Summary

2. Summary • Finally meeting Gatsby. • A larger party is staged at Gatsby’s mansion • Nick meets Jordan there. He notes that lurid speculation concerning Gatsby’s past is rife, and then he has his first meeting with the man himself. • The evening ends with a car accident outside the big house.

3. At a party, Nick meets again with Jordan Baker, who has recently lost in a golf tournament. The cloud of ‘romantic speculation’ surrounding Gatsby becomes thicker as the gossip deepens; it is said, for example, that he killed a man, and that he was a spy in the war. • Nick encounters a man wearing owl-eyed spectacles in Gatsby’s ‘high Gothic library’. The owl-eyed man who has been”drunk for about a week”, is impressed by the room’s authenticity, especially the fact that it contains real books.

4. Then, for the first time, Nick meets his host, although initially he did not realise it was Gatsby. Gatsby claims to recognise Nick from the war, and they share memories of “wet, grey little villages in France”. • On leaving, Nick witnesses “a bizarre and tumultuous scene” resulting from a car accident.

5. Gatsby’s Parties • Nick observes the parties from afar but manages to take in a huge amount of detail: “Every Friday…Monday” • Notice the amount of imagery in the opening couple of paragraphs • From afar he seems to judge the parties with an unfriendly attitude mixed with fascination.

6. The Absent Gatsby • Nobody even knows where he is • “the two or three people I asked about looked at me in such an amazed way” • But he is the subject of rumour and gossip • “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man” • “he was a German spy during the war” • “I heard that from a man…”

7. Conspicuous Consumption • Gatsby’s lifestyle is an obvious example of ”conspicuous consumption”. This extends to both of his cars, which stands out from the majority of vehicles on the streets. Henry Ford (1863-1947), who pioneered motor manufacture in the United States, promoted his automobiles as symbols of democracy. Ford cars were cheaply produced and most Americans could afford one. But Gatsby could not be satisfied with a standard car, and the very showiness of his vehicles was intended to impress Daisy, this plays a crucial part in his downfall. They are easily recognised, and following Myrtle Wilson’s death in chapter 7 it is easy for her husband to track down the owner.

8. The End of the Party • The guests are all drunk and the party ends with fighting. • Nick watches and comments comically. • Nick is pleased to have met Gatsby: “there seemed to be a pleasant significance in having been among the last to go”

9. “A Bizarre and Tumultuous Scene” • Fitzgerald describes the scene in a comical way. • “explained to him that wheel and car were no longer joined by any physical bond” “No harm in trying” • The car crash contrasts with this quiet scene. • Cars are important to plot and are a recurring motif.

10. Narrative Voice • The chapter concludes with Nick’s comments on what he has written so far. He remarks that the events forming the story absorbed “him infinitely less than his personal affairs – work, study of investments and securities, and a short love affair that faded away”. • The speculation about Gatsby’s past is an extreme case of a larger thematic concern in The Great Gatsby with reconstruction of past events. It is evident from the novel that recollection is inextricably linked to point of view. So, the past may exist in different versions according to whose memory is involved. The thematic issue is clearly linked closely to the narrative technique employed by F. Scott Fitzgerald, where the version of events we receive is exclusively that constructed by Nick Carraway.

11. Nick reminds us that he is looking back and constructing an account • He admits to being misleading “I have given the impression..On the contrary” • He attempts to portray his everyday life • However, he also reveals the inner desires which he has. • He makes the reader mistrust him more

12. Nick carraway • He admits to feeling “a sort of tender curiosity” towards Jordan. • Despite their mutual interest in one another, the noble Nick puts the brakes on their relationship because he has still not settled his feelings for the girl at home.

13. Who is Gatsby? • Gatsby is the subject of rumour and gossip • “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.” • “it's more that he was a German spy during the war.” • “it couldn't be that, because he was in the American army during the war.” • “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody's looking at him. I'll bet he killed a man.”

14. Jay Gatsby • Fitzgerald has delayed the introduction of the novel’s most important figure—Gatsby —until the beginning of Chapter 3. The reader has seen Gatsby from a distance, heard other characters talk about him, and listened to Nick’s thoughts about him, but has not actually met him (nor has Nick). Chapter 3 is devoted to the introduction of Gatsby and the lavish, showy world he inhabits. Fitzgerald gives Gatsby a suitably grand entrance as the aloof host of a decadent party. Despite this introduction, this chapter continues to heighten the sense of mystery and enigma that surrounds Gatsby, as the low profile he maintains seems curiously out of place with his lavish expenditures. Just as he stood alone on his lawn in Chapter 1, he now stands outside the throng of pleasure-seekers.

15. Nick describes Gatsby’s wealthy and pretentious lifestyle. He owns a yellow station wagon and a Rolls-Royce. He also employs servants to maintain the neat appearance of his property, and to fix any damage caused during his riotous parties. • Gatsby’s wealth, it has been heavily implied, is largely derived from illicit sale of alcohol.

16. Gatsby uses the English term “old sport”, which he uses throughout. Nick notes that Gatsby has “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it”. But he also perceives a rough reality beneath his cultivated charm and even a risk of absurdity in the instability of his image. • Gatsby receives telephone calls from Chicago and Philadelphia in the early hours of the morning, , suggesting underworld business connections.

17. Nick is confused and intrigued. He comments that “young men didn’t – at least in my provincial experience I believe they didn’t – drift cooly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound”. Gatsby speaks privately with Jordan. She tormentingly hints that he has disclosed “the most amazing thing”.

18. Motif - Cars • Ford was not the only American producer of cars in the early twentieth century. Edward S. Jordan started to manufacture cars in 1915; the Baker Company made vehicles powered by electricity between 1899 and 1915. Note that the name of the decidedly modern and mobile Jordan Baker combines the names of two makes of car. Once again, with Gatsby’s Rolls-Royce, we see importation of privilege from class-aware Europe to supposedly equality of America.

19. Foreshadowing and Irony • Think about the irony of so much talk in the middle part of chapter 3 about driving, cars and accidents • This foreshadows the event to come resulting in Myrtles death

20. Jordan Baker • Nick remembers a news report concerning Jordan cheating at golf, and concludes, “She was incurably dishonest”. In the discussion that follows, Jordan says, “It takes two to make an accident”. Then she adds, “I hate careless people. That’s why I like you” Nick confides that “for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires”. He concludes, “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known”. She is distant and confident • “looking with contemptuous interest” • “She held my hand impersonally” • Nick and her seem closer • “With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine” • And Nick seems more relaxed • “descended and sauntered”

21. The Owl-Eyed Man • Nick and Jordan go searching for Gatsby inside his mansion, ending up in the library, they meet a strange man examining the books. • “A stout, middle aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.” • The owl-eyed man appreciates the room, but he sees it through an alcoholic haze. His week long drunken binge has taken place despite the restrictions upon the production and consumption of alcohol during America’s era of Prohibition. • In many ways he is a comical character • “I’ve been drunk for about a week now” • He is amazed that Gatsby’s books are real: “pages and everything” • And he is impressed by the authenticity of Gatsby's library: “What thoroughness! What realism!” • But he knows that it is fragile: • “If one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse”

22. The owl-eyed, bespectacled man whom Nick and Jordan come across in Gatsby's library gives us one of the first hints that Gatsby is a fraud. Owls, of course, have keen vision in the dark. Like the owl, this man, too, will see things others have taken for granted. • The books on the shelf reveal important clues when inspected. The man expresses surprise that the books on the shelves are real, not fake, as he had expected. • "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too-didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?" • There is a lot going on in this comment from a drunk. For one thing, he refers to Gatsby as a "regular Belasco." Belasco was supposedly a sorcerer in the 13th century, whose exploits were detailed by Dante. The drunk is also pointing out just how far Gatsby goes to recreate realism. Like the party atmosphere Gatsby manufactures, close inspection reveals it all to be spell-like. Nick and Jordan, however, are not ready to be disenchanted.

23. Setting – New York • “White chasms” This metaphor shows the streets of New York seem huge and intimidating, dwarfing Nick and making him small and insignificant in comparison • Nick’s description of his life in New York brings attention to the difference between substance and appearance, as it shows both the bright and exciting allure of the city and its dangerous lack of balance: he says that the city has an “adventurous feel,” but he also calls it “racy,” a word with negative moral connotations. Nick also feels conflict about Jordan. He knows that she is dishonest, selfish, and cynical, but he is attracted to her energy. Their relationship emphasises the extent to which Nick becomes used to life in the East, abandoning his Midwestern values and concerns in order to make the most of the excitement of his new surroundings.

24. Theme –New World contrasting European Prestige and Social Class • The Gothic style of Gatsby’s library harks back to European models, but the Old World style was very fashionable in America at the time The Great Gatsby was written. • We are told that the invitation that Gatsby sends to Nick is signed “in a majestic hand”. In the false world of his parties, Gatsby watches events with the dignified detachment of an Old World monarch. Yet his guests behave “according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park”. These people form a social elite, yet their behaviour is characterised in terms of crudeness: another instance of difference in the novel between pretension and reality. Amusement parks were very much a feature of New York life in the 1920s.

25. Theme – Perception and Reality • Chapter 3 focuses on the gap between perception and reality. At the party, as he looks through Gatsby’s books, Owl Eyes states that Gatsby has captured the effect of theatre, a mixture of honesty and dishonesty that characterises Gatsby’s approach to his life. The party is a kind of elaborate theatrical presentation, and Owl Eyes suggests that Gatsby’s whole life is just a show, believing that even his books might not be real. The novel’s title itself—The Great Gatsby— suggests the sort of grand billing given to a performer or magician like “The Great Houdini,” emphasising the theatrical and perhaps illusory quality of Gatsby’s life.

26. Quotes • “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” • “Eight servants…repairing the ravages” • “Scampered like a brisk yellow bug” • “On buffet tables…bewitched to a dark gold”

27. …the orchestra has arrived… • The last swimmers have come in from the beach now and are dressing upstairs… • Shawls beyond the dreams of Castile • The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds…and casual innuendo…and enthusiastic meetings • …they conducted themselves according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park • A simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission

28. “I had been actually invited” • But he is “ill at ease among the swirls and eddies” • “The only place where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone”