Gatsby

16 Pages 3907 Words

is "shrill,!
languid, handsome and horrible." Myrtle Wilson becomes more and more "violently affected moment by moment." The conversation is absurd and pretentious; everyone tries to impress each other, and lies flow as freely as the liquor. In two chapter s, Fitzgerald has shown us two different symbolic landscapes: one, a dinner party in East Egg with Daisy, Jordan, Tom and Nick; the other, a drunken brawl in New York with Tom, Nick, Myrtle, Catherine and the McKee's. The contrast between the two parties tells us much about these two worlds and about the people who inhabit them. Now to complete his introduction to the world of the novel, Fitzgerald gives us in Chapter III a third party at the West Egg Home of Jay Gatsby. In the party there is Brightness, confusion, magnificence, daring, vulgarity, excess, excitement, these are the words that describe Gatsby's parties. Gatsby has all sorts of goodies for his guest to enjoy a beach, cars, nice home, and aquaplanes. And the guest come to !
enjoy what he has to offer even though they don't know him. Gatsby's parties are full of women hoping to find a good man and middle-age women who are tired of there husbands. Gatsby's parties are like amusement parks unlike East Egg where it is like a fairyland full of castles and princesses.

2) In the last section of chapter 3 Nick shifts the focus of the chapter from Gatsby back to himself. He wants us to know that he's done more with his summer than go to parties. To correct that false e impression, he tells us how he usually occupies his time. As he tells us about his work, his walks through New York City, and his fascination for women, he gives us a sense that, in some way he is as hollow as the characters he describes. He seems to need e d adventure as an escape from loneliness, and perhaps that is what draws him to Jordan Baker. He is also sexually attracted to her. He became involved with Jordan around midsummer, he tells us, after a s...