Literary Luminary

Week#1: Literary Luminary “The Great Gatsby” Chapter 1/2 “You look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking. I’ll bet he killed a man. ” (Fitzgerald 44) -This passage shows the thoughts that run among all of Gatsby’s guests. Who is he? Where did he come from? Gatsby has set himself up to a lot of questions and a lot of suspense. “He smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life. (Fitzgerald 48) -This passage showcases the attraction people have towards Gatsby. While they may not know much about him, they are drawn into him by his friendliness and charm. This is something that Nick thinks is special about Gatsby. “Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! ” shouted Mrs. Wilson “I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—-” Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. (Fitzgerald 37) -This passage shows us the how society treated woman back in those days almost as if they didn’t have their own freedom of speech, the situation however was treated differently because of the fact that Mrs. Wilson seemed to openly say her name without any thought that her actions might have consequences. In today’s society if one was to break a lady’s nose for screaming out the name of a flower, they might be put into something as extreme as a mental asylum. It’s interesting to portray these two different arguments because we must contrast events that go on today and back then.
People’s moral standards nowadays are so very low. Relationships aren’t truthful, the way everyone dresses is bizarre, and the way others speak is wrong. In the book, Tom Buchanan takes Nick to his “girl”, even though he’s already married, and she dresses strange. In the book it says, “‘We’re getting off,’ he insisted. “I want you to meet my girl. ” (Fitzgerald 24). No one stays true to their values anymore, because, like Tom, they do whatever they want. -Nick goes to Gatsby’s party, one of the only guests that come that were actually invited. -A huge orchestra was there. Jordan Baker is there, along with seemingly everyone in West Egg.
This means Gatsby is very rich, considering he is able to supply food for all the people. Chapter 3 (food for thought) Also, in all of chapter 3 people are partying and gossiping. This definitely happens a lot today, especially in high school. They gossiped about Gatsby when someone said, “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once (Fitzgerald 44). ” Most of the people at the party are also not invited, which also happens at a lot of high school parties today. “… I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited—they went there (Fitzgerald 41). ”