Welcome!
Welcome to our blog. Comment on chapters as you read them. Gatsby is commonly considered the greatest American novel of the past hundred years or so; you can read it romantically or religiously, you can read it a la Freud or a la Marx, you can read it with an eye to race and eugenics or with an eye to suburbs and car culture, you can read it as being about class, about technology, about love (straight or gay, of course), and about dreams. Gatsby is the great novel of nearly everything--but especially of youth. It is ironic, it is heartfelt, it is simple and sophisticated at once, and almost everyone likes it. It is also an extraordinarily virtuosic prose performance. The book is written at a pitch of non-stop brilliance that has never been equaled. Enjoy.
I thought this chapter talked a lot about class differences, specifically old verses new money. One big difference between Gatsby and Tom (new vs. old) was obvious in the scene where Tom and his friends get on their horses and ride away, while Gatsby is going to take his new, extravagant car. These differences are also apparent at the party where Tom doesn't know a single person. None of them are of his class, they are all somewhat famous, but of new money such as the movies. Similarly that lady says that Gatsby would not know a single person if he had gone with Tom to the dinner; Tom and Gatsby are of completely different social classes although they are both extremely rich. Then, after the party, Tom is speaking in quite a derogatory way about Gatsby saying how he is probably just a bootlegger, showing how he clearly looks down on this new money figure.
ReplyDeleteComments hoisted from the Chapter 5 post:
ReplyDeleteHenry says:
Chapter 6:
After reading this chapter I realized that Gatsby thinks he do anything with his money. For it seems that he believes that he can re-create the past. Gatsby is becoming more and more real each chapter and we finally discover where he really came from. Now that we know about his early life I'm curious to learn how he made all his money, because he can't live of the 25,000 dollars that he got from Dan Cody.
Henry Lucey
April 4, 2011 11:10 AM
Elijah Welch said...
Chapter 6:
I Am starting to dislike Gatsby. I think it is arrogant of him to think that he can buy daisy's love. That is not a nice way to think and I think he is trying to force the relationship on daisy a little too much. At this point I do not feel bad for Gatsby and in fact I feel the opposite.
April 4, 2011 12:08 PM
Amina said...
ReplyDeleteI was also was frustrated that Gatsby and Daisy's past wasn't revealed. They both acted a bit strange around eachother and it would have been nice to get a little bit of background on the two. Amina
April 4, 2011 2:14 PM
Sarah said...
Chapter 6:
I agree with Elijah that Gatsby is becoming a little frustrating to watch. He is so absorbed in winning Daisy back that he has become reckless. We are starting to see a new, unmasked version of him that is a bit naive. But I still prefer Gatsby over Tom, and hope that things work out with him and Daisy in the end.
April 4, 2011 3:05 PM
Coco said...
CHAPTER 6
This chapter seems to be an extension of what someone said about chapter 5; that maybe now that Nick has played his part, he will become more and more of a fringe character and a lens. I do definitely feel that as he becomes more privy to these people's lives, he is losing much of his own definition as a character. I also noticed that on the back cover of the book, it is described as "the story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan". Nick is never actually mentioned in the summary of the book!
On a different note, I think this chapter was slightly more abstract or metaphoric than the others, especially in the transition into Nick's story of Gatsby's past, and in the last section about the choice Gatsby made regarding Daisy. I was a little confused with how much of that was literal and what it meant exactly. It was beautifully written, though.
April 4, 2011 3:08 PM
Amanda said...
Chapter 6
I, too, am growing frustrated with Gatsby. I feel like since he succeeded early in life, he can succeed in anything, even winning Daisy's love. His real past is just as interesting as his imagined one, although how he got his wealth is still a mystery.
I agree with Coco about how abstract the chapter was. I found it more difficult to follow, as it jumped between past and present more frequently.
April 4, 2011 3:17 PM
Jamie Francona said...
I can not understand Gatsby's character. I can not grasp what he wants and desires or what he needs. I feel that Gatsby has a warm heart, and he always seems nice and generous. He seems to entertain people, however sometimes he seems a bit ostentatious with his money. I can not tell his intentions. Some times it feels as if he is showing off, but other times, it feels different. And it's ironic how such a wealthy guy is terrible with ladies. He counts on Nick, not a very rich guy at all, to help him connect with Daisy. It makes me feel that Gatsby is a decent guy when he chases after the same girl for five years.
April 4, 2011 3:56 PM
Layla said...
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure what you mean by architecture. However, I am getting a feel for the style of the book and am really enjoying it. There were several beautiful lines in this chapter; one of my favorites is, "A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while t he clock ticked on the washstand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor (99)."
On a separate note, Tom is quite shocking in his blatant sexism. He can go cavorting with Myrtle all over NC, but Daisy "runs around too much?"
I love Gatsby's flamboyant penchant for inventing things - you never know what he will do next! "Tom the polo player" especially amused me.
April 4, 2011 4:04 PM
Olga said...
I agree with what others are saying here about the confusing fluctuation of Gatsby's personality and I'm just as curious about his story with Daisy. We learned in this chapter how Gatsby learned to be rich, but was poor at the time. I assume that he met Daisy while he was poor and the love that was supposedly between them wasn't enough for her. Now that he's rich, Gatsby feels that Daisy is his. A key thing about his personality is that he seems desperate for her to abandon Tom and tell him "I never loved you." To me, this seems cruel of Gatsby, and even more out of touch. I think that because his world revolved around reclaiming his only love, he lost sight of reality and the complexity of others, especially since he surrounds himself with airy, party-animals on the weekly basis.
April 4, 2011 4:08 PM
Hannah Breck said...
With every chapter, we learn more and more about Gatsby. I find it interesting how his desire for wealth began. His previous relationship with Daisy began when he was still poor and more humble than he is now. Now, with all his wealth and luxury, he feels he should buy Daisy's love. This makes their new relationship destined for failure. I am interested to see whether or not we will find out about why Daisy and Gatsby split years ago.
April 4, 2011 4:52 PM
Tsi Yu said...
CHAPTER 6
This chapter is really interesting because it shows what Gatsby really think of his relationship with Daisy. We can see from the last few pages of chapter 6 that Gatsby is holding on to this wisp of the past, and he plans to kind of replay their relationship to what both of them shared 5 years ago. I find Tom Buchanan very obnoxious in this chapter because he is so oppressive and is holding a tight grip on Daisy and limiting her freedom by shadowing her to parties, while he is being a disgusting cheating pathetic husband. I mean seriously, so he can cheat but Daisy can't? Am I missing something from his warped and broken mind? If he is going to cheat on her, the least he could do is to leave her to her own devices, and not act like a possessive husband. I also found Gatsby really sweet and naive in his mindset. I think its kind of nice that his relationship with Daisy is one of true love. (To all those people who think Gatsby is trying to "buy Daisy's love", I think he is just really trying to prove himself worthy of her love) That's why I love Gatsby's and Daisy's nice old love story
Gatsby seems to be obsessed with making all of his dreams a reality. His lavish lifestyle reflects as well as his desire to be with Daisy. He wants to return to turn back the clock and return to the past where they shared their love, but doesn't seem to understand that time passes and that he can't achieve this dream with his wealth.
ReplyDeleteI get a kick out of how Nick says, "He told me all this very much later, but I’ve put it down here with the idea of exploding those first wild rumors about his antecedents"--as if Nick hasn't himself passed on those wild rumors and let them ferment in our minds for several chapters!
ReplyDeleteA few things in response to your comments: Tom IS a polo player, Layla, isn't he? And Gatsby never even GOT the 25,000 from Dan Cody, Henry--did he?--though you are right that the origin of G's money is only the more mysterious! And I think Matthew is right that it is in this chapter that the class differences really become clear. Gatsby came from nothing: all he had was some natural ability and the color of his skin (though some people go further down the class divide road and read the book as another in the small but important genre of books about light-skinned African-Americans "passing" as white), and Tom's reactions show us how Gatsby looks to a member of the old-money upper class.
The plot is about to go into hyperdrive; enjoy!
I am curious to find out more about the affair between Daisy and Gatsby because Nick never really talked about many scenes involving the affair. Gatsby thinks he can get anything in the world with his money but that's not possible. He even tries to re create the past so that Gatsby and him could be in love together. I hope the next chapter that Gatsby will let Tom know that he is in love with Daisy and they get into a huge fight with killing involed, that would be intersting.
ReplyDeleteGatsby is definitely not the man we all thought he was; that's clear now.
ReplyDeleteI find Tom hypocritical, since he is suspicious of Daisy (spending time at Gatsby's house), but Tom himself is having an affair with Myrtle. I am still wondering when all that will be brought out into the clear. When will everyone find out about everyone who's cheating on each other?
what caught my attention in this chapter was idea of Dan Cody dying. It was weird to me how Ella Kaye joined the crew and later the next week Dan dies.. Just as Matt stated this chaoter also discusses the difference between new and old money.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this chapter, I was amazed at how Nick just all of a sudden decided to tell Gatsby's true story. Why now, and why not before? It seemed so random. However, now that I have a greater understanding of Gatsby's background, I am left wondering why he struggles with the truth and telling people his real story. There was nothing shameful in how he inherited money from Dan Cody. Yes, it is true that Gatsby did not really have to work for his money, but he shouldn't be ashamed of how he ended up with it. I still think there is a lot more to Gatsby that we have yet to learn.
ReplyDelete-Elena Ridker
I thought it was interesting that Chapter 6 is assigned the job to explain more about who Gatsby is and why he is who he is. It is interesting that he was taken up by this rich man. It explains a lot, because this was this is probably why Gatsby has things such as his "shirt collection."
ReplyDeleteWe still do not completely understand how Gatsby came to be so wealthy after supposedly being inspired by Dan Cody. As part of beginning to learn more about Gatbsy's personality and weaknesses, if was funny to see his socially incompetent side when interacting with Tom and Mrs. Sloane. Its seems like this socially weak side of Gatsby could possibly prove that he was not actually capable of coming upon this wealth all on his own.. Rohan
ReplyDeleteI was very intrigued by the last part with Daisy and Gatsby in almost a dream sequence. Although Gatsby's wealth seems almost unreal, it is still something somewhat tangible, but this little bit stuck out to me. It seems to be the most surreal scene that we have come across as of yet.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting segment of this chapter is when Tom asks Nick if Gatsby is a bootlegger, reasoning that very rich people like him tend to be bootleggers, Nick replies "No, not Gatsby".
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because Nick either knows more about Gatsby than he says he does, or he just intrinsically trusts him not to be a bootlegger. I'm pretty sure him not being a bootlegger is a positive aspect and therefore this is a way of telling the reader that Nick thinks somewhat highly of Gatsby's moral character.
I thought we learned a lot about Gatsby in the previous chapter. Now we REALLY know the full story. But at this point i would not be surprised to learn of a new twist to the Jay Gatsby story in the following chapters. I also found the narrative shift in this chapter especially interesting. It reminded me more of Nick as a narrator, i was starting to forget about his qualities as a narrator rather than just an observer, but here we get a break in the story to hear more of nicks thoughts about gatsby in general rather than just reactions to events in the present
ReplyDeleteRedSoxRule1918 is Dan M by the way
ReplyDeleteThis chapter and the past one really illuminates or at least gives us more of an idea of the way Gatsby views his wealth and fortune. We found out that she wasn't actually born rich and gained his wealth from inheretance but that it seemed like he had to work hard in order to get in the societal position he is currently in. He uses his high societal position and wealth to try and impress Daisy and has some sort of idea that because he is so high up the food chain, his plans of winning back Daisy HAS TO WORK!
ReplyDeleteIt is this concept that gets me worried that Gatsby wont win back Daisy in the end despite me wanting this ending to become reality.
I think that they way Gatsby acquired his wealth is really interesting. For me, it makes him a more intriguing character given that he built up his own wealth. If he could do that, how hard can winning Daisy away from Tom be?
ReplyDelete-Sydney
I am still a little confused on where the past ended and the present began (in terms of Gatsby not being a young man) in this chapter.
ReplyDeleteWhen Daisy leaves the party it seemed weird to me how Tom was not at all suspicious of her adamantly defending Gatsby and his way of life. For me it was hard to suspend my disbelief that Tom would really be that slow. Especially given the fact that Tom cheats on Daisy constantly, it is hard to belief that he wouldn't recognize her affection for Gatsby.
ReplyDelete-Benny
Out of all parts of the book this chapter was the most dreamlike and fantastical for me. The tension between all the characters is growing into this intense sequence of events that is sure to take place in the next chapter. There is so much mystery within this book, you could cut it with a knife. Who exactly is Gatsby, and why is he so inclined on being so spacey and at the same time the center of attention.
ReplyDelete--Nathan
I think I agree with other people that Gatsby seems a little frustrating. I think the idea of fantasy and dreams started out as interesting but is now what is making Gatsby so frustrating. He is so caught up in his dreams that he doesnt seem to be grasping reality anymore, especially when he talks about repeating the past as an easy thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI felt as though through out the past couple chapters we see the many different sides of the Gastby character. But for this chapter I felt as though it was more concentrated on who Gastby really is behind all the faces he wears now.
ReplyDelete