'The Great Gatsby' reading journal, chapter four

Nick begins the chapter at another one of Gatsby's parities. He describes it as being 'the world and it's mistress' which suggests that Nick has possibly once again used imagery to over-exaggerate the occasion. We are soon reminded of the fact that Nick's perspective shouldn't always be trusted as as he only telling the story from memory. He names a large amount of people at the party, such as 'Maurice A. Flink' but he almost never shares any other information about them. If he does, it is only brief, such as 'who had his nose shot off in the war'. All of these attendees obviously don't mean alot to Nick, otherwise ho would have been keen to share more information about them. However, by not going into detail, he is able to concentrate more on the story, rather than get distracted by little details like this, as he had done previously in the novel. He states that all of these people 'came' to Gatsby's parties, this further implies the idea that at these parties, anyone can walk in. There are no rules. Nick notes that he 'wrote down' a list of name that had Been to Gatsby's parties over the summer. Why did he do this? Does this have something to do with the idea that Nick is lonely, which raised at the end of chapter 3?

Nick then shifts the imagery quickly to a quite morning outside his house. Gatsby is waiting to collect Nick so that they can go to lunch together. He says that he thought he and Nick could "ride up together" and Nick details him 'balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so preculirary American'. The image that this creates is of Gatsby trying to show off his wealth to Nick. While his phrasing could be interpreted as being polite and charming, I see it as being patronizing - Nick mentions that he is also displaying 'impatient opening and closing of a hand' and this gesture creates body language that suggests that Gatsby can not move forward with there plans until Nick is ready. He has put lots of attention on to him with such a small yet commanding movement. During their car journey, Gatsby expresses that he does want Nick to "get a wrong idea of me from the stories you hear". Gatsby is attempting to dismiss the stories of him that float around during his parties. But why is it Nick in particular who he wants to know this? Because he knows that Nick is related to Daisy, is trying to make a good impression on him, in the hope that he can arrange for the two to meet? He then tells Nick a story about himself, which he labels as "God's truth". However, we cannot be so sure of this, as when he mentions Oxford, he 'hurried the phrase...or swallowed it' which leaves little room for Nick to question him about this. But could there be a reason as to why he only talks of this briefly?

Gatsby mentions that he travelled Europe - "collecting jewels, chiefly rubies..." which all seems a bit over-the-top and hard to believe, given the false impression that Gatsby gives us in chapter two. However, Gatsby talks more in depth about the war, mentioning things like the weaponry used ("sixteen leiws guns") and location ("Argoone Forest") unlike Nick, who has only given brief statements about the war. it obviously means a lot less to him, in contrast to Gatsby. Hen then shows Nick a picture - "It was taken in the trinity Quad" says Gatsby, wanting to prove to Nick that he is telling the truth. He is desperate to do this. As they are crossing the bride over to the seedier side of New York, Nick notes that 'A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms'. Again, I interpret this as foreshadowing the tragic events that take place later in the story, that involves a car, and ultimately, death.

Over the bridge, Nick paints the setting as being very seedy, indicated when Nick describes the Forty-second street cellar' he has to blink away 'the brightness of the street outside'. This suggests that the restaurant they are in is more like a sleazy bar, filled with smoke, and suspicious looking figures. If he is so wealthy, why would Gatsby decided to have lunch in a place like this? We are then introduced to Mr. Wolfsheim, who Nick describes as being a 'flat-nosed Jew' with a 'large head'. Despite his pleas for trust and innocence at the end of chapter 3, Nick describes Mr.Wolfsheim as having an 'expressive nose'. Nick is keen to pick out features that make people sound as if they are ugly - There is no actual proof of Wolfsheim actually being Jewish just yet, but Nick is stereotyping him with his choice of words, which shows that Nick should be considered any less innocent or arrogant that someone like Tom. Wolfshiem goes on to make an interesting comment about Gatsby towards Nick. when talking of Gatsby, he says that "Gatsby's very careful towards women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife." This is an ironic statement because later on, Gatsby and Daisy re-unite in a wave of romantic passion, and Daisy is of course Tom's wife. Although there is no suggestion that Tom and Gatsby are profound friends, he is still involved with a women who is married at that point. Nick then spots out Tom Buchanan in the bar. When he tries to introduce Gatsby to him, 'a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby's face'. Gatsby then flees the scene. Does Gatsby recognise Tom? Because he is Daisy's husband, is this why he has fled? because he is scared of him, or him knowing something? This could however again be hint as to what soon happens in the story. Gatsby re-kindles his feelings with Daisy later, under Tom's nose, and these small descriptions could a be a build-up of tension towards future events.

We have heared every part of the story so far from Nick's perspective. However, for a small section of this chapter, a perspective is offered from someone else - Jordan. Nick lets the reader know this when the text says that she is 'sitting up very straight on a straight chair at the Plaza Hotel'. By doing this, Nick again changes the scenery far too quickly for the reader. He takes us from this, dark, danky bar to a formal, quite and neat setting using just two or three words. Daisy tells the story of how Gatsby and Daisy met in the first place. She makes it sound as if there was definitely something charming about Gatsby, looking at Daisy in a way 'every young girl wants to be looked at sometime'. Jordan lets us know that this an event that took place in the past (she mentions that it was nineteen-seventeen then). Soon before Daisy was due to marry Tom, we learn that she was 'as a drunk as a monkey' and that she was holding a letter in one hand. She soon began to cry heavily - there must have been something significant about this letter, I would have guessed that it was sent from Gatsby, before he left for/during the war. She has obviously had a strong reaction to this. Daisy then reveals to Nick that 'Gatsby bought the house so that Daisy would be just across the bay' which explains why Nick had spotted Gatsby staring into the distance at the end of the first chapter - his feeling for Daisy have obviously not faded. After learning all of this information, I think this is filler material that occurs quite late in the story, but however, It could be useful filler material. This is because it answers a few questions - it answers why Tom fled from the bar upon meeting Tom. It answers why Gatsby throws such extravagant parties.

Nick however, after hearing everything that Jordan had shared with him, shows little care towards the relationships of Gatsby, Tom or Daisy - 'Suddenly I wasn't thinking of Daisy and Gatsby anymore...'. He shows that he is more interested is his own experiences than theirs, and even compares his relationship with Jordan to Tom and Gatsby's relationship with Daisy ('I had no girl whose disembodied face floated...'0 and thinks that he is much better off than them. What should be noticed, however, is the fact that Nick constantly refers to Jordan as 'this girl' rather than her name. He says that his relationship is better than other people's, But this language shows some form of disconnection with Jordan, as if he feels there is nothing special about her, that all women are nothing more to him than 'this' or 'that girl.

'The Great Gatsby' reading jorunal, chapter three

At the start of the chapter, we get the impression that we are finally going to get a face to face description of Gatsby as Nick has been invited to attend one of his parties. He describes the invitation that he receives as being of a 'majestic hand' meaning that appears quite formal and striking. This, however, creates a different impression as what Gatsby's parties are actually like. The sentences 'floating rounds of cocktails', 'introductions forgotten on the spot' and 'nine in the morning and long past midnight' suggest that Gatsby's parties are rather wild ones. Alcohol just happens to be there, in endless supplies, people have no idea who they are talking to and the parties last all night long. However, given the state of Nick's trustworthiness previously, there is always the possibility that he is over-exaggerating this. Nick makes the parties sound even more out of hand when he says 'People were not invited - they went there'. No invitations are required at Gatsby's parties - the host is a generous one and it seems as if he is fine with have a large number of strangers in his home. However, is there a reason for this? Surely he is not that careless?

Even though we have not seen Gatsby's face directly yet, we are under the impression that he is heavily wealthy, attracting people from outside of town, some of which are collected in his Rolls-Royce - a very expensive automobile at the time. The fact that he has obtained a large amount of alcohol, thought, in a decade prohibition makes us suspicious as to where he got it all from. More suspicions arise when Nick is involved in a conversation with Jordan and two other girls, who share a rumor that Gatsby 'killed a man once' or a 'German spy during the war'. After this discussion, they all look around for Gatsby, as if he would not be happy to hear people talking about him in this way. But is that why he is yet to show his face? his he afraid that he will be questioned about this? The scene then changes, when Jordan decides that her Nick are going to look for Gatsby. They eventually stumble upon a 'high gothic library, panelled with carved English oak' which in terms of imagery, further indicates Gatsby's wealthy status, without even seeing him. In this room, however, is a man who is, according to Nick 'stout' and 'middle-aged'. In his drunkenness, he shows a lot of enthusiasm towards the books on display but, untill later in the chapter, the relevance to this part of the story is unclear.

Next, the reader is met with a moment that has been long-awaited - we are introduced formally to Gatsby. Once Nick discoveries who he is, he goes on to give quite an interesting description about him. Nick sates that Gatsby's smile 'concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour.' Nick has become totally absorbed by it and, within seconds of learning who he is, has become fascinated by him. As soon as Gatsby has been called away by his butler, Nick starts asking Jordan questions about him - he wants to know more. Jordan says that Gatsby was educated at Oxford, in England, which could be an explanation as to why he uses the phrase 'old sport' when talking to Nick. the accent is false, and maybe he only does it to appear more sophisticated. We learn later in the novel that Daisy had left Gatsby as he was not wealthy enough for her. This could be why Gatsby throws these extravagant parties and why he has taken on the accent - he hopes that she will show up at one, and when she talks to him, she will see that he has become more 'sophisticated'. Still, by not showing his face for a large portion of the party, Gatsby is quite the reclusive host. However, when Jordan then describes large parties as being "intimate" and that small parties contain no privacy. With this in mind, it makes it sound as if it is easier for Gatsby to shadow himself in the midst of a thousand people, rather than in a small, secluded space that contains fifteen people only.

Nick earlier commented that at this party, he was 'actually invited'. Gatsby does not think of him as another person through the door. When Gatsby learned from Jordan that Nick was related to Daisy, he may have hoped that if he invited Nick, there may have been a better chance of her showing up. Just as Nick is about to leave Gatsby's party, he learns that the evening was 'not quite over'. a coupe had fallen into a ditch as a result of a crash, which had left things in a 'bizarre and tumultuous scene'. It is then revealed that one of the men in the car was the man who Nick and Jordan had stumbled upon in the library earlier ('the late patron'). I find that there are two possible reasons as to why Nick has included this in the story - one is to represent Gatsby's inner feelings of distraught. He may charming on the outside, but inside, he is deeply upset by Daisy's on-going absence, and is wreck, like the crashed car. The second reason could be for foreshadowing purposes - a car crash occurs later in the story, which has quite a devastating effect on many of the main characters...

In the closing section of this chapter, Nick reveals that the vents that have occurred in the past three chapters were all 'casual events in a crowded summer'. He reveals that these three events were quite distant from each other, but they stand out to him. H reveals that he worked most of the time during this summer, and even had 'a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey city' suggesting that, over the course of the summer, Nick has been keeping secrets from the reader. Why would he only share this information now? Because he worked a lot, Nick creates the impression that he was lonely for a lot of time over this summer, and had nothing better to do than 'walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd...' It appears that, as Nick had become so lonely by his work habits, he nothing better to do let his imagination run wild for entertainment.

He admits that he is not in love with Jordan Baker, but feels a 'tender curiosity' towards her. He simply wants to know more about her, what she doing, her thoughts ect. but he does not want to confess romantic feeling towards her. He makes it clear that he is interested in becoming romantically involve with her, but before he can do so, he has to get himself 'out of that tangle back home'. Upon reading this, I was instantly drawn back to a moment in chapter one, where Nick had denied rumors of being engaged to a girl back in the mid-west. This sentence suggests, however, that Nick has been unfaithful this whole time, and that he really was engaged back home. He goes on to say that 'I am one of the few honest people that I ever know' and this is subject to much argument. Because he had possibly been engaged to a girl in the mid-west, he appears as being very dishonest - to Jordan, to himself and to the reader. However, by admitting that he has to clear things up back home 'before I was free' and able to pursue his relationship Jordan further, he creates the impression that he has the ability to be honest. He wants to show the reader evidence of his honesty, and maybe this is why he has chosen to share something that makes him appear dishonest.

'The Great Gatsby' reading journal, chapter two

At the beginning of the chapter, Nick enables the reader to really picture his surrounding because of how descriptive he is. He describes it as 'the valley of ashes' between West-Egg and New York. The image this creates is that of a wasteland - there is nothing out there, expect for the road and the railways. Nick is able to create the setting in just one paragraph. Next, Nick mentions the over-watching eyes of 'Doctor T.J. Eckelberg'. Nick mentions that it it looks from eyes that are 'blue and gigantic' which suggests that it is a some form of large advertisement - the only one in the desert area, which could be why Nick describes the eyes in this way, as being higher than humankind. We are then introduced to a new character - Georg Wilson, who works in a repair garage that is a 'small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the wasteland - again Nick has created interesting imagery with his wording - in this wasteland, one small building stands alone, appearing out of place and forgotten. When we first discover George Wilson, Nick describes him as having 'a damp gleam of hope' upon seeing him and Tom. This suggests that George is a lonely character who has not a a visitor for a while. His business also seems as if it is a quite one and that he is desperate for customers - when Tom becomes frustrated by him about a car enquiry, he respond es with "I don't mean that".

The arrival of Tom's mistress (who is also Wilson's wife), Myrtle, appears as being a big moment of importance in the novel because of Nick over-detailed description of her ('she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of..."). Unlike Daisy, it seems as if Myrtle is a much more powerful women who has control over her husband. When she orders him to "Get some chairs" I imagine her using a forceful but sensual tone of voice towards Wilson, to show that she is able to get what she wants. We see further examples of Tom arrogance - when asking the puppy vendor at at the train station about the gender of the dog, To demands that "It's a bitch" when the vendor had told him that it was a boy. Is Tom only saying this because it is what he wants to hear? Or by getting the gender wrong, has Tom simply decided to be smug towards him? Despite his arrogant ways, Tom then demands Nick's company when he tries to leave the car - "Myrtle'll be hurt if you don't come up to apartment." I would have thought Myrtle would not have cared that much about weather Nick was there or not, so why does Tom want Nick to be there? Because he was mean insulting towards him earlier in the novel, he maybe wants his company to make himself appear better, in terms of status?

Once in the apartment for the party, Nick reveals something that makes us as readers appear sceptical of weather he is telling the truth or not - "I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon" we already see his telling of the story as possibly being unreliable as he is doing it from memory, so now that he is telling the story under the influence of alcohol, he has become even more unreliable as his memory for this part of the story will be even more distorted. Furthering the idea that Nick's memory is a photographic one is Mrs Mckee's husband. Chester, who is prompted by her to take a picture of Myrtle in her dress ("If Chester could only get you in that pose..." ) which suggests that there is something special to be remembered at that exact time. Mr Mckee then goes on to describe two of his pictures taken out on Long Island - 'Montauk Point - The Gulls' and 'Montauk Point - The Sea'. This suggests that, even though these two pieces of artwork were created in the same location, and appear similar, they are able to show a contrast, between the land and the sea, just like the contrast Nick described earlier between East and West Egg. Even though we have not been introduced to the character of Gatsby yet, more mystery is created about him when Catherine asks Nick is she knows him, surrounding his characters with mysterious popularity.

During a conversation about Myrtle and Tom, Myrtle overhears ans says that the reason why Tom and Daisy have not divorced is because that Daisy is catholic. Nick tells us that he was 'shocked at the elaborateness of the lie' and that Daisy is not catholic. This causes a question to rise - why would Tom lie about being catholic? and why does he want to stay with Daisy, despite the fact that he also has a mistress? Because Myrtle is of a much lower class than Tom, this could be why he has lied to her, to escape the views that would come his way is someone of his class married someone like her. Nick has been a passive narrator for much of this chapter, not paying attention to a lot of his surroundings or sense of time - he comments that at one point it was 'nine o'clock' and then 'immediately ten' - a lot of important things could have happened in this space of time, and Nick has just missed out on it. 'people disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere and then lost each other...' we do not who these people are, and it seems that Nick's entire telling of this part of the story has just turned into one big untrustworthy haze.

His passive narration and lack of attention to detail are furthered in the closing sections of the chapter. Something big happens - Tom punches Myrtle and breaks her nose. Instead of re-acting, Nick comments upon the scenery this creates, with no sense of emotion whatsoever - 'there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women's voices scolding...'). However, at this point, he is not being judgmental, which suggests there is some element of truth to how he talked in chapter 1, which we had been led astray from previously in the novel. What I am most surprised by at the end of the chapter is the sudden change of subject - of Mr. McKee and Nick discussing the idea of having lunch together sometime, making an exit from the party. You would have expected him to help or give some comment that indicates his feeling towards the violence that he has jut witnessed, but at this moment in time, Nick is doing what he said he would do at the start of the novel by not judging the action. It is just something that happened, nothing more, nothing less. What is even more confusing, however, is the brief imagery that Nick creates next. From the apartment, Nick talks of Mr Mckee, and that he is 'standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear...' and finally, Nick ends the chapter by being 'half asleep in the lower level of the Pennsylvania station...waiting for the four o' clock train. How did this suddenly happen? It appears as if Nick let his drunken haze seriously get the better of him. These are only brief details, which causes questioning to arise. Why was Mr. Mckee 'clad in his underwear? are there some factors that Nick has left out or forgotten about? most importantly though, as Nick had said that he was 'drunk' on this night, how much of this part of the story is actually accurate?

'The Great Gatsby' Reading journal, chapter one

In the opening paragraph, we are aware that the story is being told in first person. This is clear as the narrator, Nick Carraway, beings the book with the words 'In my'. He then goes on to share what is to be a sentence that details the reader with something about his personalty - 'Whenever you feel like criticising anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had'. He even goes on to say that he is 'inclined to reserve all judgments' which further suggests that as a character, he is not judgmental and that he respectful of everyone around him. However, this statement soon becomes one to question, as the text makes it quite clear that he is in fact, judgmental. This is proven when he states that he has an 'unaffected scorn' towards Gatsby, and that he as titled the entire book because of him - obviously this means that Gatsby has dome something quite significant and memorable and therefore he reflects on him with some from if disrespect, which instantly makes Nick judgmental. Also, later on in the paragraph, he goes on state that 'Gatsby turned out all right in the end' which implies that somewhere in the story, Gatsby took some form of drastic action that Nick found to be unpleasant, but in the long run, wasn't actually that bad. This makes me question - 'What did Gatsby do that was considered to be 'not alright'?' In the final sentence of this paragraph, Nick makes it clear that Gatsby did so something significant and memorable, but disguises what it is exactly in his choice of wording - 'what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and and short-winded elations of men'.

In the next paragraph, Nick goes on to tell the reader about his family. He says that the Carraways are traditionally 'descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch', a royal, historical and prestigious Scottish name, and that the 'actual founder' of his line in the family was has 'grandfather's brother' and that he also started the hardware business that Nick's farther continues to run at the time of writing. I begin to get bothered by Nick at this point as it seems that he has become distracted from telling the story of Gatsby - a tale that looked like that it was coming up shortly at the end of the last paragraph. Now, it just seems as if he is bringing up irrelevant manners about himself and his family. What I have enjoyed, however, is Nick's ability to inform the reader of location and time - he provides figures throughout the chapter, such as 'I graduated from New Haven in 1915' and 'I came East, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two'. This also tells us something about him. New Haven is a very prestigious university in America, so this suggests that Nick is quite a wealthy character. He also mentions that that he learned 'the bond business' which has a lot to do with business and statistical figures, and that 'Everybody I knew was in the Bond Business'. This makes me feel that Nick is in no way a unique character, he is simply following the bond business because everyone he knows does it, he simply follows the latest trend. He mentions that it was his farther that financed him for a year and that is why he was able to do all of this - which again takes away any sense of independence from Nick. He talks of himself very highly, but reveals that he had a lot of support for nearly every aspect of what he has achieved.

He continues to share information about himself, but again I cannot help at this point but ask this - is he sharing? or is he bragging? It just seems as if that the reader does not nee to know that that Nick was 'rather literary in college'. He makes another interesting statement, I find, when he says 'life is much more successfully looked at for a single window, after all'. He could be looking at the world from a financial aspect, thinking that if you a specialize in one aspect, you'll be much more likely to find job and financial security. However, this could also be viewed as Nick being narrow-minded and unadventurous because by only having knowledge in one area of something, you are automatically limiting your own knowledge. Nick then uses a metaphor to describe the class divide of West Egg and East Egg. He describes them as 'identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay' meaning that while in terms of landscape they may appear strikingly similar, they actually both contain a missive difference in terms of personality. West Egg is apparently 'the less fashionable of the two' so he means to say that it is a dull place. In terms of narrative, we can see that he quickly changes between present and past tense when he says 'It was Gatsby's mansion. Or, rather, as I didn't know Mr Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentlemen of that name'. It seems that Nick uses far more complex language than is required of him when he says 'consoling proximity of millionaires - all for eighty dollars a month.' He could have easily used a much simpler form of wording here, it is as if he is trying to 'fit in' with the wealthy friends he has that are soon introduced, which makes Nick's personality potentially false. This next sentence, however, agitates me a great deal as it confirms my previous thoughts of Nick bringing up irrelevant subjects - 'the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans'. It looks likes Nick is only just begging to tell the story of Gatsby now, which imposes the question - if you are only just starting the story now, what have you been telling us for the past few pages?' Again Nick proves that he is judgmental character when he said he wasn't when he says that Daisy is his 'second cousin once removed' and that he had known Tom since college. He draws more attention to his own family, making himself appear obsessive about status.

Nick goes on to speak a bit more about about Tom. he states that Tom has 'brought down a string of polo ponies' with him, which, and still is today, considered a sport only to be open to the most wealthy of characters, and therefore gives me the impression that Tom is a wealthy character himself. Nick shows both jealousy and confusion towards him, stating that 'it was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that'. Mick makes it sound as if his 'generation' of young people were nowhere near as wealthy as Nick was during his college years, so therefore it is a mystery as to how he has been able to afford the things that he has. Nick also gives the reader the first visual description of Tom. 'Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch'. This creates quite a cinematic picture - it sounds as if Tom is very much powerful and confident. However, Fitzgerald's writing style makes use of vague descriptions - it is as if he wants the reader to be picturing the action taking place in the story in their heads. 'Just because I'm stronger and more of a man than you are' is one of the first sentences that the reader hears from Tom. Instantly, I think that he is a very arrogant man, he is obviously keen to point out what he thinks is so great about himself. Once again, we see that Nick is a character that is easily distracted when he goes on to describe the two women (Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker) sat on a couch at at Tom and Daisy's house. He pays a lot of attention to the 'rippling and fluttering' of their white dresses, and makes a note of the sound he hears 'the whip and snap of the curtains'. I wonder if this entire passage needed to be shared with the reader or not - Nick could have easily gone on with the narrative of the story instead engulfing his mind into something irrelevant to the tale of Gatsby once again.

We soon get our first impressions of Daisy, and they seem to be very false. This is obvious when Nick details that she looked up into his face as if 'there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had.' It seems like she only engages in this sort of activity for fun, and to trick who she is addressing as Nick has said. Daisy also appears to be very self-obsessed as well - When Nick tells her that he had 'stopped off in Chicago' on his way to the East, 'a dozen people had sent their love through me'. The first question that Daisy asks Nick is 'do they miss me?' which shows that she not interested in his story, she is only interested in finding out how 'missed' she is. She wants it to be all about her. In response to this, Nick humors her, saying that 'the whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath...'. What Nick is saying is that without Daisy, chaos breaks lose, and Daisy obviously finds this to be a rewarding thing to learn. She responded with 'How gougers!'. She is simply delighted at what Nick has told her, unaware that he is only humoring her, and it again proves that she is very concise about herself. Next, it appears that Tom is also an impatient character, as well as arrogant, when the text says that he has been 'hovering restlessly about the room'. The image that is created for me here of Tom, pacing up and down the room rapidly, with his arms crossed, and stopping every so often to sigh in an aid to show his frustration. It also appears as if he is rather 'manly' - he next 'rested his hand on my shoulder' says Nick. Here, the image I see is of Nick appearing quite casual, quite relaxed, and suddenly Nick comes along and placed his hand on his shoulder unexpectedly, possibly making Nick jump.

Daisy continues to chatter and draw attention to herself she she complains with 'Look! I hurt it!'. She is indicating her little finger, which is 'black and blue' from the bruising it has endured. She states that Tom was the one who caused it, stating that 'I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it'. During the 1920's in the US, however, the treatment of women was very poor and they were just seen as being objects, so it more likely that Tom did mean to do it, weather she had aggravated him in some way or not. He sees Daisy as one of his possession, like a trophy or a candle, and feels that he can do whatever he wants with it. Daisy, however, is aware that Tom won't be happy by making him look like an inflicter of pain, so she attempts to compliment him, say that he is a 'brute of a man, a great, big, hulking, physical specimen of a-' Tom interprets, showing that he is clearly not pleased with her comments when he says 'I hate that word hulking'. I think that this is because he has seen that Daisy in trying to make him look like a villain in the eyes of Nick and Jordan, and Daisy goes to insist the word 'hulking'. I noted earlier that Daisy is one to draw attention to herself and manipulate her guests, apparently for fun and to get herself attention. However, based on what she has said about the way Tom treats her, It may well not be for fun as I earlier thought - it cold well be a distress call. She is unhappy it the way that Tom treats her, and therefore wants attention out of insecurity, so when she looked at Nick earlier as if 'there was no in the world that she so much wanted to see' this could have been out of desperation, maybe she wants someone to talk to, away from the eyes of her violent husband.

Nick tells Daisy that she makes him feel 'uncivilized', over his 'second glass of corky'. His choice of adjectives seem far more expressive about sense than need be. Tom once again impatiently interrupts and goes to express views of racism and white supremacy. He has been influenced by a book called 'The Rise of the Coloured Empire'. This, accompanied with his comment of 'It's up to us, who are dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things' tells the reader Tom doesn't just want control of Daisy, he also wants the entire white race to be in control of society. Daisy then whispers 'We've got to beat them down'. However, I do not believe that Daisy shares the same views on this manner as Tom does, as the text details that she is 'winking ferociously toward the fervent sun'. Daisy sees how intense Tom's opinion is, armed with the intensity of the sun, and feels that she has to support Tom - she fears that if she doesn't, she may suffer another violent attack from Tom. As well learning that Tom treats Daisy poorly, we next learn that he also having an affair with another women - 'Tom's got some women in New York' says Jordan, which furthers to idea of Tom only seeing women as objects - just as he feel sees that it is fit to own more than one, say, candle, he also feels it is fit to 'own' more than one women.

Daisy then tells Nick about the birth of her daughter. She tells him that when the baby was born and she found out that it was a girl, she turned her head away 'and wept'. she further expressed that she hopes that her daughter will 'be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world - a beautiful little fool'. Because Daisy herself has been treated poorly by Tom, she is expressing her fears for her daughter, thinking that she will have to endure what she has endured. Women, as I said earlier, were simply seen as objects during the 1920's - they could as pretty as they wanted to be, but they were still treated like objects. This could also mean that Daisy wants her daughter to be as pretty as she can be - she thinks that she will have a great deal of mistreatment to deal with, so she wants her daughter to have at least one things that she can feel good about - her looks. Daisy then express that 'everything's terrible anyhow...And I know. I've been everywhere and seen everything and done everything'. Nick then comments that he felt 'uneasy' when he felt 'the basic insincerity of what she had said'. This suggests that Daisy has made Nick realize an horrible truth about the society in which they live in - she has painted a grim reality for him taking away the sense that society is okay or, as Nick puts it, 'as though the whole evening had been a trick a trick of some sort to exact a contributory emotion from me'. Daisy has expressed that she is trapped in this world and that there is nothing she can do about it - she simply has to nod along to whatever Tom says and hide her true feelings. I find that this is best expressed in the following text: 'she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.' The cinematic picture that this creates is of Daisy, desperately telling Nick about how she needs help. Suddenly Tom enters, and it is as if nothing was wrong - she suddenly becomes happy, showing know trace of sadness in her expression.

In the closing section of the chapter, Nick realises who Mrs Barker actually is - 'Oh - you're Jordan Barker'. It is revealed that Nick remembers her for her well-known sporting career and 'a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago'. This sentence, along with many others, lets the reader know that Nick's perspective, which the story is being told from, is unreliable and faulty. He tells the story entirely from memory, and as he cannot remember the 'critical' and unpleasant' story he had of Jordan Barker, I can't help but question - is there anything else that he has forgotten? perhaps something that is incredibly vital to the understanding of this story? Jordan then departs, saying goodnight to everyone. However, when she addresses Nick, Daisy responds for him saying that they will most certainly see each other again soon, and 'arrange a marriage' for them, and 'fling you together. You know - lock you up accidentally in... all that sort of thing'. Daisy is making a clear innuendo towards the fact that she wants Nick and Daisy to have a romantic relationship. It is as if she is making this decision for Nick as well - she sees something that she think fits, so therefore she will do her best to make it fit. Jordan responds with 'I haven't heard a word' which paints the image of a women playing 'hard to get', or with a sarcastic but soothing tone of voice. either way, I can imagine her expresses these feeling towards Nick, in a flirty manner. Tom again expresses his supremacist views, but this time, towards men over women, by saying that Jordan's family 'oughtn't let her run around the country this way.' meaning that he disagrees with not just her sense of freedom, the feeling that all being free - he thinks that women are objects and should be restrained, as I mentioned earlier. Daisy further insists that Nick and Jordan must start a romantic relationship, saying that 'Nick's going to look after her, aren't you, Nick?' although she is asking Nick a question, it seems like he does not get a say in the matter - Daisy just wants them to be a couple, and, If I were to picture the dialogue being spoken in real life, I could imagine Daisy using a confident, yet patronizing tone of voice and directly looking at Nick. In her mind, she would have already answered the question for him (yes) and she would be looking at him with a wide smile, lightly nodding her head. She would have forced Nick to say yes. Daisy says that Jordan is from Louisville and that they formed their friendship there ('our white girlhood was passed together there.') This expands on the sense that, compared to Daisy, Jordan is in fact quite a free character, as Louisville, geographically, is quite distant from New York.

Getting towards the end of this chapter and Nick is about to go home. Before he does this, however, Daisy and Tom stop him, and tell him that that had heard that Nick had become engaged to someone in the Mid-West. Nick denies this (It's a libel. I'm too poor.') Daisy then says that had heard of this 'from three people, so it must be true.'. Nick then responses by saying something that both bothers and interests me somewhat about his character - 'I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn't even vaguely engaged'. This bothers me because it find it is suggesting that Nick is hiding something about his character - does he have relations with someone in the West that for whatever reason he does nut want to share with us? This could also be a use of play-on words, in another sense. This well could be a rumor, and Nick uses this sentence to express that he is not engaged, and also not interested in this rumor. When he states that this was 'one of the reasons I had come East. You can't stop going with an old friend on account of rumors'. I think that he is suggesting that there was something in the West that troubled him, that he wanted to get away from, but he does not feel comfortable to share it with the reader. This heightens the sense that the reader should not put all of their trust in Nick, but also, it may be a turning point for his character - maybe he has chosen not to share it this because it is irrelevant to the story of Gatsby, and he had a tendency to share irreverent information throughout this chapter.

On the drive home, Nick reflects on everything that he has learnt in the evening. He mentions that Tom's affair was 'less surprising' which could mean, when comparing him to the Tom he knew during their time at New Haven, this type of behavior was a dominant feature that Tom had then, too. When he arrives home, he is confident that he has spotted Gatsby himself for the first time, 'with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars'. However, Nick says that 'the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself'. Again, because Nick is only telling the story from memory, we cannot even be sure that it is Gatsby stood outdoors. However, the figure that Nick sees, weather it is Gatsby or not, is a mysterious one, because the next Nick looks at it 'when I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished'. Nick had heard comments of Gatsby earlier in the chapter at Tom and Daisy's house, so therefore he was probably desperate to meet him and find out about him. As a reader, I am now too, because the comments made earlier suggest that their is something prominent and mysterious about Gatsby. I just hope that Nick is in a position not to tell more irrelevant details.

'The Great Gatsby' first thoughts on Nick Carraway

Nick Carrawy is the narrator of 'The Great Gatsby'. He begins by letting the reader know of something that his farther told him while he was young - 'Whenever you feel like criticising people, just remember that all of the people in this world haven't had all of the advantages you've had.' This makes me think that Nick has been raised with a great deal of consideration and rarity. His farther appears to be saying that he has been very lucky to have access to luxuries that apparently not a lot of people around him will have had.

Reading this, there are a couple of questions in my mind already. What kind of special treament has Nick had? why does it make him special? He goes on to give a further reflection of his life, which involves graduation 'from New Haven in 1915' which is a top university in America, which suggests that he had a wealthy up-bringing. He also notes that 'life was beginning over again with the summer' when he gave direction to man looking for West Egg Village, which creates the impression that Nick's recent past had began to shed away.

Proposed essay title and planning

Opening section, to include the following:

Title: How does Hamlet's sense of timing contribute to the tragedy of the play?

Introduction: Opening paragraph outlining the aims of the essay (In this essay, I will be examining ect.), noting 3 - 4 'key points' that I will pay particular attention to. 50 -100 words.

Middle section. To include the following:

Possible points to cover: Look at 3-4 'key points' that will be used as example evidence and to justify my answer to the question. Using one paragraph per point. 1000 - 1200 words for this section, with 300 - 400 words per point/paragraph. Some examples of 'key points' that could be included in the essay are as follows:

• Constantly delaying his plans to kill Claudius - is this wise? or tragic because he always finds excuses?
• Sudden decision to kill Polonius, without hesitation - the outcomes of this? does not look good for Hamlet... (act 3 scene 4)
• Decides not to kill Claudius when he has a clear opportunity right in front of him - wise? or being scared? (act 3 scene 3)
• the Ghost has to re-appear to remind him of what he should be doing - because he is being sloppy with the task he set for him? (act 3 scene 4)
• "That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain". Hamlet wants to wait until he has evidence he can use against Claudius before murdering him. Does not know if the ghost is being truthful. Should he have just gone ahead and killed Claudius asap? Should he just accept the fact that the ghost is his farther? Is he being wise by waiting for evidence? (act 1 scene 5)
• (Act 2 scene 2) King's summary on Hamlet's madness "Something have you heard of Hamlet's transformation...More than his father's death, that thus hath put him so much from th'understanding of himself I cannot dream of" - suggests some time has passed and Hamlet is still behaving madly, long enough for the King to start suspecting something - this puts Hamlet in trouble?

Throughout this section, I will also offer how each key point is relevant to my question with justification (e.g. this is shaping towards tragedy because ect.).

Conclusion:
Offer my overall answer to the question. Use points covered and quotations to support this. Using the final sentences, give an overall summary to the question (e.g. But looked at through this way, it was clear that his timing ect.). 200 - 300 words.

'Two Hands' by Jon Stallworthy

Consider the appropriateness of the choice of title
Firstly, the poem makes it clear that there are two characters. the first that is mentioned is the 'farther' who 'in his study sits up late'. the other is presumably the son, as the narrative straight away suggests that it is he who is telling the story ('my farther'). He mentions that he is 'at the other end of the house' watching his farther in the study area - this possibly suggests that there is maybe some distance between them, both visually and emotionally. There is also a very interesting sentence in the poem - 'Who would have thought hands so alike - spade palms, blunt fingers short in the joint - would have no more in common?' This suggests a contrast between either two hands or the son and his farther - hands because he mentions that one of his Father's hands holds a pencil 'stiffly' whereas one of his hands makes 'indecision's' that keep him 'cursing nightly'. It appears that one hand is very much stable, but another one is not.

What impressions do we form of the speaker in the poem?
'My farther' suggests that the speaker is observing his farther. They pay a lot of attention to detail, commenting that he has watched another hand 'save no one'. It sounds like he is highlighting the contrast between both of his Father's hands. One of them has 'led a scalpel' suggesting that his farther is a heroic doctor, whereas the other one does nothing useful - it saves 'no one'. It sounds like there is part of their farther that they admire, but also part of their farther that they despise.