Chapter
3
summary
We learn…pg 15
• About Gatsby’s amazing parties and
‘hospitality’.
– People come to his house to swim, use his boats,
lay on his part of the beach.
– He has lots of fresh fruit and tons of food
delivered for each party.
– Each party has a large orchestra.
– The parties are fun and wild.
– Most people are not actually invited.
• There is a party ‘tonight’ (in the book) and
Nick has been invited to the party.
We learn…pg 16
At the party….
• Nick wants to find Gatsby but can’t; he does
find Jordan and the two hang out.
• Another guest, a woman, says that the last
time she was the party, she tore her dress and
Gatsby sent her a new one the next day (a
very expensive dress). She says it is because
“he doesn’t want trouble with ANYbody.”
• Another guest says Gatsby “killed a man once”
• Another guest says that Gatsby “was a
German spy during the war.”
Nick and Jordan at Gatsby’s party
(left – 1974 film, right – 2013 film)
Nick and Jordan
(on right)
at Gatsby’s party
(1974 film)
Interesting lines …pg 16
• Nick, “I made an attempt to find my host…”
– The fact that Nick can’t find Gatsby is interesting for several reasons: it
shows that the party is very large and there are so many people there
but also perhaps Gatsby is not there (or at least not being very public)
and it shows that people don’t really know him.
• Nick, “I found it necessary to attach myself to someone…”
– Isn’t this true sometimes when you go to a new place or a party – you
want to be with someone so that you are not alone and so that you
don’t look pathetic and out of place…
• Nick, “…each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble”.
– Also so true of a party – you can’t ever hear anything right and so
people’s names just become a blur and after all, does it even matter
what their names are as you will probably never see them again???
We learn…pg 17
• Nick and Jordan go in search of Gatsby and
end up in his library – it is huge with hundreds
of books.
• They meet a man that Nick describes as
having “owl-eyed spectacles”. This man, Owl
Eyes, is very drunk and is staring in surprise at
the books.
• Owl Eyes can’t believe that the books are real.
He was expecting the books to have been fake
– just the outsides with nothing in them (this
is because he suspects that Gatsby is a fake)
but he is amazed that they are real.
We learn…pg 17
• Owl Eyes compares Gatsby to a director/actor of the time
period (Belasco) who was always making sure every detail
in his plays were right. Owl Eyes can’t believe that Gatsby
went to so much trouble to have real books…
– You need to ask yourself: is Owl Eyes correct in that Gatsby is
just a fake? If Gatsby is a fake, why did he buy all those real
books – why is he creating such an elaborate lie? OR is Gatsby
not fake – is he real?
Symbolism: Isn’t it interesting that this man is described
as having ‘owl like glasses’ – large, round, glasses/eyes – owls
can see everything, right? Even at night, they see things that
other creatures can’t see – maybe this man can also see
things that others can’t, i.e. that Gatsby is a fake…
Isn’t it interesting that this is the second symbol of
glasses (the other being the sign in the Valley of Ashes).
Fitzgerald seems to want to discuss ‘perception’ – how people
see the world…
Gatsby watching his party.
We learn…pg 18
• We meet Gatsby…Nick is sitting talking to “a man
about [his] age” when he suddenly finds out that
this man is Gatsby.
• Nick tells us that he has had quite a bit of
champagne and as a result of the alcohol, the
whole party has changed from a strange thing
into “something significant, elemental and
profound”.
Symbolism: another instance of ‘perception’ –
Nick’s view of the situation has changed with the
drinking of alcohol.
Isn’t it interesting that Nick didn’t ‘perceive’
(see/know) that it was Gatsby?
We learn…pg 18
• The man asks Nick if he was in a certain group of
soldiers in the war and Nick says yes. The man
then says that he thought Nick looked familiar.
– You have to ask yourself: Do you think this is true,
that the man really recognizes Nick or is it just a ‘line’
– a way to start a conversation…after all, if Nick had
said that he wasn’t a part of that group, the man
could have responded ‘oh, my mistake but…’ and the
conversation would have begun regardless.
– You have to ask yourself: how genuine is the man
(Gatsby)?
• Nick then says that he doesn’t know the host,
that he has never met him and the man says, “I’m
Gatsby…I thought you knew”.
Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby
(1974 film)
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby
(2013 film)
We learn…pg 18
• Nick is surprised about many things with
Gatsby:
– His smile: Nick says a lot about Gatsby’s smile; he
describes it as “one of those rare smiles” that can
reassure a person of their importance that you
“may come across four or five times in a life”. Nick
explains that when Gatsby smiles at you, you feel
that he is YOUR friend – that he cares about you
and that he will do anything to help you. Nick says
his smile encourages you to be yourself and to be
confident.
Isn’t it interesting that Nick is able to ‘perceive’
(see/know) so much about Gatsby by just his smile?
We learn…pg 18
• In the same paragraph about Gatsby’s smile, Nick says that
all those amazing things about his smile suddenly vanished
(disappeared) and Nick was just seeing a regular man.
• Nick describes this man as a “rough-neck” (not a classy
person), who is about 32 years old, and who talks with
formal speech pattern that is almost ridiculous.
– Gatsby likes to call men the nickname “old sport” – it is a very
traditional/posh British thing (like calling someone ‘dear’ or
‘mate’ instead of their name).
• Gatsby gets a phone call and leaves Nick.
– You have to ask yourself: does Gatsby really get a phone call or
is it just an excuse that he has set up with the butler before the
party – for example, did he tell his butler ‘if you ever see me in a
conversation with someone for too long, interrupt me with an
important phone call’…after all, Gatsby doesn’t seem too
interested in actually getting to know his guests (most of them
don’t even know WHO he is).
We learn…pg 18
• Nick tells us he is surprised by Gatsby – he was
expecting a wild and fat man in his forties (“a
florid and corpulent person in his middle
years”).
• Nick asks Jordan to tell him who Gatsby really
is but Jordan only says, “He’s just a man
named Gatsby”.
– What an interesting description…
• Jordan then says that Gatsby told her he went
to Oxford.
We learn…pg 19
• Nick says he can’t understand how Gatsby
doesn’t have a past that everyone knows
about…Nick says rich, young men don’t just
appear out of thin air (“But young men
didn’t…drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a
palace on Long Island Sound”). Nick is
confused.
• Jordan doesn’t care where Gatsby came from
or who he is – she just cares about his parties.
She says, “I like large parties. They’re so
intimate. At small parties there isn’t any
privacy.” – great line!
We learn…pg 19
• Gatsby comes back to the party and Nick watches
him. Nick sees Gatsby staring at all the groups of
people. Nick notices how presentable
(handsome) Gatsby tries to make himself (maybe
he even cuts his hair every day).
• Nick comments that there is nothing “sinister”
that he can see about Gatsby.
• Nick notices that Gatsby doesn’t drink and Nick
wonders if this helps Gatsby stay ‘distant’ from
his guests (as they are all very drunk).
– You have to ask yourself: why does Gatsby throw
these huge parties if he doesn’t really know anyone
and he doesn’t really participate nor seem to have
fun???
We learn…pg 19
• A butler comes and tells Jordan that Gatsby wants to talk
with her privately.
• The party is starting to quiet down a bit and Nick notices
that many of the couples are now fighting with each other.
He says, “Most of the remaining women were now having
fights with men said to be their husbands”.
Symbolism: (this is not an object but rather a situation/line which carries
greater meaning in the story)
• The party, like life – like all things, was great at the beginning but
over time it has become bad (i.e. people who were happy are now
fighting).
• The men are described as “said to be” the husbands of the women
– again with the idea of perception versus reality.
• There is then an interesting bit about a wife getting mad at her
husband for flirting with another woman. The wife says, “You
promised” to her husband – just like when Daisy goes into the
other room at the dinner party to get mad at Tom for the phone
call.
We learn…pg 20
• Jordan and Gatsby talk for about an hour and
when Jordan says goodbye to Nick, she tells
him that she has the most amazing news
(from Gatsby) but that she can’t tell him yet.
• Nick then says goodbye to Gatsby and they
make plans to spend time together tomorrow.
Nick again feels like Gatsby is a very friendly
person.
• When Nick leaves, he sees that there has been
an accident right outside Gatsby’s house.
We learn…pg 20/21
• The accident involves the man from the library, Owl
Eyes; he and another man have driven their car into a
ditch.
• Owl Eyes and the man are extremely drunk and there is
a conversation between OE and the crowd about how
they are terrible drivers ( the first of many references
throughout the book about bad driving).
• The crowd tells OE that he can’t possibly drive the car
again as one of the wheels has come off. The other
man in the car says, “No harm in trying,”.
Symbolism: (this is not an object but rather a line which
carries greater meaning in the story) Think about it – this man
obviously can’t drive the car as one of the wheels is gone but
he still wants to try – it may (later) remind you of another
struggle that seems impossible (maybe involving Gatsby and
his desire to recreate the past…)
We learn…pg 21
• Nick says that as he stares at Gatsby, alone by the
door, waving goodbye to everyone, that Nick feels
like the whole house has a great emptiness and
isolation to it (Gatsby is so alone).
• Nick then stops with the stories and takes the
funny step to say that he has reread everything
he has written so far and he is worried how it
must sound to the reader (this is a very strange
thing to do in a novel but from the beginning Nick
has ‘spoken’ to us (the reader). We call this
‘breaking the 4th wall’ (see page at end of Chapter
3 notes for more information).
We learn…pg 21/22
• Nick tries to assure us (and perhaps himself) that
he did many other things during the summer and
that his time spent (up to a certain point) with
Gatsby and Daisy was just a small thing. Nick
explains what his normal day is like, working and
having lunch and dinner in New York. He talks
about how amazing he finds NY city and
particularly how he likes to watch the people as
they go about their exciting lives and head
towards exciting things in their taxis and cars.
Isn’t it interesting how Nick is observing
everyone just like the eyes on the sign??
We learn…pg 22
• In midsummer, Nick meets up again with
Jordan and the two start a relationship. Nick
says that he likes being with Jordan because
everyone knows who she is (because she is a
famous golfer –  a bit disappointing because
up to now we seem to have thought of Nick as
not being influenced by such superficial
things).
• Nick says his feelings change and he comes to
care about her but that he is not in love.
We learn…pg 22
• Nick reveals that he has discovered what
Jordan is trying to hide with her snobbish and
superior attitude – she is “incurably
dishonest”, a liar. He remembers that there
had been a small incident a few years ago
where it was said that she might have moved
her ball (cheated) during the game. Nick
believes that Jordan lies so much because she
doesn’t like to be at disadvantage in any
situation – she has to be the one with the
knowledge/power.
We learn…pg 22
• About Jordan, Nick says “Dishonesty in a woman
is a thing you never blame deeply”.
– This line bothers me a bit – it seems to say that Nick
feels that it is okay for a woman to be dishonest
because women are not as in control of themselves as
men but I don’t thinks this makes sense with Nick’s
character…this kind of relates to what Daisy said in
Chapter 1 about how it’s good for a woman to be a
fool…but it doesn’t feel right with Nick’s personality
BUT later we will find out things about dishonest
women and then perhaps this quote makes more
sense (we come to realize, I think, that dishonesty in a
certain woman hurts Nick as much as it hurts other
men in the story --- I don’t want to give anything away)
--- I need to think about this more…what do you think?
We learn…pg 22
• Nick and Jordan also have a discussion about how bad a driver
Jordan is. Nick says she must either drive more carefully or not
drive. She says it doesn’t matter because other people are careful.
She says that it takes two people to make an accident. Nick says
maybe she will meet a driver as bad as she is -- someone who is
also careless. Jordan says “I hope I never will…I hate careless
people. That’s why I like you.”
Symbolism: (this is not an object but rather a line which carries
greater meaning in the story) This is the second reference to bad
driving. Jordan believes that she can be careless because nothing bad
will happen unless she meets someone else as careless – she doesn’t
seem to realize that she must take responsibility for her own actions
instead of just thinking that others will worry about themselves and
she will be fine. This is important in the story because the story is all
about how a person’s actions affect not only that person but also
those people around them (like a snowball effect). Jordan also says
she hates careless people and that Nick is not careless.
You have to ask yourself: who in the story is careless and how is Nick
NOT careless??
We learn…pg 22
• Nick says that for a moment, after Jordan said
that, the he thinks he might love her BUT he
reveals that he has a girl back home with whom
he is sort of in a relationship and that he has to
break up with her before he can love Jordan.
• Nick says, “I am one of the few honest people I
have ever known”.
You have to ask yourself: who in the story are
dishonest? (maybe they haven’t revealed their
dishonesty yet…)
Isn’t it interesting how Nick talks about honesty – is
honesty simple an aspect of perception??
Foreshadowing
• Foreshadowing is when something is
hinted at by clues or repetitions of
ideas/symbols in the story.
• What has been repeated through
the story so far that could hint at
something to come later?
Breaking the 4th wall
• In literature and drama, there is this idea of a
4th wall (it actually refers to the three real
walls of a theater and then the invisible wall
between the stage and the audience). When
an actor on stage or a character in a story
talks to the audience/reader, that is breaking
the 4th wall – the person is saying ‘hey, I
know you are watching/reading me and I
want to say something to you’.
(this is also done in TV/movies)