The Great Gatsby Chapter 3

Chapter 3 pgs. 39-59

Summary: Gatsby throws another big elaborate party at his mansion and invites Nick. When Nick arrives at the party and starts talking to people, he hears rumors about Gatsby that he was a spy and killed a person. Jordan Baker is also at the party, and they both look for Gatsby. Nick talks to a man who looks familiar and served in the war with him. The man turnes out to be Gatsby. Gatsby and Jordan talk in private for an hour, and Jordan says that the secret talk was amazing. Nick then talks about his life and job in New York and his relationship with Jordan Baker even though he finds out how dishonest she really is.

a. Jay Gatsby

b. “…my eyes fell on Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes. … I could see nothing sinister about him. I wondered if the fact that he was not drinking helped to set him off from his guests, for it seemed to me that he grew more correct as the fraternal hilarity increased” (50).

c. Despite the mysteriousness and bad rumors we hear about Gatsby such as being spy and having killed a person, from Nick’s description of Gatsby, we see that he may not be such a bad person. He seems like a caring man, throwing elaborate parties for people to enjoy while he stands in the back because Nick sees him standing alone on the steps looking at his guests. We find out that he doesn’t drink at his party and takes calls while his guests are having a good time. Nick even goes further with his amazement of Gatsby and says, “I could see nothing sinister about him” (50). Even though Nick has just personally met him that day, Nick already knows that Gatsby is a good man.

d. In the novel, Gatsby is a wealthy man who lives in the mansion next door to Nick. From the past chapters, everyone seems to know Gatsby or know of his name, but he is a mysterious man. He throws elaborate parties. However, from the description from this chapter and Nick’s description of him in chapter 1, Gatsby appears to be different from the other rich people we have met in the story so far. He owns a big mansion, but seems to be modest with wealth. By the way he acts during his party by just standing there alone, not drinking, and taking phone calls, it seems like he doesn’t throw these parties to gain attention for himself or show off his wealth. Gatsby represents a contrast to the other rich people, like Tom, who aren’t humble. In chapter 1, Nick says that, “.. there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life” (2) about Gatsby. We see from the beginning that Gatsby is going to be a different and interesting person.

Quote: “It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey” (48).

This description that Nick used to describe Gatsby’s smile stood out because Nick said that Gatsby understood and believed in a person the way that they would look at themselves. Showing his smile showed a person that they were at their best and conveyed what they wanted to show themselves as. His smile showed people that he wanted to understand them and not just pretend to care. This description illustrates Gatsby as an authentic person and it stood out because it is the opposite of most of the others characters we have met so far.