Chapter 3

In this chapter, I read about the lavish parties that Gatsby, Nick's neighbor, throws throughout the summer. What shocked me the most is that Gatsby, the host of the party, was not even present that evening. He tells Jordan that night as he sits in his house alone, "I am afraid I am not a very good host." The people at the party are seemingly well to do people. However, as the party progresses, their shallow behavior begins to appear. Nick points out that the majority of the people attending the party are usually not even invited. He says "sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all." He then goes on to say that the party guests "conducted themselves according the the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park." In this chapter, Fitzgerald uses Jordan to show the lowliness of the men at the party. When Nick encounters Jordan at the party, I believe that the author is trying to portray a few things. First, is that Jordan, who is not been talked about very much yet in the story, is the kind of woman that attends these parties often. Secondly, her infatuation with Nick is Fitzgerald's way of placing Nick at a higher level of standard compared the the other men that Jordan see's at the party. Nick is not as shallow as some of the other men. Do you think that Fitzgerald is trying to compare Nick to the other men at the party?