With every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby. Chapter 7, after the heated confrontation between Gatsby and Tom that afternoon, Gatsby defends himself to Daisy. But his attempt to win her back fails – his American Dream – Daisy – is dead.