Gatsby Analysis

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Looks

“I was looking at an elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality or speech just missed being absurd.” (48)

Here Nick describes Gatsby as a tough and rowdy yet high-class person. Nick also says that Gatsby's speech is so complex that it is ridiculous. Gatsby is from west egg, which means he is part of the “new money” group. Since he has recently acquired his fortune he is not sure how to act “rich”. So instead of making a fool of himself he is confident in how he dresses and looks, along with how he talks.

“Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat packets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes.” (86)

This takes place after Daisy arrives for tea at Nick's house, Gatsby ran out the back door and around to the front. It describes Gatsby as almost looking sick. He is very nervous, with his hands in his pockets and his face turning pale. This shows that even Gatsby, who is rich and powerful, has fears.

“He (Gatsby) smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.” (48)

This took place after Nick found out that the man he was talking to was Gatsby. Gatsby is a very understanding and forgiving person. He didn't mind that Nick had no idea who he was, since they had never formally met before. Things like this probably happen a lot to Gatsby, mostly because he doesn't know most of the people who come to his parties.

Direct

“Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (48)

Here Nick says that Gatsby is choosing his words wi...

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... anyone, and that Gatsby is more traditional and old-fashioned, which is opposite of “The Immortality of the Jazz Age”. It also says that Nick is surprised by how graceful Gatsby dances. This reveals that even though Gatsby is involved with organized crime, he also has a caring side.

“'I hear you fired all your servants.' 'I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often—in the afternoons.'” (114)

This quote is from the beginning of chapter 7. Nick goes over to Gatsby's house to see if he is sick. Gatsby replaced all of his servants with new people that he felt he could trust better. He is afraid that word might get out about him and Daisy. Knowing how there are so many rumors about him, he does not want Daisy's affair to become one of the rumors. All of the new servants are Wolfsheim's people, which shows Gatsby's trust in Wolfsheim.

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