The Great Gatsby (Blog 6)

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

In my last blog post, I showed favor towards Jay Gatsby; however, I am not so sure how I feel about him after continuing my reading into the first half of chapter 4.  In chapter 3, I thought the rumors of Gatsby being a murderer were completely ridiculous.  I still do not see him as one, but the whole secret with Jordan Baker is getting me kind of confused.  When he and Jordan were away from his party for over an hour, I was a little bit lost on what had just happened because they were acting very suspicious.  Now I am starting to think that they were just talking about Gatsby's "secret" that he needs Nick to be aware of.  I think it's a bit cowardly that he is making Jordan tell Nick.  Shouldn't he own up to this secret and tell Nick himself?  "'You see, I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad thing that happened to me'" (Fitzgerald, 67).  Stop building up the suspense, Gatsby!  I just want to know what the secret is!  Even Nick is getting annoyed with Gatsby over this matter.  He even starts to regret getting to know Gatsby.  "I was sure the request would be something utterly fantastic, and for a moment I was sorry I'd ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn" (Fitzgerald, 67-68).  Nick is already to the point of not wanting to associate with Gatsby due to the annoyance this issue is causing him.  Gatsby (NOT Jordan) needs to tell Nick the truth because he is making himself sound very suspicious!  I am questioning what Gatsby is really like at this point in the novel.

P.S.- At first I thought he was just trying to be friendly by calling Nick "old sport," but Gatsby says it so often that I am starting to wonder why he attaches this phrase onto the end of EVERYTHING he says to Nick.