“You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.” I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.” Nick addresses these words to
Nick thanks Gatsby for the hospitality, pays him the backhanded compliment of saying that he is better than the “rotten crowd” of upper-class people (backhanded because it's setting the bar pretty low to be better than "rotten" people), and leaves to go to work.
Nick says, "You're worth the whole darn bunch put together." Although at first glance this sounds like a compliment, in actuality Nick is saying that even thought he knows Gatsby isn't the greatest, in comparison to the crowd, Gatsby looks angelic.
Why does Nick feel compelled to commend Gatsby? Nick says that Gatsby is better than everyone combined. He feels the need to tell him this because Gatsby held on to his eternal hope for Daisy through everything.
Nick indicates that many people find Gatsby “gorgeous” because he exudes an aura of success. But this aura is just the effect of “gestures”—that is, Gatsby projects an image of success, whether or not there is any substance behind the image.
“Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.” “So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.” “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” “I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.”
His fascination with Gatsby is what truly drives his inclusion in the plot along the way, as Carraway is mostly disinterested in parties and drama. Within the first few pages, we know that Carraway is an especially flowery writer, and he's unnaturally observant.
Nick admires Gatsby due to his optimism, how he shapes his own life, and how doggedly he believes in his dream, despite the cruel realities of 1920s America.
As he leaves, Nick reveals his feelings for Gatsby when he says, "They're a rotten crowd […]. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together." And YET, Nick reminds us that he "disapproved" of Gatsby "from beginning to end."
Nick is slightly offended that Gatsby wants to pay him for arranging the meeting with Daisy and refuses Gatsby's offers, but he still agrees to call Daisy and invite her to his house. It rains on the day of the meeting, and Gatsby becomes terribly nervous.
In perhaps one of the great ironies of the novel, Daisy kills Myrtle when Myrtle runs in front of Gatsby's car. It is a hit and run. The irony is that the wife kills her husband's mistress without knowing that it's his mistress. This irony leads the novel toward the conclusion.
Nick Carraway has an ironic relationship with Jay Gatsby since he both admires and despises him. Jay Gatsby's funeral is ironic because despite having thrown such large parties with hundreds of guests, only three people attend. These are both examples of situational irony.
What does Nick Carraway symbolize? Nick symbolizes the outsider's perspective of the way things were in the 1920s. He is not as wealthy as the other characters in the novel and thus recognizes how morally corrupt they are.
How does Nick compliment Gatsby and what is Gatsby's reaction? Nick complements Gatsby by telling him that he's worth the whole *%&(# bunch of them (the people in the argument). Why was it important that Nick thanked Gatsby? It is important because it was the last thing he got to do with Gatsby.
He sees both the extraordinary quality of hope that Gatsby possesses and his idealistic dream of loving Daisy in a perfect world. Though Nick recognizes Gatsby's flaws the first time he meets him, he cannot help but admire Gatsby's brilliant smile, his romantic idealization of Daisy, and his yearning for the future.
Why does Nick almost laugh when Gatsby is telling him about his personal history? A: Nick thinks it is funny that Gatsby considers what he went through any kind of hardship.
Gatsby reveals details of his and Daisy's long ago courtship. He was enthralled by her wealth, her big house, and the idea of men loving her. To be with Daisy, he pretended to be of the same social standing as her. One night, they slept together, and he felt like they were married.
In both book and movie, Gatsby is waiting for a phone call from Daisy, but in the film, Nick calls, and Gatsby gets out of the pool when he hears the phone ring. He's then shot, and he dies believing that Daisy was going to ditch Tom and go way with him. None of that happens in the book.
Nick puts the matter thus: “[Gatsby] had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.
Nick appears obsessed with aristocracy and thinks people will be impressed by his imaginary lineage. At the end of the third chapter, Nick will declare himself “one of the few honest people I've ever known.
Nick states that he has disdain for all that Gatsby represented, yet he does not pass judgment on him. He describes Gatsby as a person with a "gorgeous" persona and a seemingly endless sense of optimism.
Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy's heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.
The ellipsis that is placed at the end of the elevator scene has almost as much impact on the story as if Fitzgerald had explicitly states that Nick and Mr. McKee slept together, if one were to read it that way. The ellipsis in itself is an innuendo for having a sexual encounter.
This inner conflict is symbolized throughout the book by Nick's romantic affair with Jordan Baker. He is attracted to her vivacity and her sophistication just as he is repelled by her dishonesty and her lack of consideration for other people.
What seems odd about this interaction is that despite Gatsby's obvious infatuation with Daisy, she continues to act flirtatiously with Nick.