The Great Gatsby Chapter 6

"It stands out in my memory from Gatsby's other parties that summer. There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion, but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before. Or perhaps I had merely grown used to it, grown to accept West Egg as a world complete in itself, with its own standards and its own great figures, second to nothing because it had no consciousness of being so, and now I was looking at it again, through Daisy's eyes. It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment" (Fitzgerald 110-111).

This passage reflects upon the ideas of isolation and blindness. West Egg is described as "a world within itself", which expresses society's separateness from the surrounding world. However, this isolation was something that Nick had "grown used to". In the beginning of the novel, Nick states that he is free from judgment, proving himself to be an outsider that looks in upon society. By accepting its isolation and "growing used to" society's ways, Nick is slowly becoming a member of society instead of a resting on the outskirts. He is becoming blind, like the other people in society; he only sees what he wants to see, and is therefore saddened when he sees Daisy's perspective. Like the others, Nick had established his "own powers of adjustment" and his own ways to transform the unfavorable aspects of society into something he approves of. At this point, Daisy is more realistic than Nick, though she has lived amongst society for much longer than he has. If Nick is saddened by her perspective, he clearly saw an unfavorable view on the society that he is now a part of. Daisy sees and is disgusted by society's isolation and its superficiality, while Nick is now accustomed to and accepting of it.

Fitzgerald also uses repetition and commas to describe Nick's thought process and reveal a change in Nick. The sentences in the passage are overly drawn out, and run into each other as a result of excessive comma usage. Perhaps this shows a state of drunkenness and Nick's inability to think coherently. Fitzgerald also repeats "the same", "many", and "grown" throughout the passage, which shows Nick's inability to stand out from society. Though he makes these observations, these thoughts repeat themselves the sentence structure within the passage is very similar. The way he narrates is "the same", mirroring his observation of society's members. By drawing out his thoughts with commas, Fitzgerald shows Nick's uncertainty with what he is saying and his inability to think clearly and coherently. He is not an individual who does not judge and therefore is unique from society, but he is becoming another one of its members.

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1 and 2

In Chapter 1, Nick and Daisy are excused from the rest of the party as they sit in the "deep gloom" (Fitzgerald 21) of the front porch. They begin to discuss Daisy's relationship with her husband, and her daughter. Daisy tells Nick, "I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool'" (21).

This passage illuminates the fact that society creates untrue perceptions of its members; while the reader is led to believe that Daisy is strong, because of her wealth and social status, she truly lives in misery. Her "bright eyes and bright passionate mouth" (13-14) are merely a facade to cover her suffering. Her husband has a mistress in New York and Daisy does not love him, instead viewing him as a cruel man and talking to him with a cold tone. Her frustration and annoyance with society is shown when she tells Nick, "Sophisticated - God, I'm so sophisticated!" (22). Daisy laughs to Nick "with thrilling scorn" (22); she is exasperated with society and only wishes to leave. Though she is "sophisticated", following the proper etiquette dictated by society's expectations, her sophistication does not make her happy, and living in society solely makes her miserable. Daisy is a fool to her husband and a fool for thinking that she could ever be happy in such a fake world; her happiness is fake, her marriage is fake, and she has no other option but to continue to pretend that she is content with her life.

We also see a false perception of Mr. Gatsby; similar to Daisy, the reader is led to believe that because of his enormous wealth, Gatsby must be content with his life. Nick comments, "On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden shears, repairing the ravages of the night before" (43). Gatsby's life is seemingly perfect, full of parties and extravagant affairs and carefree nights spend in the city. However, when he is alone, Gatsby "stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as [Nick] was from him [he] could have sworn [Gatsby] was trembling" (25-26). Although we have yet to meet Gatsby, at this point he is comparable to Daisy: he only puts forth a facade to cover his misery and suffering. He trembles, which shows his weakness, and stands alone in the moonlight instead of being surrounded by society and the people he usually associates himself with. Like Daisy, Gatsby is only capable of showing his suffering when he is alone, for the fear of being perceived as weak in the public eye. Also similar to Daisy, Gatsby is a fool for thinking that being immersed in society can take away any pain and struggle; he too lives in a fake world and must pretend to be content in the eye of society.