The Unwraveling of Gatsby’s Demeanor

(I way really looking forward to writing this weeks blog because I can put Gatsby memes in it. Yassss.)

If I had to write an essay on any passage in The Great Gatsby, it would have to be this one. Fitzgerald's portrayal of Gatsby shines through with “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 or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. 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 feel that Gatsby is most accurately portrayed not with the undoing of his love for Daisy, but by his warm and complex personality which is emphasized in this passage. It is easy to summarize Gatsby as the jilted lover of Daisy who hung onto her every gold dripping word. It is harder to appreciate his complicated, deeply poetic and ingenious person. A man who throws glorious parties can just  be seen as a rich and boring socialite, not as the man who actually reads his books. Gatsby's emotional depth is portrayed by by Nicks observation and that is he is deeply "understanding" in the ways of people. We can see his personal complexity through how he doesn't drink while everyone at his parties drink lavishly. 

Even though Gatsby understands others, only few understand him. Nick is one of these few, including Gatsby's best friend and mentor who ended up not attending the funeral. Gatsby is summarized by his lavishness and strange personality, that he is misunderstood, which is why his funeral was largely unattended. No one actually cares about knowing Gatsby, and I believe this is a reflection of the Modernism period when commercialism, objectification and lavishness was prominent. It was encouraged to use instead of to appreciate, and this was the difference between Gatsby and the majority of society (excluding Nick). Gatsby, at first in the novel is unpredictable, but as the story progresses we realize that Gatsby is driven by the complexity and desire for love. 

Nick portrays Gatsby as having an intense charisma, which would make sense based on his bootlegging. We don't see his charisma in the introduction of the book, because his intense oddness is seen as his loneliness and longing is expressed through him outstretching and disappearing in the direction of Daisy and Tom's house. Nick is the one who helps us realize Gatsby's true nature and personality, as he cares about Gatsby and feels a connection to him.