The Great Gatsby Chapters 1-3

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1-3

Synopsis

Nick Carraway describes the events during the first several weeks of his summer in West Egg. First, he dines with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and learns about his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties. Soon after, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, takes Nick into the city and introduces him to a woman he’s having an affair with. Lastly, Nick attends his first Gatsby party.

Key Passage: Chapter 1 - p. 2 - paragraph 2

Nick Carraway identifies himself as someone who is slow to make moral judgments of others. Although this quality has served him well throughout his life, it is not without limits. This is particularly true upon his return to the Midwest following the events he is about to relate to the reader. Because of the profound effect of these events on Nick, he now finds himself holding the world to rigid moral standards. The one person who is exempt from Nick’s stern judgment is Jay Gatsby. Although Nick remembers that Gatsby as the embodiment of everything he detests, there was something uniquely attractive about Gatsby’s personality—showing a “gift for hope”—that made the world seem to be a more remarkable and romantic place.

Key Passage Explained

In this passage, Nick refers to events that had profound and long-lasting effects on his relationship with the world. His family’s wealth is never specifically determined, but Nick has lived his entire life traveling in and through privileged circles. What separates him from his privileged peers, according to Nick himself, is a piece of advice he received as a young man from his father. “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

Key Passage Explained Cont.

He is more open-hearted with others, which in turn causes others to be more open with him. It is this trait––Nick’s tendency to reserve judgment––that leads to his friendship with Jay Gatsby. Although Nick does not yet reveal what fate befalls Gatsby, whatever it was deprives Nick of his open-heartedness and makes the world more deserving of his moral judgment.

Author's Purpose & Point of View

As the author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald can reveal anything he would like about the character of Jay Gatsby at any point in the novel. However, Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway as the first-person narrator. Nick is also a participant in the story he is telling and is limited by his own point of view. He is further limited by his narration being based on memories. If not objectively reliable, this narrative serves the author’s purpose. What Fitzgerald has done is create a complex series of lenses through which readers must view Gatsby if they wish to learn more about him. Each lens removes the reader further and further from an answer to the question on everyone’s mind: who is Jay Gatsby? And that is precisely the point. Fitzgerald’s narrative structure mirrors the ultimate unknowability of who a person truly is.

Foreshadowing

The Great Gatsby is a look back at past events: Nick Carraway knows what is going to happen and alludes to tragedies to come. He describes Gatsby as having possessed a unique sensitivity “which it is not likely I shall ever find again,” adding that Gatsby “turned out all right at the end.” He aims his rancor at the “foul dust” that floats behind Gatsby’s dreams; Nick seems to be mourning Gatsby, or what he stood for. We can infer that Gatsby’s legacy, and possibly Gatsby himself, did not survive the unnamed tragedy. By revealing this information early––before a single scene is depicted––the author creates a sense of doom below the often-glittering and glamorous surface of everything that follows.

Key Vocabulary

• incline

  in·cline verb

  to have a tendency or disposition to do or be something

  Nozomi’s desire to stay within her budget inclined her to bargain for a better price for the couch.

• levity 

  lev·i·ty noun

  lightheartedness or lack of seriousness

  The spectacle of the man chuckling during the funeral service was an unbecoming display of levity.

Key Vocabulary

• infinitesimal 

  in·fin·i·tes·i·mal adjective

  minuscule; as tiny as can be

  With a microscope you can see infinitesimal things such as bacteria and other organisms.

• extemporize

  ex·tem·po·rize verb

  compose, perform, or produce something such as music or a speech without preparation; to improvise

  He was such a talented musician that he could extemporize on the piano whenever anyone asked him to play.

Key Vocabulary

• compel 

  com·pel verb

  to force or strongly suggest someone does something

  Nick compelled his friends to start drinking coffee.

• earnestly 

  ear·nest·ly adverb

  done with seriousness or sincerity

  Bonnie always earnestly offers to help her grandmother prepare for family holidays every year.

Key Vocabulary

• prodigality

  prod·i·gal·i·ty noun

  the quality of spending money in a recklessly lavish way

  His prodigality depleted all his funds and soon he had to declare bankruptcy and move back in with his parents.

• credulity 

  cre·du·li·ty noun

  the habit of believing anything

  My friends took advantage of my credulity and convinced me that I was running late even though I was on time.

Key Vocabulary

• caterwaul

  cat·er·waul verb

  to make a high-pitched yowling or wailing noise like that of a cat

  He seems to believe that singing soulfully is to whine and caterwaul endlessly.

• divergence

  di·ver·gence noun

  the moving away from a set course or standard

  His divergence from the school’s code of conduct caused him to be expelled.

Open Ended

What advice does Nick Carraway’s father give him as a young man? What effect does this advice have on Nick?

Open Ended

During Nick’s first visit with the Buchanans at their mansion, what is so unsettling about the telephone calls Tom is receiving during dinner?

Open Ended

What is the valley of ashes? Who is Doctor T.J. Eckleburg?

Open Ended

What information do the people of East and West Egg know and not know about Gatsby?

Open Ended

When Nick attends one of Gatsby’s parties for the first time, what sets him apart from the other partygoers?

Author's Purpose & Point of View

As the author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald can reveal anything he would like about the character of Jay Gatsby at any point in the novel. However, Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway as the first-person narrator. Nick is also a participant in the story he is telling and is limited by his own point of view. He is further limited by his narration being based on memories. If not objectively reliable, this narrative serves the author’s purpose. What Fitzgerald has done is create a complex series of lenses through which readers must view Gatsby if they wish to learn more about him. Each lens removes the reader further and further from an answer to the question on everyone’s mind: who is Jay Gatsby? And that is precisely the point. Fitzgerald’s narrative structure mirrors the ultimate unknowability of who a person truly is.