The Great Gatsby Analysis

In Gatsby’s conversation with Nick, Gatsby, who has many belittling rumors surrounding him, tries to get Nick to sympathize with him by describing himself as a nice person who has gone through “hard” times, but his attempts are unsuccessful. Because of the rumors, Nick wants to know more about Gatsby because, “[He] had talked with him perhaps six times in the past month and found, to [his] disappointment, that [Gatsby] had little to say,” which led Nick to believe there was something suspicious about Gatsby. (64) Over the past month or so, Nick had heard many rumors about Gatsby having “killed a man” (49) and being a “German spy during [World War I]” (44). Gatsby’s behavior during the conversation strengthened these rumors in Nick’s mind. During their conversation, Gatsby “hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford,’ or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before” which led Nick to wonder “if there was something sinister about him” (65).
Furthermore, Gatsby did not help erase the rumors from Nick’s mind when Tom and Gatsby, “shook hands briefly, and a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby’s face,” and when “[Nick] turned toward Mr. Gatsby, [he] was no longer there” (74). This behavior proved to Nick that Gatsby is trying to hide something from his past and is very uncomfortable discussing