The Great Gatsby

Gatsby holds regular parties that feature huge banquets, music, and hundreds of people who come and go as they please. Nick goes on to describe his own first appearance at one of Gatsby’s parties. He notes with amusement that he attended in response to a very formal invitation, delivered by a chauffeur. This contrasts with the partygoers, most of whom do not even know Gatsby.

When he arrives at the party, Nick runs into Jordan. She explains that she likes large parties because they provide anonymity. Nick is glad to have someone he knows there. Jordan speaks with a woman who explains that, at a previous party, she tore a dress on a chair. To make up for this accident, Gatsby had an expensive new dress sent to her home.

Nick overhears the rumors that the guests distribute about Gatsby. They are contradictory explanations of his wealth and origin: Some call him a former German spy, others an American war hero, and still others say that he is a murderer. Nick goes wandering to find Gatsby and in the vast library encounters an “owl-eyed” man. This man, visibly intoxicated, is fascinated by the fact that the library’s books are real, rather than replicas.

Later, Nick is approached by a man who says that he looks familiar. He asks if Nick served in the Army. Nick says yes and finds himself introduced to Gatsby himself. However, Gatsby is drawn away by a phone call from Chicago. During a lengthy piece of music, Nick’s eyes alight on Gatsby standing alone and looking out over his party. Nick is struck by Gatsby’s charismatic smile. From Nick’s point of view, Gatsby appears happy and innocent at this moment, and his sobriety stands in stark contrast to his guests’ hedonistic drunkenness.

Around the time that people leave, Gatsby requests that Jordan come to speak with him alone. When he returns, she appears somewhat shaken. As Nick leaves, the owl-eyed man and another man run their car into a wall and down into a ditch. Both are dazed and very drunk.

After narrating this scene, Nick goes on to reflect on what he’s narrated thus far. He points out that throughout his narration, he hasn’t simply been attending dinners and parties featuring the Buchanans and Gatsby. Instead, he explains that he has been working. He adds that he has developed a fondness for New York, though he sometimes feels lonely and isolated. He also spends more time with Jordan, for whom he develops feelings.

Nick recalls a story about Jordan in which she apparently cheated during a golf game. Although her accuser ultimately rescinded, the scandal cast a shadow over her career. Nick decides that she is fundamentally dishonest but excuses this because he believes her urge to live life on her own terms puts her at odds with her desire to be insulated from the outside world. 

At the close of the chapter, in part due to Jordan’s assertiveness, she and Nick are now romantically involved. Nick explains that taking this step with Jordan means breaking off a relationship back in the Midwest. He then declares himself to be an honest person.