Notes on "The Great Gatsby" chapter 3.

Nick and the reader learn that Nick and Gatsby served in the same division within the war. Nick becomes increasingly fascinated with Gatsby as the party progresses. Gatsby gets his butler to tell Jordan Baker that he would like a meeting with her – she emerges from the meeting saying that she has just heard something extraordinary. Nick describes his everyday life, to prove to the reader that he does more with his time than just go to parties.Nick begins to see Jordan Baker, which is advice given from Tom and Daisy. Nick describes Jordan Baker as: dishonest as she cheated in her golf tournament but Nick is attracted to her despite her dishonesty. West Egg and East Egg, both attend Gatsby’s party – the “new rich” lack the refinement, manners and taste of the “old rich” but long to break into the polite society of the East Eggers. Despite the tension between West Egg and East Egg, the blend between them creates a distinctly American mood. Gatsby is introduced in Chapter 3 – reader has been seeing Gatsby from a distance and has heard about him through other characters discussing him and Nick’s thoughts.Mystery is still created within Chapter 3 as the low profile he maintains seems out of place to his lavish expenditures.Gatsby seems to be a positive character as Nick describes his smile, ‘one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it.’ This shows that Nick is impressed before he even knows what Gatsby envisions as something about him seems remarkably hopeful.Tone within Nick’s narration suggests that the inhabitants of West Egg and East Egg use an outward show of wealth and luxury to cover up their inner dishonesty and moral decay, but Gatsby seems to use his wealth to mask something different and maybe more deep. Focuses on the gap between observation and reality – the party, Owl Eyes states that Gatsby has captured the effect of the theatre, a kind of honesty and dishonesty that portrays Gatsby’s approach to this aspect of his life. The party is seen as an elaborate theatrical presentation and Owl Eyes suggest that Gatsby’s whole life is a show (believing that his books might not even be real) Nick’s description of his life in NYC calls attention to the difference between substance and appearance – emphasizes the colour of the city and its dangerous lack of balance. The city has an “adventurous feel” but also is a “racy”, a word with negative moral connotations.