GG Ch. 3
Gatsby throws parties every weekend where people destroy his home, but he has it cleaned up
and does it all over again the next weekend.
Why?>
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Wants to be noticed and remembered
Desperate for friends and attention > yet he doesn’t drink, mingle or socialize with
guests-doesn’t try to make friends-stands alone even though he seems lonely-doesn’t
know these people and didn’t invite them.
Purposely drawing attention to himself
Showing that he has the money to do this/showing off
He keeps doing this even though his house gets trashed- shows that he doesn’t care about this
house, b/c it’s not home. He’s not connected here and there is no representation of him here,
suggesting there’s another reason that he does this.
Rumors about Gatsby:
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Related to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany
German spy
Killed a man
In army during war
Where does money come from-connections
Oxford man
Where does he come from?
This is all very exciting, thrilling to the guests b/c it’s a mystery. It’s romantic, there’s an aura
about him and people are there b/c they’re curious about who he is.
People don’t just spring up to be someone like Gatsby- must come from somewhere/something.
He lives in West Egg, but tries to “seem like” he is East Egg- pretending to be. This pretense is
noted by Nick and the Owl Eyed man.
Parties and guests
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People coming to his parties and are trying to make deals- “business” going on here.
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Guests use G. to socialize and to make money
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They don’t know G. but go to the parties anyway- they are there b/c they’re curious about
G. and the mystery surrounding him.
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Conducted themselves like they’re at amusement park -> no rules-> acting wild and
crazy, more like children than adults
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Nick is “shocked” at the behavior of the guests- judgmental (even though he says he
doesn’t make judgments).
Owl eyed man: man in library with spectacles (glasses)
This is a man who is seeing things clearly. He is watchful and observant- he is the one to point
out that the books on the shelves are all real.
He calls G. a “real Balesco” (known for the realism of his theatre sets-reference to acting, fantasy
of plays, illusion created by theatre) This implies that G.’s house is a set of a play- something
that isn’t real- something that is just an illusion.
Owl eyed man knows this is all a set and sees through the façade -> fake- adding to the illusion
that G. is old money, important, somebody. The guests are all part of the show and the
impression he is trying to create, but readers are unsure why.
Gatsby
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“a man about my age” Nick’s contemporary
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G. tells N. that he recognizes him from WWI – they’re from same division (which has
thousands of men) but difft. companies- they didn’t serve in the same area of Europe, so
why introduce yourself this way? What does this imply about G?
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It’s possible that G. wants to connect with N. by shared experiences- hey, I’m like you.
However, reader also sees that the introduction wasn’t random but planned b/c
recognizing N. is unrealistic, remote and exaggerated, practically impossible. G. must
have investigated N. for some reason-> it’s a bit shady
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G. uses the term “old sport” (affectation/put on)
Sounds high class but it just doesn’t fit:
G and N are the same age and N doesn’t talk like that, “old chap” is used by upper class
British but G changes it and gets it wrong -> trying to sound like he has certain kind of
background but N. knows it phoney.
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Nick mentions that there was something about G’s smile- eternal reassurancecomforting, comfortable quality
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G called an “elegant, young, roughneck” – a roughneck is someone who works outside as
a laborer. He may be elegant now, but wasn’t always this way.
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G’s formality of speech is almost absurd- G is picking his words carefully in order to
impress, but it’s noticeable and almost silly.
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N states that “young men don’t just drift out of nowhere and buy a palace on LI sound”
N. knows there is something not real here. There is no old money, no pedigree, no
background. There is something unreal about this.
Car accident
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Party guests are mostly driving drunk: N describes it as harsh, bizarre, tumultuous,
discordant- there is something wrong here. (possible foreshadowing of another accident)
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People couldn’t really drive- there were no rules of the road, no licenses- people just
bought cars and went out without really knowing what they were doing.
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They were careless and unconcerned- reckless- did what they wanted without regard for
the consequences- Oh well
Last page of ch.