The Great Gatsby: Chapter 4

Chapter four:

The start of chapter four starts with introduction of some of the people at a few of Gatsby’s parties, this is unusual as nick always seem to not bother with the guests he using names them “Mr. mumble”, the only person that he wouldn’t normally take account of is Jordan but this time we get individual introductions, I think this is important because it shows the scandal and snobbery of some of the people at the party. “And a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped their noses like goats at whosoever came near” “And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather Hubert Auerbach and Mr. Chrystie’s wife)”. Nicks introduction also shows where these people come from and how guests at the parties travelled far and wide to come to these parties, “From father out on the island came the Cheadle’s and the O.R.P.Schraeders, and the Stonewall Jackson Abrams of Georgia”, The chapter also shows the age differences between the all the guests as Nick describes the Young and the old. The last line of all these descriptions is “all these people came to Gatsby’s house in the summer” suggesting that none of these characters ever bothered with Gatsby afterwards during the other Seasons of the year. They use him for his house and alcohol supplies.
The next little paragraph is quite important to the story as it says “It was the first time he had called on me…” this is important to nick as he is telling us that this is the first time Gatsby has called on him although he has been to many of his social events and has made se of his Beach and Hydroplane, I think this is important to nick because it shows that his and Gatsby’s relationship is growing, it suggests that Gatsby doesn’t look down on nick because he isn’t as wealthy as Gatsby is, its much more personal and strengthens there relationship.
The Language Gatsby uses is a lot like Tom where he forces Nick to come to lunch with him but he says it in a lot friendlier way, so we can see how the two characters are quite similar but in very different ways. The way Nick describes Gatsby posture when nick is admiring the car is quite important to the next bit of the chapter because it says “He was never quite still; there was always a tapping foot somewhere or the impatient opening and closing of a hand” I think this is important because it suggest that Gatsby by being impatient with polite company is waiting for something or is waiting to ask something, which he is. I think Nick ids then very disappointed with the way although he thinks Gatsby and himself are becoming closer Gatsby has yet to reveal himself to Nick, this is annoying Nick because he wants to know all about Gatsby. But I think Gatsby thinks the opposite of Nick, he values Nick’s opinion of him and wants to know what he thinks of him. He then proceeds to open up to Nick about his life, this is important because it also strengthens their relationship by Gatsby opening himself up to Nick.
In this chapter I think it is highly important that we get the information about Gatsby and Daisy previous relationship and what happened between them, we find out that they are completely in love before Gatsby goes away and that Daisy was very popular with the other officers. Jordan says “The officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime , and because it seemed romantic to me I have remembered the incident ever since” I think quote is important because it shows just how much he is in love with her, he keeps his eyes on her at all times even if she isn’t looking back, he wants to be with her 24/7. We then get the glimpse of the night before Daisy’s wedding day, where she says she doesn’t want Tom she wants Gatsby whose the letter is, this shows us that she is in love with him, but because this revelation came under the influence of alcohol the next day she marries Tom and get on with her life, she lives a life of faux propriety, because its not Tom who she really loves.
I think the idea of this chapter is for the reader to get a lot of background information on the two main iconic characters, Gatsby and Daisy. It’s a revelation for the reader because from up until now we have no idea who these two people actually are and considering there are so many rumours about Gatsby, Nick and the reader wish too know about him. We then get Gatsby explaining himself and then there is a new narrative style from an account of Jordan Baker, This is also interesting because it is entirely Jordan speaking and not Nick saying what she said. This shows how important she is too the story as she is the one who gives inside information on al the characters and she also allows us to see a side of Nick we otherwise wouldn’t see.
Also in this chapter I think Fitzgerald wants to express the idea of Love, and make it real and show how much someone will do to get someone they love to notice them. Gatsby loves Daisy with all his heart but because he loves her so much he doesn’t want to be openly rejected so he is very sneaky and gets Jordan to invite her to Nick’s. Also the way he bought a house opposite the docks, has parties every night in the hope that she may turn up to one, he does this all for Daisy. Fitzgerald also portrays love very vividly in the 8th chapter where Gatsby lies to everyone and says he was driving the car which in the end leads to his death.
As well as love he wants to express Selfishness, this is expressed in the way that although Daisy loves Gatsby and admits this when she’s under the influence of alcohol, she quite openly marries Tom and has a child with him, which is the biggest bond two people can do to show that they are happily married. She does this because she knows that Tom can give her a life full of money and can afford to keep her and a child. She didn’t know if Gatsby was coming back and she wanted a good life so she pushed her feelings aside. This is also shown in chapter 9, where Nick says “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashes up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” I think Fitzgerald wants to express how easy it is for rich people to get away with whatever they want because they pay of the damage. They are so selfish that they don’t actually care about the people they hurt.