Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Great Gatsby Chapter 3



Chapter 3 Page # 39-59

Chapter Summary
In this chapter Nick is awkwardly and formally invited to Gatsby party via a letter from a butler. Nick goes to the party and feels really awkward because he doesn’t know anyone and he it seems he can’t find Gatsby. Then Nick begins to tag along with Jordan and have some fun and he meets new people. Then Jordan is asked by a butler to see Gatsby and then when she returns, she tells Nick she has something surprising to tell him over lunch that she learned from her hour talk with Gatsby. Then Nick finally meets Gatsby without knowing it and he had a weird first impression for him, but it was fine nonetheless. As Nick was leaving everyone was piss drunk and he makes a comparison to the sober Gatsby on his green balcony to the rest of East Eggers.

Character Analysis: Gatsby
Quote: “He smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face- the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in you favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you that had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” (Nick 48)

Best Qualities: He is a smart and kind person. He even gave a woman a new dress when she ripped her last one at a party in his house. He is extremely intelligent with a large library of books and he talks very professional almost like a modern day politician. He is also completely different than the other wealthy people from East Egg, he is very respectable, doesn’t drink, and has not gossiped so far in the story; he is usually the one being gossiped about. He awkwardly presents himself like in the quote above, he is a quiet, but he almost has a interesting personality to his quiet and polite attitude.

Character Role in Novel:
Gatsby is the main mystery in the novel so far and he is building up the plot. Nick has a great curiosity of Gatsby and his past. Also Gatsby builds up the characterization of the other characters through comparisons of others and Gatsby. We also see the plot deepening with Jordan and Gatsby and Nick and Jordan, it will be interesting to see who gets the girl in the end.

Meaningful Quote:
Every one suspects him of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine. I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. (Nick 59)

Significance:
This quote is meaningful to me because I feel like I am similar to Nick in many ways, or at least the similar to Nick more than the other characters. Even though I may present myself sometimes as loud, I am usually a quiet person like Nick and like to observe more than I say. Also like Nick I am usually an honest straight shooter, a strongly disapprove of gossiping and dishonesty. The two things I hate most in the world is cockiness and dishonesty, which we see again and again with the East Eggers. I relate to Nick’s character because I sometimes feel the same way that everyone is dishonesty and untrustworthy. It’s like what my father always says, “You can’t trust anyone anymore, and sometimes I don’t even trust myself.” 

No comments:

Post a Comment