Great Gatsby Dialectical Journal

Throughout the novel Tom is shown as someone very arrogant and abrupt in the way he talks to people and feels he has the authority to question others in an interrogatory manner. In his first meeting with Nick he

His philosophy, ‘I’m inclined to reserve all judgements…’ suggests he won’t take any characters sides, and that he will think twice before ‘criticizing anyone’. Although at the beginning we seem to put our trust in Nick that he will be a detailed narrator, we can begin to question his reliability near the end of chapter 1 when Nick says, ‘I was in and without’, highlighting inconsistent narrating skills (he won’t be fully involved in all the events that go on), and therefore, we can assume that sometimes he will step back in the novel and let the inevitable unfold. One example of Nick being reserved is in Tom Buchanans house, when he is being invited over for dinner with Daisy Buchanans and Jordan Baker. He seems to withdraw in passing conversations and ‘avoid all eyes’. This either suggests he can be unsociable and shy at times, or he is merely observing certain situations without contributing to them.

This matter of the "girl back home" warrants further study. This is the girl whom Daisy and Tom ask about, and the subject of whom Nick clearly (and

In contrast to other characters, Nick seemed exempt from being either pursued or pursuing. Being the narrator of the novel, Nick is very voyeuristic and passive. Therefore instead of being caught up in everyone else's business, he was very analytical, which provided him with experience for good decision making. Therefore Nick wasn’t an exhausted, nor a very busy man, however it is evident that he still sought after bits

Tom is first described as a “cruel body” and is very physical because of his past career as a football player. He uses power and physically has

Nick is an unreliable narrator. He seems, from the beginning, to be level headed and wholly observant. However, he blacks out when he gets drunk, and we lose time. Also, he is deeply embedded and prejudices us against Tom and for Gatsby.

3. Nick states that Tom is enormously wealthy, arrogant, aggressive, and gruff. He says that Tom was leading an anticlimactic life and was constantly in search of something exciting.

When it comes to allies, Nick is known for making oodles of friends. One of which is Natalie Shaner, who loves kids and takes Latin and Physics with him. Natalie tends not to speak to new people, but when Nick talks to her she can’t stay quiet! Natalie describes him as, “Seeing as… I know him well… he is like a child… However, I would… describe him as the brightest bulb in the box.” Nick loves making new friends. It’s rare to see him without a pal or two around and some even report a few ladies trailing behind him. Nick has no enemies. If someone dislikes him, Nick sits them down, gently yet firmly touching their shoulder, and asks them who hurt them. No one can resist immediately bursting into tears and crying into Nick’s perfect arms. This is just one example of many in which No-Knees Nick aids others generously.

With a weary grunt, Booker shifted the bag of groceries in his arms and kicked his apartment door closed with his foot. He had planned to be home early so he take Tom out to dinner as a birthday surprise, but as usual, work had ruined his plans. When he had rung Tom and explained that he would be home late, he had expected him to react moodily, but instead, he had received a sympathetic response. It was a sign that their relationship was now on stable footing. Tom was more open about his feelings, and they argued less about the trivialities of everyday life; they were moving forward.

The first chapter goes back in history and sets up the story and setting. It was the eighteenth century and the Americans were beginning to invade the lands west of the Mississippi River. This caused problems because even though Americans saw the lands as an unoccupied

Before Nick arrives at the Buchannan estate, with his limited knowledge of Tom, he describes him as a man who has reached “such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anticlimax.” Tom is established early on as restless and bored, with the threat of aggression spurred by the fact that “Tom would drift on forever seeking.” Tom exhibits this manner when he started to show Nick his estate by “turning me [him] around by one arm, he [Tom] moved a broad flat hand along the front vista.” Tom’s aggressive actions explicate his arrogance and narcissist

who is Nicks new neboir and a very rich man who always has parties. The main

One day Tom and Nick travel to the Valley of Ashes, a desolate area covered in New Yorks ashes. It is there that the identity of Tom's lover is revealed to be Myrtle , wife of a George Wilson. After taunting his lovers wife Tom takes both Myrtle and NIck to a hidden apartment for affairs. During a party Myrtle taunts an irate Tom who breaks her nose. Shaken by this, Nick leaves only to be invited to a party by none other than Gatsby himself. At the party Nick runs into Jordan and feeling put off by everyone's behavior they set out to find Gatsby. When they find their host , Gatsby tells them that he knows and loves Daisy. Gatsby convinces Nick to orchestrate a reunion between the two lovers and while awkward at first, succeeds. As time passes Tom become more and more irate and suspicious of his wife's relationships and during a lunch with Gatsby realizes the affair. Tom enraged, tries desperately to smear Gatsby's character and guilt his wife. On the way back from New York City when Daisy is driving they accidentally kills Myrtle. Tom still disgruntled at the thought of his wife's infidelities tricks Wilson into believing that it was Gatsby who killed his wife. Enraged Wilson kills Gatsby and then himself. After arranging a small funeral Nick unable to deal with his environment packs up and leaves his mind still pondering over the death of Gatsby and subconsciously the death of the American

These are but a few examples of the judgments Nick passes about the characters in this novel. When Nick judges the characters it shows how he cannot resist the temptation to be critical of every little fault with each character whether it has to do with their appearance, personality, or actions.

Chapter 2: 1. The crucial part in the plot was when Tom takes Nick to Morningside Heights (valley of ashes). Which shows desolation and poverty.