Gatsby Essay: Chapter 3

There are many ways Fitzgerald furthers the story using different aspects such as characters, settings and climax. All of these aspects are very cleverly used in such a way that they're not necessarily obvious by reading the chapter through once only.

First of all the characters add a lot to the story in chapter 3. The party guests are described with detail like the girls with 'yellow dresses' and yet in this chapter Gatsby is not, but what detail is left out from Gatsby the guests make up for with gossip about him. This gossip furthers speculation about the character of Gatsby and is a very clever way Fitzgerald uses such unimportant characters. Nick helps to further plot too as he is just like the reader and is taking in opinions of Gatsby by all the other guests. This helps the story as we now believe Nicks opinion of Gatsby because we haven't seen Gatsby yet to make our own judgement of him.

Secondly the climax of chapter 3 is also another interesting way Fitzgerald tells the story as all the guests are saying Gatsby is a 'Spy' and he 'killed a man' after this Nick ends up meeting Gatsby. This meeting is extremely rushed and shows that Gatsby is a very important man as he gets a phone call from 'Chicago' because not just anyone gets a telephone call from a state. This all adds to the story by making you think what business Gatsby's into and what is too come from it.

Thirdly the setting helps the story and once again helps further the story of Gatsby. The fact that Gatsbys mansion is styled to look Europian shows that Gatsby is out of place in America and might show he has insecurity that he is trying to be something he is not. The gothic part of the mansion is also a style that not many Americans would have and they would have haad to been very rich to import the wood needed for it. All of this setting described tells the reader that Gatsby is out of place in a novel about him.

Lastly the use of color is another way the story is progressed. Many colors are described in this chapter such as yellow as in the dresses the two girls are wearing. This color represents cowardliness showing that they hide behind the gossip of Gatsby because they dont want the gossip to fall on them.

In conclusion Fitzgerald uses very clever aspects to help further the story in chapter 3 that affects the rest of the novel. I feel that without this chapter the novel would miss a very large part of needed story.