There are several dinner scenes, but the very first one is one of the most telling. She seems very shallow and 'over the top' in her responses, as if she wants deserpately to believe them ,but that they aren't true. For example, she says when Nick asks her how she has been: I'm p-paralyzed with happiness." (13). Her stammering and breathless quality reveal her inner conflicts and give the reader a glimpse into the world of a woman who is in an unhappy marriage with a cheating husband, and a lifestyle that does not value her as anything more than an extension of her husband's wealth and social standing.
