The Great Gatsby: Chapter Three

Chapter three is when Nick first meets Gatsby, gets to know Jordan Baker and himself better...

Narrative perspectives/voices:  
Written from Nick’s perspective- quite a specifically judgemental chapter; as he gets to know Jordan and Gatsby; he also observes other party-goers and notes traits and flaws from people present at the party.

First impressions on Gatsby:

  ·         ‘...he smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life...’

Second impressions on Jordan:

·         At first I was flattered to go places with her, because she was a golf champion...and then it was something more. I wasn’t actually in love, but I sort of felt a tender curiosity....I found what it was...she was incurably dishonest...dishonesty in a woman is thing you never blame deeply.’

Perceptions and conclusions about himself:

·         ‘I am one of the few honest that I have ever known.’

Time Period:

‘Through the summer nights’- retelling of the music heard from the parties at Gatsby’s house
‘Between nine in the morning and long past midnight’; Gatsby’s Rolls became an ‘omnibus’ for parties to and from the city
‘Every Friday’- shows timeliness of Gatsby and his deliveries (in this case, crates of oranges and lemons- signifying his wealth for such exotic fruits)
....’And every Monday...’
‘At least once a fortnight...’
‘By seven o’clock the orchestra had arrived’
....All of these time periods before Nick is invited to Gatsby’s, shows his interest in Gatsby and what goes on in his life- verging on disbelieving with all of the ever-so accurate timings and mental records he must have of Gatsby and his mansion.
Once Nick is at the party, and able to get an inside opinion on Gatsby and his wildly dreamt of parties, the repetitive times and observations seem to halter slightly, as no more time periods are shown.

Setting:

Not told at first; assumed to be Nick’s house
One setting is Gatsby’s mansion- Nick is invited to ‘his first party’ and narrates from the inside perspective for the first time since visiting Tom and Daisy
In search of Gatsby, Jordan and Nick visited a number of places around Gatsby’s mansion-‘bar’ ‘veranda’ ‘high Gothic Library’ ’outside’
Jordan and Nick re-meet at ‘a house party up in Warwick’...they proceed to drive off together, and it ends with Nick talking about himself again- being ‘honest’.

 Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:

Poetic prose; ‘at high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam.’
Descriptive detail, ‘the lights grows brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun’ ‘while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains’
Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘I’ll bet he killed a man.’
Descriptive writing; ‘no thin five piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums.’
Surreal description; ‘a chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue’
References; to books- in library, ‘they’re absolutely real’
Colloquial language; ‘‘Hello!’ I roared’’ ‘this is much too polite for me’
Time references; ‘by seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived...’ ‘at any time that suits you best’
Use of names; ‘signed Jay Gatsby in majestic hand’
Colours; ‘blue gardens’ ‘brisk yellow bug’ ‘oranges and lemons’ ‘dark gold’ ‘robin’s-egg blue’ ‘dressed in white flannels’ ‘slender golden arm’ ‘gas blue with lavender beads’ ‘grey sun-strained eyes’
Themes; mysterious Gatsby- ‘’I’m Gatsby,’ he said suddenly’’, love, increasingly deception, living in the past...