After reading pages 92-96 how is Gatsby represented?
Within this passage Gatsby is represented as being embarrassed for his first interaction with Daisy in five years. Prior to the meeting, Nick describes Gatsby as being, “pale as death” (92). This quotation reveals that Gatsby is nervous and is showing physical symptoms of embarrassment. This quotation makes use of a simile which compares Gatsby’s pigmentation as ‘pale’ in his moment of embarrassment to the skin tone of a dead person. When one is dead, they lose their colouring and become exceptionally pale. Through using this simile, the author could indicate that Gatsby is so anxious and nervous for the encounter with Daisy to go well, that he will die if it doesn’t. This could foreshadow Gatsby’s death at the end of the novel as his death occurs after Daisy rejects him in New York for his outburst against her husband, Tom Buchanan. By saying that Gatsby is nervous to the point of ‘death’ that the encounter with Daisy will not go well, this foreshadows his eventual death following a bad encounter with Daisy. This quote could also indicate Gatsby’s conscience and the inappropriateness of the situation. Gatsby knows that Daisy is married to Tom but frankly, does not care. This could be perceived as the moment when he recognizes his wrongdoing and is nervous to ‘death’ because of his improper actions, i.e., scheming to meet a married woman. This relates to Gatsby’s emotions for Daisy as he is nervous when seeing her again as he wants her approval; and, how he would do anything to win her affection, including bootlegging to amass a fortune.
After being reunited with Daisy, Gatsby is lackadaisical such that he reveals more than he intends to about his past and economic ventures. This is demonstrated when Gatsby talks to Nick outside of his house and reveals that he “earned” his money to which Nick responds, “‘I thought you inherited your money’” (96). This shows that Gatsby is untruthful about his economic ventures and how he was able to buy his house. This passage reveals that Nick is an unreliable narrator because despite the rumours expressed earlier in the text, Nick continues to ignore them in favour of believing that Gatsby earned his money in an honest way. This indicates that Gatsby is not who Nick claims he is, as Gatsby previously told Nick that he ‘inherited’ his wealth whereas here, in Gatsby’s lackadaisical mindset, he let it slip that he did not ‘inherit’ his money. This quote also incorporates Nick’s opinion as Nick ‘thought’ that Gatsby ‘inherited’ his money. This helps to show that Nick is unreliable because his ‘thought’ is incorrect. Nick’s ‘thought’ is also corrected here due to Gatsby’s lackadaisical state of mind where because he is not paying full-attention to Nick, he allows the truth behind his lie to slip out. Another interpretation could be that Gatsby trusts Nick and that he is not trying to hide his business at all; rather, it is Nick that is trying to protect Gatsby in his writing after-the-fact that causes this mistake to be revealed. Gatsby’s slip up regarding the truth behind his economic activities because he is in a lackadaisical state of mind relates to the time period of the 1920s as Gatsby likely is a bootlegger, but since this was illegal he would attempt to hide it and would only reveal it in a moment where the reason behind his lie slips his mind.
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