The Great Gatsby Chap 1-3

Chapter 1
The narrator and one of the top-two main characters is Nick Carraway. He is a mix of narrator and author of the book.
The first thing you encounter in the book is Nick commenting on himself. He characterizes himself as a very highly moral and highly tolerant person. He briefly mentions the hero of his story, Jay Gatsby, saying that Gatsby represented everything he scorns, but he will exempt Gatsby from his usual judgments.
The actual story begins when Nick arrived in New York, this in year 1922. He moved there to work in the bond business and rented a house on a part of Long Island called West Egg. Here are some major differences between the place West and East Egg.
West Egg is a place for the ¨new¨ rich, those who have made their fortunes recently. The houses are in totally different sizes. Nick’s house is small and poor of taste while Gatsby has a giant mansion. East Egg on the other hand is conservative, aristocratic and noble.
Nick is unlike his neighbors, is not lack of social connections and noble pedigrees. He graduated from Yale and has lots of connections on East Egg.

If we take a few steps forward in the book, we are in the middle of a dinner on the East egg. Nick is at his cousin’s place, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Daisy seems to be very calm, but superficial and hides behind her proper shell. Tom is a powerful figure, dressed in riding clothes, greeting Nick on the porch and all that.
This meeting will also be the first time Nick meets Jordan Baker, his future-flirt. There is never a very big focus on the Jordan and Nick romance even though it’s close to the main character.
When Nick gets home he sees a very handsome young man standing in the lawn with his arms reaching towards the dark water, Gatsby. Nick is trying to understand what he is reaching for, but all he can see is a distant green light that might mark the end of the dock.

Chapter 2
I found some parts of the book lengthy and not particular eventful and unfortunately chapter 2 was one of them.
Basically two things happened. You get to understand the talent to create symbols Fitzgerald, the author, is. One example is a couple of eyes on a billboard in a gray valley halfway between West Egg and New York City, where ashes from New York were dumped. This valley is symbolizing a poor part of the population, the and the eyes could be seen as God or something powerful, since later one important incidents will occur under the watch of these never blinking eyes.
The second event takes place on the fourth and final setting of the novel, which is New York City. Tom brought Nick here along with Tom’s lover, Myrtle Wilson. Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to an apartment he keeps for his affairs. Here they have an impromptu party.
Nick claims this is the second time in his life he gets drunk and finds the party very vulgar and tasteless, but even though is too fascinated by it to leave. He also realizes during the party that Tom do not feel any regret to be with another woman.

Chapter 3
The main reason why Gatsby is so famous around New York is that he throws amazing parties every weekend at his mansion, to which people long to be invited. One day, Gatsby’s chauffeur brings Nick an invitation to one of these parties. Nick takes the short walk to Gatsby’s house and joins the party, feeling somewhat out of place amid the crowd of overjoyed strangers.
It does not take long until Nick notice all the rumors going on about their host – no one seems to know the truth about Gatsby’s wealth or personal history. Some say he was a German spy during the war, a graduate of Oxford and the he once killed a man in cold blood, no one really knows.
His parties are absolutely insane and almost unbelievably luxurious. Guests marvel over his Rolls-Royce, his pool, his beach, crates of fresh fruit, buffet tents, a live orchestra playing under the stars and liquor flows freely.
Nick meets Jordan at the party and while the other guests get more and more drunk, they begin to wonder where Gatsby is. At midnight Nick and Jordan go outside to watch the entertainment. They sit at a table with a handsome young man who says that Nick looks familiar to him: they realize they served in the same division during the war. The man introduces himself as none other than Jay Gatsby.
Nick becomes increasingly fascinated by Gatsby, who seems very elaborate and formal and has a habit of calling everyone ¨old sport¨. He notice that Gatsby does not drink and that he keeps himself separate from the party, standing alone on the marble steps, watching his guests in silence.

The remainder of the chapter is basically about Nick’s everyday life. How he works in New York, meets women and so on. Nick follows an advice he got from Daisy and Tom – which is to date Jordan Baker. Jordan, who is a professional golf player, is regarding to Nick dishonest, selfish and cynical but he is attracted to her vitality nevertheless.