Mrs. Silva I made a BIG mistake, can you read this post instead of the other one I made for the book! Thank You!
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”
This is an imagery that caught my attention. Upon meeting Gatsby, Nick closely examines him and notices his smile. The smile reflected his character, rank and his beauty. Nick claims that the smile is an indication that Gatsby truly understood everything Nick was saying and believed him as much as he want anyone to believe him. This quote is interesting to me because it was an instant moment that Nick took notice off and valued. For some reason it comforted him; it created in him a feeling of comfort, one that people have when they are around their close friends, family or when they meet a new person they know they can trust, “a quality of eternal reassurance in it”. By using the word “eternal”, he makes an allusion to the bible; he almost exaggerates Gatsby as a God with whom he feels comfort. Nick valued this more than anything else because he never had any one who listened and understood him for a moment as Gatsby did. He even personifies Gatsby’s smile as someone that “faced or seemed to face” the world. He does this in order to emphasize the value of Gatsby’s smile. To him it was so valuable that he even states that it would only come once or twice in life. Maybe this was the reason that urged Nick to help Gatsby in his attempt to regain Daisy’s love. I think this quote foreshadows the friendly bond that forms between Gatsby and Nick as the novel progresses. To me, Gatsby’s character seems to be similar to Peter Keating’s character. In Fountainhead, Peter Keating is a character who lives for fame, wealth and what people think. He would even kill, steal and lie to make money and become successful. However, if you think about it, according to a rumor, Gatsby killed a man. Maybe, he committed this murder in order to make money. However, we don’t know enough about Gatsby’s history in order to make this deduction but if you read ahead, Tom, Daisy’s husband, states that he was a bootlegger or someone who dealt with drug dealings. In their furious argument, Tom also talks about a Walter Chase being locked up because of Gatsby. Therefore, it is reasonable to make a comparison between Gatsby and Peter Keating because both were ones poor who then rose to fame and fortune. However, I think both did this through unethical actions which led me to believe that they are of the same nature. Also, Peter became famous through Roark’s design similarly, Gatsby gain’s Daisy’s love through Nick. Therefore, I think both characters are ones that use others for selfish motives. However, in my opinion, Gatsby isn’t has unintelligent as Peter is. So there is a difference. Another connection that I made was that the relationship between Nick and Gatsby is similar to the relationship between Howard Roark and Gail Wynand. Because just as Gail was a rich man who came to Roark for advise and sought an ally in him, so did Gatsby, a rich man, came to Nick and sought a friend in him. Both Wynand and Gatsby are charismatic and aristocratic men who were caught up in external issues: Wynand worried about the world and people’s perception because of his occupation in journalism, similarly Gatsby was a man caught up in wealth and becoming successful. However, just as in fountainhead, Gail changes upon meeting Roark and falling in love with Dominique, Gatsby changes ones he meets Nick and reclaims his love for Daisy. Gatsby and Nick become friends just like Roark and Wynand. Overall, Nick is comforted by Gatsby and realizes that he can trust him. However, will his perception of Gatsby change as the novel progresses still remains a question.
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