Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Gatsby Fishbowl: Chapter 3


Your Chapter 2 blog comments were MUCH stronger than your "Winter Dreams" comments in both depth and professionalism. Well done!


Your challenge for today: Try to bring into one or two of your comments an actual passage from the text.


Remember that your goal is to participate both thoughtfully and frequently. Enjoy!

55 comments:

KeriN said...

What do you think makes Gatsby to independent and different from everyone else. Do you think something made him that way or thats just how he is?

Eva said...

Do you think this chapter foreshadows anthing about relationships involving Nick, Daisy or Gatsby?

Brianne D. said...

I felt like Gatsby was a little bit of an introvert and that he was lonely, because on page 50 it talked about how he was just on the stairs alone looking over all of the people at the party.

ErinH said...

To Keri I think that he is different because of past expierences that have had happened. Maybe one reason that he doesn't drink that much is becuase maybe he has had a bad expierence with it like his dad was a drunk

Mallory said...

Keri, I think that Gatsby in a way is more mature than everybody. That he doesn't need to put on or be really social. He seems like the kind of guy who is content to just be there, surrounded by all this excitement without having to be the life of the party. I feel he sees through the emptyness of that.

hilary l said...

I think the Gatsby may have experienced something bad while he was in the war. That may be why he seems to be so independent and separated from the people at his house. He isn't very sociable and that may be because he is traumatized by something dramatic that has happened in his life.

Margaret_O'B said...

I think that Gatsby is independent in order to try and keep himself seperated from the rest of the crowd. Maybe by seperating himself, he can be happier than the people surrounding him.

carlys said...

At the end of chapter 3, Nick talks about being in love with Jordan. "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (Fitzgerald 59). NIck says this, but why can't he be honest with himself about loving Jordan?

Eva said...

I agree with Stephanie (inner circle) when she said that BGatsby maybe misses someone. I was glad that we were introduced to Gatsby in this chapter, but I think that there is something about his character that we don't know. Perhaps this could be a plot twist or a shocking moment in the story. Gatsby isn't revealing something to us and we can't abse our assumptions on the gossip of the party.

Allison M. said...

I think he is just different from all these other superficial snobs. Like on page 2 in chapter 1; Nick talks about how Gatsby was exempt from his reaction, but was still a part of everything for which he has an unaffected snorn for. Maybe he's just content with who he is, and the money doesn't matter. Whereas everyone else was born into these wealthy families, but it's still not enough for them. I also agree with Patrick, about how maybe Gatsby wasn't born rich, instead he had to work to get there. Which is similar to Fitzgerald.

Lynch G said...

I think that Gatsby has somthing larger behind him. Because of the foreshadowing in chapter 1 that he is going to get attacked or something. So I think he is worried about putting his gaurd down and has something important he has to do.

Allison M. said...

That was a response to Keri's questions by the way.

Brianne D. said...

The girls at the party were talking about rumors about Gatsby because he is such a mystery. Do you think that these rumors are true or do you have any ideas about what makes Gatsby the way he is?

Lynch G said...

That is why he doesn't drink...

ErinH said...

Did F. Scott Fitzgerald not appriciate women, "Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply"(pg. 58) I feel as if Fitzgerald just thinks that girls are not to be blamed for their actions so they are set to a different standard. It could lead back to Zelda, maybe Fitzgerald thought he was to blame for her cheating.

hilary l said...

I think Gatsby is hiding something. He is very mysterious and it seems like he has a secret that no one knows about him. The people at the party don’t even know very much about Gatsby and there is a lot of rumors about him.

smm said...

Gatsby is looked up to by the town, his neighbors and friends. He is a person that especially Nick idolizes in a way. Maybe a reason they look up to him is becuase he doesn't drink. These days it's suprising when someone says they don't drink, but you kinda look at that person differently. I think that's what Gatsby was. Someone to admire and wonder about as to why it was that he didn't need to drink like the others.

KeriN said...

Carly, I think Nick is scared to love Jordan because she is a cheat and a liar. On page 57 in the non gold band book he says, "she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down, and then lied about it" and later he says, "at her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached newspapers -- a suggestions that she had moved her ball form the bad lie in the semi-final round." I think he is scared that she lies a lot and he is scared this will somehow hurt their relationship.

kendlet said...

"...and address inside of a week I got a package from Croirier's with a new evening gown in it." Why do you guys think he bought her a new dress? is it just because he's just a nice guy or that he has so much money he doesn't know what to do with it.

Mallory said...

Fitzgerald purposely had Gatsby and Nick meet. I feel they have a lot of similarities. They both fought in war together. They both are more reserved and not attention whores like all the other people we have been introduced to in this book. There is a connection between them. Maybe Gatsby realizes this about Nick and sees part of himself in Nick. This is why he invites him to go sailing.

Allison M. said...

In response to Brianne's question, I think he is just such a mystery and so different from the rest of their somewhat socially fake crowd, that people are drawn to him. They want to know what's up, and since he is so difficult to figure out, they make up rumors instead in order to feed their need for gossip.

JordanR said...

Why do you think Gatsby goes all out when he has a party but doesn't really enjoy it? and when i say enjoy, i mean that he never drinks and rarely socializes with his guest. I'm really confused why he would do that.

Lynch G said...

I don't understand why everybody knows and respects Gatsby, but noone respects him. most of his party were people who weren't even invited and they gossip about thim in his own house. Why is this?

KeriN said...

So, people are saying Gatsby is trying to protect himself and that is why he keeps his distance. There is a quote on page 43 where a woman is gossiping about him and says, "'He doesn't want any trouble with anybody'" Do you agree with her?

hilary l said...

I don’t understand why everyone likes being invited to Gatsby's parties so much. It seems like it is an honor to be invited. But if no one even knows Gatsby very well, then why is he so popular?

carlys said...

Do you think that the whole ditch situation resembles a relationship in the story?

JordanR said...

Do you think that Gastby being so independent and different had something to do with his love for Daisy?

KeriN said...

I agree with you Jordan. I don't get why someone would throw this huge party and not have any fun at it. Maybe he enjoys just having a party that everyone else enjoys but that seems a little strange to me.

Whitney C said...

Jordan, I think that Gatsby might have the expectation to throw these parties so that is why he does. Why he doesn't enjoy it is probably because he is not interested in drinking or socializing with those who come to his house to use him and get drunk. Also I don't think that he doesn't enjoy the parties. He might actually like throwing parties for other reasons than to get drunk or socialize with everyone.

Brianne D. said...

I think it is very interesting that Fitzgerald puts many experiences of things from his own life and gives them to his characters. For instance Fitzgerald mentions war quite a few times in the book and that relates back to how he wanted to be in the war but he never got to see any actions. And there were a lot of mentions of alcohol which relates back to Fitzgerald's alcohol problem.

Mallory said...

I agree with Allison. Gatsby is more like a ledgend than a person. He is very mysterous, and people like to talk about him. They make up crazy rumors because they are unsatisfied with his persona as it is. It is too boring for them.

KeriN said...

What do you think Gatsby revealed to Jordan in the room?

kendlet said...

Keri, I think I agree with her but I don't know why he doesn't want any trouble with any body, it seems like he's super nice to everyone. I just don't know if there's a specific reason for it.

ErinH said...

I was confused about Nick and Jordan's relationship. Did Nick have a crush on Jordan and I also thought that he was engaged with a girl back home

Allison M. said...

I completely agree with Mallory. Nick and Gatsby are just different. They're content with their lives. They don't need scandals and impersonal parties in order to distract themselves from their unhappy lives. They aren't pretentious either. They definitely have a lot of similarities.

Eva said...

Brianne I can't take any comments about Gatsby as the truth. In the first few pages of Chapter 3 everyone is described as a massive group of righteous, insecure, drinking people who have gathered here, in some way, to take advantage of Gatsby's wealth and frolic frivilously for the druation of the night. Eating, consuming, chatting, and gossiping. It was said that the women would pretend to have connections when really, they couldn't possibly remember all of the names of people. I don't know what to believe about Gatsby because he is such a mysterious character, but I would never believe the gossip of these kind of party-goers.

Whitney C said...

Malz (Mallory), you are totally right about how Fitzgerald purposely had Nick and Gatsby meet each other. They are so similar in so many ways and I think that they will have a growing relationship. Maybe that's why the book is called The Great Gatsby.

Margaret_O'B said...

Hilary- I believe that everyone goes to these parties to try and fill a void in their life. Even though they do not really know Gatsby, they probably go for the free alcohol. Everyone that goes is for one reason or another unhappy with the lives they are living and are looking for something to make their lives more exciting.

hilary l said...

I think that Nick started to like Jordan at the end of the chapter despite the fact that she is very dishonest and Nick is very honest.

smm said...

Hilary-
I can see the reason why Gatsby is so independent and reserved would be that something happened to him. I can just see him having an amazing story which is what makes him the way he is. On page 48Gatsby introduces himself and the book says, "It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey." I think he has a past, but is using every second of that to make him who he is today.

Whitney C said...

Do you think that this chapter has any significance to the title of this book, The Great Gatsby? What makes Gastby great?

kendlet said...

To Allison and Mallory i agree with you I'm deffinetly starting to think that their related.

KeriN said...

Erin, I think Nick does have a crush on Jordan. I think he was engaged to a girl but there was a scandal with that and that is why he left. I think he has mostly moved on from that and likes Jordan now.

Mallory said...

Kari, I don't think that Gatsby distances himself to protect himself. I think that Gatsby enjoys his parties, but does not feel the need to escape. He accepts life and is content, but still enjoyes having people over and being known for throwing great parties.

carlys said...

Nick and Jordan's relationship reminds me of the realationship between Judy and Dexter in "Winter Dreams". Both guys are falling for girls that are dishonest and not ready for commitment. These situations are the same experience from Fitzgerald's life.

JordanR said...

To me this wasn't very cleary, but when Gatsby's butler came in to come get Jorda, Nick didn't seem to have much of an issue with that...if he was pursuing Jordan wouldn't he be more curious about what Gatsby wanted to talk to her about? Specially if he is curious about Gatsby himself.

Eva said...

Kendle, in regards to your quote, I think that at heart, Gatsby is simply a gentleman and fis nice enough to replace a ripped dress.

Unknown said...

I think Fitzgerald is trying to show that Gatsby is independent person that does not need to drink to have a good time (The fact that he was not drinking helped to see him off from his guest pg 50), may be he is trying to show he would like to be Gatsby, and maybe Fitzgerald wants the readers to look up to him.

I think he does not want to love Jordan because he sees Tom and Daisy relationship and he does not want to end like that.

chapman. said...

I agree with Hilary I think that maybe the war had given him a different perspective on life and possibly made him more aware of his goals in life. I also agree because when Nick meets Gatsby, Gatsby says Nick looks familiar and they realize they served in the same division; because Gatsby also sits on the sidlines like Nick i think the war does have an affect on the way they party.

ErinH said...

I think that Gatsby is so great because he can make people feel like they actually mean something. He may also be great for another reason but we just don't know him that well

Allison M. said...

Whitney, I do think this chapter is significant to the title because it expresses how Gatsby is different from the rest of his "clique". Maybe it's somehow implying that he is in fact "Great". In my opinion it's like Gatsby is rising above the labels of society. He is rich, but he's also genuine.

chapman. said...

Yah i have the same idea as Jordan I wonder why Nick didn't ask Jordan what she met Gatsby for. Also Im not so sure Nick really likes Jordan, I dont know I just get the click.

JordanR said...

I think one reason that Gatsby could be so "great" was because, like on page 43 where the woman is talking about how her gown tore and Gatsby took down her name and address and within a week she was sent a new evening gown. Not many people would do something like that.

Allison M. said...

I agree with Mallory. He isn't trying to distant himself, he's just not unhappy with his life. He's content with sitting back and people watching in a way. He doesn't need to distract himself with pointless gossip in order to feel happy.

Mallory said...

Whit, Gatsby is great.. It does say in the chapter like you were saying. On page, 52 "He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly.It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four of five times in life."