Tea with Jordan: Gatsby Chapter 4

In the last post I complained about the lack of extravagance and mystery surrounding Gatsby’s life, but luckily, chapter 4 provided a background of Gatsby’s past that paints the famous picture of him as a man of elegance and adventure. One thing I find to be interesting about this novel, and this chapter in particular, is that all the men describe the war as if it was a non-significant event. Nick and Gatsby describe the war as if it was just a minor roadblock in their lives, and as if it was just an “obligation” for them to complete before they went ahead with their wealthy and successful lives. When Nick and Gatsby went out for lunch, I picked up on a sense of annoyance from Nick in regards to Gatsby. After Gatsby’s says that he needs a favor from Nick, Nick describes how he “hadn’t the faintest idea what “this matter” was, but I was more annoyed than interested. I hadn’t asked Jordan to tea in order to discuss Mr. Jay Gatsby. I was sure the request would be something utterly fantastic and for a moment I was sorry I’d ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn” (Fitzgerald 72) Nick seems to be annoyed at Gatsby, and I think it is because he thinks Gatsby is using him just to get closer to Daisy. To me, I think it’s not right for Gatsby to befriend Nick solely because he wants to reconnect with Daisy. Jordan goes on to describe how madly in love Gatsby and Daisy were, and if this is true, Gatsby should have no trouble talking to Daisy by himself. This quote also hints at Nick beginning to develop feelings for Jordan, because he states that he didn’t invite Jordan to tea to help Gatsby, and we can infer that he wanted her to come to tea so that he could spend individual time with her. Something else that I found interesting was the events regarding Daisy’s wedding to Tom. Jordan describes that she “was a bridesmaid, and came into her room half an hour before the bridal dinner and found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress--and as drunk as a monkey. She had a bottle of sauterne in one hand and a letter in the other” (Fitzgerald 81) Why did Daisy even marry Tom in the first place? It’s clear that she would rather have been with Gatsby, and even if it was not possible for her to marry Gatsby at the time, she should have never have went through with her marriage to Tom at the time. Unfortunately now for Daisy, she’s stuck in a marriage that she doesn’t want to be in, with a man that she hates.