Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in place.
Chapter 5 · Narrator
Context
While leaning against the mantelpiece in his strained pose of nonchalance, Gatsby's head presses against a defunct clock, nearly knocking it off. He catches it with trembling hands and replaces it, creating an awkward silence in which all three characters believe for a moment it has shattered.
Analysis
The defunct (non-functioning) clock symbolizes Gatsby's attempt to stop or reverse time—his desire to return to the moment five years ago when he and Daisy were together. His near-destruction of it and desperate catch with 'trembling fingers' enacts in miniature his entire project: the reckless attempt to manipulate time that nearly results in catastrophe, followed by the fragile, temporary restoration of something already broken beyond true repair.
How to Use in Essay
Excellent for essays on the symbolism of time in the novel, or for arguing that Gatsby's desire to repeat the past is figured throughout Chapter 5 as a physical impossibility that he nevertheless attempts through sheer force of will.