Great Gatsby Reading Journal - Chapter 3

Chapter 3, Pages 39-59

Nick receives an invitation to a party of Gatsby's, which he has been throwing many of for a while. While at the party, he sees Jordan, and they discuss the mystery behind Gatsby. Nick then describes the elaborate features of the party, which include a pool and fruit buffet, among other things. Finally, Nick describes the finally seen Jay Gatsby, who refers to everyone as "old sport." Nick then describes his daily life, including that he works in new York City, rarely attends parties, and is now dating Jordan.

Gatsby: “I thought you knew, old sport. I’m afraid I’m not a very good host” (49).

From what I can see in this chapter, Gatsby is very inclusive and has a very warm and welcoming personality. However, his constant mysteriousness causes a huge stir over his true identity and secret past. Although friendly, he considers himself somewhat anti-social and keeps himself at a bit of a distance from everyone.

So far, I see Gatsby as somewhat of a comedic relief from the usual drama (the love triangles, lying, etc.) His friendly attitude provide a foil to the opposite, which presents itself consistently through the characters and serious situation. Although much more is learned about Gatsby in this chapter, much more information needs to be revealed, such as how everyone knows him so infamously, as mentioned when Daisy exclaims, "'Gatsby?' demanded Daisy. 'What Gatsby?'" (11).

The passage "She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body" (59) stood out to me for multiple reasons. First, as mentioned in chapter 1 through Jordan's appearance, she breaks the stereotype for many women of the time period through her controlling actions which thrust her into a position of power (somewhat). Many women during this time period were not even competing in athletics, so for Jordan to not only compete, but to have the intelligence to manipulate the odds to her advantage prove her a binary opposition to Daisy and even Myrtle. However, her lies and cheating also reflect the dishonesty seen in Tom and Myrtle, which still prove her the opposite of the stereotype of women in the 1920s. Jordan also provides opposition to the honesty and kindness seen in Nick and Gatsby.