Great Gatsby chapter 3 analysis
Austin,Connor,Uday,Andre,Josh
Chapter Summary
 Nick Carraway- Narrator describes Gatsby’s parties (who goes, what kind of
people are there, what food and drinks are served, what music is played etc.)
 Nick gets “actually” invited to Gatsby’s party. He explains that people who are
not invited, end up showing up anyways
 Nick arrives at the party and he describes the things he sees.
 Nick meets Jordan Baker at the party and meet new people (rumours of Gatsby
begin)
 At the party, Nick not knowingly meets Gatsby for the first time (Nick describes
he kind of person he is when he meets him- contrast shown between rumours and
his personality)
 Gatsby asks to speak with Jordan Baker alone ( he tells her things of his past and
his plan to meet Daisy)
 Jordan meets with Nick and tells him that Gatsby has told her amazing things but
she does not tell him
 Before Nicks returns home, he notices an accident (a man drives into a ditch)
Vocabulary Words
Contemptuous- showing or feeling contempt: feeling, expressing, or demonstrating a
strong dislike or utter lack of respect for somebody or something.
“I was on my way to get roaring drunk from sheer embarrassment when Jordan Baker
came out of the house and stood at the head of the marble steps, leaning a little backward
and looking with contemptuous interest down into the garden” (44).
Credulity- gullibility: the tendency to believe something too readily.
“As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm” (45).
Homogeneity- quality of being same: the quality of being of the same or a similar nature.
“Instead of rambling, this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to
itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the country side...” (46).
Melanchol- feeling or causing sadness: feeling or making somebody feel a thoughtful or
gentle sadness
“The undergraduate nodded in a cynical, melancholy way” (46).
Tantalizing- inviting: causing feelings of excitement, pleasure, or anticipation.
“But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you” (53).
Figurative Language
1. “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings
and the champagne and the stars”(41).
This rhetorical device would be considered a simile because Nick is comparing the
people who come to Gatsby’s parties as moths who come and go uninvited, like moths.
2. “She was hurrying off as she talked – her brown hand waved a jaunty salute as she
melted into her party at the door”(53).
Nick uses figurative language to describe Jordan joining her party as melting in with
them. You get the imagery while reading this sentence that two substances are melting
together to make one substance. It gives the reader the sense that the party has a good
relationship and that they are all one happy party together.
3. “The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside
until the air is alive with chatter and laughter”(42).
This form of figurative language is personification. In this instance Nick is
personifying the air outside to give human qualities such as talking and laughing. This is
an effective use of figurative language because it gives the reader a unique look at the
interactions between people, outside.
4. “ On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the
city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon
scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains”(41).
This figurative language would be considered a simile, whereby Nick is comparing
Gatsby’s station wagon to a brisk yellow bug in this sentence. When reading this
sentence I came across the imagery of a bee scampering around a garden trying to find
pollen.
5. “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun”(42).
This rhetorical device would be a simile because Nick is comparing the lights
growing brighter as the earth is lurching away from the sun. At first I was confused when
I read this sentence, because when the earth becomes farther away from the sun there is
less light shining on the earth and it becomes darker and less bright.
Critical theory
What critical theory applies to chapter 3?
The historical theory applies best to The Great Gatsby's Chapter 3?
Why is this?
Nick's description of Gatsby's party and its (strange) events seems to perfectly
capture the extravagant adventures of the rich in the 1920's. The behaviour of Gatsby's
hosts and the shear scale of the party shows how people were strictly concerned with the
having fun, or at least trying to have fun.
Let's Have some historical context: (Sourced from 'THE JAZZ AGE' handout)
 Disregarded seriousness of all kind
 LOTS of cash, materialism and conspicuous consumption
 Rejected traditional values
 Jazz was the new 'thing'
 Women drank as heavily as men.
 FUN! FUN! FUN!
 American dream = fairy tales
Now lets find where these historical facts about the 1920's have taken part in this
chapter:
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Jazz - Nick describes a Jazz band full of saxophones and oboes playing cocktail
music through the night (42)
Fun - Lucille admits that even though she got drunk and tore her dress, she still
had fun because was careless (45) (47)
Gatsby spends and UNBELIEVABLE amount of money - oranges, bands, boats,
cars, cocktails (present all throughout the chapter)
1. As we know from the chapter Nick seems to have an attraction towards Jordan.
Fitzgerald seems to use the colour gold to show this attraction by using it in other parts of
the chapter to compliment objects. For example "On buffet tables, garnished with
glistening horsd’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs
and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold".(Pg 44) "With Jordan’s slender
golden arm resting in mine we descended the steps and sauntered about the garden". (Pg
47)
As you can see it is shown how the colour of gold is used to describe the perfect feast but
is also used with other complementary words to describe Jordan adding a sense of
emotion to the text. The use of the colour blue is evident in this chapter as well. Often
times the colour blue is used to portray sadness and depression and this book is no
exception. "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the
whisperings and the champagne and the stars." (pg43) This quote could be almost
metaphorical to how Jay Gatsby is feeling about his life because he has all these parties
but no one really seems to know him as more than a jumble of rumours meaning that the
only constant he has in his life is his money and his loneliness
2. Fitzgerald refers to the woman at the parties as gypsies because gypsies are wanderers
who move from place to place and the women at these parties are moving from man to
man as a gypsy would with their homes
3. there are two rumours about Jay Gatsby and why he is so secretive one of these
includes that he was a German spy during the war and that the person that was talking
about the rumour said that they know someone who grew up with him in Germany. The
other rumour as to why he is so secretive yet welcomes everyone into his home is that he
killed a man. To the guests having this conversation this seemed more likely of the two
because Jay Gatsby had apparently fought for America in the war.
"'Don't mention it,' he enjoined me eagerly. 'Don't give it another thought, old
sport.'...'And don't forget we're going up in the hydroplane tomorrow morning, at nine
o'clock.'"(p.54)
In his second brief conversation with Nick, Gatsby is forgiving Nick for staying late and
extending an invitation to go up in his plane on the following day. This conversation,
followed by Nick's observation of how isolated Gatsby looked once the guests had left,
suggest that Gatsby is desperate to befriend his new neighbour Nick. This suggests that
Gatsby is seeking to establish relationships with others and Nick is now the focus of his
attention.