Characters, especially Nick, are well developed by how Fitzgerald uses diction in his writing.