Chapter 3
The Great Gatsby
Crazy Parties
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“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths…”
(39). What does this show about this parties?
Nick watched this for several weeks, but was not part of the
excitement.
Elaborate spread:
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Motor boats on the water
Rolls Royce acting as a taxi
8 servants and a gardener to clean up the mess
5 crates of oranges and lemons each Friday
Tents in the backyard covered in lights
Buffet tables
Full bar
Full orchestra
Formal dress for the night party
Party lasted most of the night.
An invitation extended
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Most people just showed up. Some left
without ever meeting Gatsby and people
acted completely insane.
Nick was actually invited. Gatsby’s butler
walked over an invitation written out by
Gatsby himself.
Nick knows no one when he gets there and
no one seems to be able to tell him
who/where Gatsby is. He wanders around
awkwardly until he runs into Jordan Baker.
Based on conversation, you can tell that this is
not Jordan’s first Gatsby party.
Dark Rumors
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A girls tells Nick that the last Gatsby party she
attended she tore her dress. Gatsby asked for her
name and address and sent her an expensive
new dress. “He doesn’t want any trouble with
anybody” (43).
“Someone told me he killed a man once” (44).
Some say he was a German spy in WWI.
“You look at him sometimes when he thinks
nobody’s looking. I’ll bet he killed man” (44).
What is the purpose of these dark rumors being
discussed?
A wild goose chase
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Jordan’s party is a group from East Egg that is
“slumming” and her date is hoping he will get
lucky before the night ends.
Jordan ditches her party after dinner to help Nick
try to find Gatsby.
They meet an owl-eyed man in the library who is
very drunk and shocked that the books were all
real. (A stocked library was a sign of wealth.)
“I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I
thought it might sober me up to sit in a library”
(46).
As the night progresses, people get drunker and
begin acting completely out of control.
Awkward Moment
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Nick meets a man that served in the same
army division as him during the war.
Nick has an entire conversation with Gatsby
without realizing it and then puts his foot in his
mouth: “This is an unusual party for me. I
haven’t even seen the host” (47).
Gatsby tries to smooth everything over before
his butler comes and gets him and tells him he
has a call from Chicago.
Man of Mystery
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No one seems to really know anything about
Gatsby.
He claims he was an Oxford man, though
Jordan doesn’t believe it.
He seemed to “drift coolly out of nowhere
and buy a palace on Long Island Sound” (49).
Jordan claims that she likes large parties
because “they’re so intimate. At small parties
there isn’t any privacy” (49). What does she
mean by that?
The end approaches
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Gatsby seemed to keep himself separate from
everyone else and he was the only one not
drinking.
Gatsby’s butler comes and gets Jordan because
Gatsby wants to speak with her. She has no clue
why.
As the end of the night approaches, couples are
arguing all over the place. The main argument is
about whether they have to leave or not.
Jordan returns and claims that she has “just heard
the most amazing thing” (52); however, she isn’t
supposed to tell anyone. She does tell Nick how to
get in contact with her if he so wishes.
An amusing end
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Nick is one of the last to leave and makes plans to
go with Gatsby in his hydroplane the next morning.
As Nick leaves, he sees that a car has wrecked
outside and a wheel has broken off. The owl-eyed
man was the passenger.
The driver was too drunk to understand what had
happened. He thought he ran out of gas and then
thought that the wheel just could be popped
back on.
Gatsby seems very isolated as he observes all of
this from his porch.
A Normal Day
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The events discussed so far are several weeks
apart.
Most days, Nick went to work, ate lunch with
colleagues, had dinner at the Yale Club, and
then studied investments and securities at the
library.
He had “a short affair with a girl who lived in
Jersey City” but broke it off when her brother
got involved (56).
He was lonely, though he was starting to like
New York.
Incurably Dishonest
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Nick and Jordan meet up again partway through
the summer.
Jordan is surrounded by scandal. She was
accused of moving her ball during a tournament,
though it was never proven. She also left the top
down on a borrowed car that got ruined by rain
and lied about it.
Jordan “avoided clever, shrewd men” (57); why?
She was “incurably dishonest” (58).
Jordan is not careful at all and assumes everyone
will stay out of her way.
Yin and Yang
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“I hate careless people. That’s why I like you”
(58). What does Jordan mean by this?
Nick is not sure of his exact feelings for Jordan,
but he does like her. However, he first has to
get himself “out of that tangle back home”
(58). He’s still been writing the other girl.
“Everyone suspects himself 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” (59).