Saturday 19 July 2014

Does Nick trust Gatsby in chapter 4?

Not particularly, no.  When Gatsby tells Nick the story about being the son of a wealthy family from the Middle West who went to Oxford because it was a family tradition, he "looked at [Nick] sideways," and Nick says that he began to understand why Jordan always thought Gatsby lied.  Such a look, as though Gatsby can't look Nick straight in the eye, or as though he is checking to see Nick's reaction to the...

Not particularly, no.  When Gatsby tells Nick the story about being the son of a wealthy family from the Middle West who went to Oxford because it was a family tradition, he "looked at [Nick] sideways," and Nick says that he began to understand why Jordan always thought Gatsby lied.  Such a look, as though Gatsby can't look Nick straight in the eye, or as though he is checking to see Nick's reaction to the claim, indicates a lack of honesty.  Gatsby "hurried the phrase" that he had gone to school at Oxford, and, Nick says, "with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces." Nick actually wonders if there is something a bit menacing about him; it seems so odd to tell such lies. 


When Nick asks Gatsby what part of the Middle West he came from, Gatsby replies, "'San Francisco,'" a city that is really not at all a part of the "Middle West."  Further, Nick later says that he thought that Gatsby "was pulling [his] leg" with another part of his story, the part about his family "all [dying]" and him coming into a bunch of money, but Gatsby was actually serious.  Further, Nick says that it took a good deal of effort to "restrain [his] incredulous laughter" because Gatsby's stories about globe-trotting were so trite and storybook that they simply could not possibly be real; he felt like he was "skimming hastily through a dozen magazines."  Therefore, Nick seems to like Gatsby, to be fascinated by him, but he cannot be said to trust him, not at this point. 

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