Chapter Three

Question 1

Where does Nick receive an invitation for?

Answer 1

One of Gatsby’s famous parties
He visits his neighbour’s mansion for the first time

Question 2

What does Nick spend the evening doing?

Answer 2

With Jordan Baker trying to find the host of the party, Jay Gatsby, but they just hear a lot of wild gossip and rumours.

Question 3

What does Nick realise when he finally meets Gatsby?

Answer 3

That he’s nothing like what he expected

Question 4

Why does Gatsby speak to Jordan? Does she tell Nick?

Answer 4

About a private matter but Jordan refuses to tell Nick what Gatsby said

Question 5

What description does Nick give after the party?

Answer 5

Gives a brief description of his life in New York and his developing relationship with Jordan

Question 6

What does the poetic language create?

Answer 6

A magical atmosphere of the parties. Gatsby’s “blue gardens” are alive with “the whispering and the champagne and the stars” - the list form draws together sound, taste and sight

Question 7

How does the pace of the party and Nick’s perspective change?

Answer 7

The party scene seems to increase in pace as the evening progresses, and Nick’s perspective changes as well - initially Nick sees everything from far away and it seems romantic and poetic: “floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter”
Later when Nick focuses in on the people and becomes involved in the party’s action, everything becomes sharp and vivid: “she narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned and looked around for Gatsby.”

Question 8

What type of character is Gatsby?

Answer 8

an eponymous character (title character of the work eg Gatsby in The Great Gatsby)

Question 9

What does the wild excess and drunkenness at Gatsby’s parties suggest?

Answer 9

That Fitzgerald wanted to give a sense of both the depravity and the hedonism of the wealthy in 1920s America. There’s a sharp contrast between the guests’ bad behaviour and the magical surroundings. This highlights both Nick and Fitzgerald’s simultaneous attraction and repulsion for the era

Question 10

How is the emptiness of the lifestyle symbolised?

Answer 10

By the “oranges and lemons” that are reduced to “pulpless halves” by Monday

Question 11

Who does Nick meet in Gatsby’s library? How does Fitzgerald use him?

Answer 11

A “stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles”. This man, later known as ‘Owl Eyes’, is amazed that Gatsby’s books are “real”.
Fitzgerald uses him to highlight the tension between appearance and reality in Gatsby’s life. The books are real but have never been read - they’re props

Question 12

How does Owl Eyes emphasise the importance of appearance in the Egg community?

Answer 12

He praises Gatsby’s attention to detail in maintaining the illusion that he’s a well-read gentleman. He compares Gatsby to David Belasco, a broadway producer known for his realistic sets, as if Gatsby’s an entertainer or illusionist

Question 13

How could Owl Eyes himself be a symbolic presence in the library?

Answer 13

Owls are traditionally seen as symbols of wisdom and Owl Eyes is the only guest to see through Gatsby’s personal.
However owls are also seen as bad omens

Question 14

How does Owl Eyes foreshadow later events in the novel?

Answer 14

• He mutters to himself that “if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse” - emphasises the point that if one part of Gatsby’s outward image were to falter the entire illusion would be shattered
• He’s involved in a car crash as he leaves the party and is mistakenly thought to be the driver - “You don’t understand…I wasn’t driving”. Foreshadowing Gatsby’s involvement in Myrtle’s death

Question 15

What rumours are there about Gatsby?

Answer 15

That he’s said to have “killed a man” and to have been “a German spy”

Question 16

What does Jordan say Gatsby was, what is Nick’s reaction to this before and after Jordan says she doesn’t believe it?

Answer 16

he “was an Oxford man” and Nick starts to imagine a “dim background”, but when she says she doesn’t believe it, the mystery starts building again

Question 17

What does all Jordan really know about Gatsby?

Answer 17

That “he gives large parties”

Question 18

What does Nick pay close attention to when he meets Gatsby? What early hint does this give?

Answer 18

His smile which has “a quality of eternal reassurance”. Nick describes the smile using words like “believe”, “impression” and “convey”, and comments on Gatsby’s affected “formality of speech” - this gives an early hint that Gatsby’s smile and speech are part of a deliberately crafted persona

Question 19

What communities attend Gatsby’s parties?

Answer 19

Even though the East Egg ‘old rich’ deny the West Egg ‘new rich’ entry to the American ‘upper class’, both communities attend Gatsby’s parties.

Question 20

How do the East Egg community behave and how is this ironic?

Answer 20

The East egg community are “carefully on guard” to maintain their respectability. However, in reality the East Eggers are just as badly behaved as the West Eggers

Question 21

What is a suggestion of sexual promiscuity among the guests?

Answer 21

One East Egg woman tried to stop her husband from flirting by hissing “You promised!” into his ear, which implies that her husband often behaves badly

Question 22

How do the Englishmen behave?

Answer 22

They’re desperate to follow the american dream. They talk business even at the party: “looking a little hungry, and all talking in low, earnest voices.” Their ‘hunger’ for wealth is always present

Question 23

How does Gatsby contrast with his party?

Answer 23

His party is packed making him seem to be a popular man. But most of the time he lives alone in an empty house

Question 24

How does Gatsby stand at the party and how does he seem as the party gets wilder?

Answer 24

stands “alone” at the edge of his party. the wilder the party gets, the more Gatsby seems like an outsider - he doesn’t drink or flirt and grows “more correct as the fraternal hilarity increased”.

Question 25

How is Gatsby shown at the end of the party? How does this image echo the end of chapter one?

Answer 25

When the “laughter and sound” died away, Gatsby is shown in “complete isolation” with his “hand up in formal gesture of farewell”. The image of the lonely figure echoes the end of Chapter 1, where Gatsby “stretched out his arms toward the dark water”, reaching out for Daisy.

Question 26

Where does nick not belong?

Answer 26

In either the egg community or in new york

Question 27

How is Nick presented to seem morally superior to others?

Answer 27

Emphasises that he was “invited” to Gatsby’s party, whereas others just turned up. He ends the chapter by claiming that he’s “one of the few honest people” he’s met

Question 28

How does Nick describe Gatsby’s party? How does Nick contrast to his description?

Answer 28

As “spectroscopic” (spectroscopy is the study of light and colour so suggests that the party is full of bright lights and colourful outfits). However Nick is dressed in white = stands out from the crowd

Question 29

How does Nick seem in company and how does this contrast to everyone else?

Answer 29

seems uncomfortable - other people easily engage in “enthusiastic meetings” despite the fact that they “never knew each other’s names”, whereas Nick feels “purposeless and alone”.

Question 30

What does Nick suffer from in New York?

Answer 30

A “haunting loneliness”. He imagines entering the lives of “romantic women” but never acts on his desires. Theres a contrast between Nick’s dinner, the “gloomiest event” of his day, and the “gaiety” and “intimate excitement” of others - he wants to be involved but remains an outsider

Question 31

What does Nick’s interest in Jordan seem to come from?

Answer 31

His fascination with the fact that she “concealed something” from the world.

Question 32

What has Jordan developed like Gatsby?

Answer 32

Like Gatsby, Jordan has developed a set of “affections” to allow her to feel safer and more confident

Question 33

How is it suggested that Jordan is in control of the relationship and is able to manipulate Nick?

Answer 33

Nick claims she “deliberately shifted our relations” so that he’s made to think that he “loved her”

Question 34

What does Nick’s relationship with Jordan suggest?

Answer 34

That Nick’s began to embrace the hedonism of Eastern life. He recognises that she’s “incurably dishonest” and “careless” and a part of the lifestyle he holds in contempt