Gatsby and Nick do not have a traditional friendship. They first met at Gatsby's party, which Nick was invited to by him. Gatsby seemed to be the man who always had parties and since Nick lived next door he invited him to one. During the party, they talked and they arranged to hang out the next day. Right off the bat, Gatsby started to talk about himself and his life. Gatsby also asked Nick what he thought about him. This awkward question that was posed by Gatsby put Nick in an awkward situation. However, Nick handles it well.
It seems that the two are strangely alike. Both are outsiders of the group they are usually with: the upper class. However, they are outsiders for different reasons. Gatsby is an outsider because not many actually know him, but he holds many parties so almost everyone knows of him. Nick, however, is someone who does not have as much money as the other people he hangs out with so he can not pull off such impressive luxuries. Not only in these ways, but both don't share all of the same interests as other people and listen more than they talk. This is maybe why they bonded together in the first place.
Their relationship is somewhat more complicated. In the beginning, it seems that Gatsby likes Nick and that is the only reason that he is being so kind and generous to him. After Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby wants Nick to invite over Daisy for him, however, this view is changed. It seems that Gatsby is using Nick to get back to Daisy. To make it look worse, Gatsby offers Nick a job at one of his companies. It seems like some kind of bribe. However, we can't really tell exactly if this is what Gatsby is intending. We don't know enough about his actual character to know if he is using Nick or not.
This uneasiness of their relationship at this point cannot tell us exactly their relationship. Now it's time for you to decide. Nick and Gatsby, friends or not?
No comments:
Post a Comment