Great Gatsby Chapter Journals
“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
Daisy says these words as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her young daughter. Daisy is not a fool herself but because of her surroundings intelligent women are not viewed as valuable. Opposite of the older generation, the younger generation enjoys the thoughtless minds of the young and vulnerable women only seeking pleasure and not those that cater to their needs. Daisy’s remark is somewhat cynical: while she addresses the social values of her era, she does not seem to mind them. Rather, she describes that she is bored with life and it seems like she implies that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. Daisy often conforms to the social expectation of the American woman in order to avoid issues.
“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.”
As a part of Nick’s first close examination of Gatsby’s character and appearance he describes that Gatsby’s smile captures both the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s character and his personality. Additionally, it captures the manner in which Gatsby appears to everyone in the outside world. His smile seems to be both an important part of the role in the character. Here, Nick describes Gatsby’s rare focus—he has the ability to make anyone he smiles at feel as though he has chosen that person out of “the whole external world.”
“With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter.”
This is when Gatsby is telling Nick about his life. Nick is trying to restrain himself from laughter because he knows that there is
Daisy says these words as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her young daughter. Daisy is not a fool herself but because of her surroundings intelligent women are not viewed as valuable. Opposite of the older generation, the younger generation enjoys the thoughtless minds of the young and vulnerable women only seeking pleasure and not those that cater to their needs. Daisy’s remark is somewhat cynical: while she addresses the social values of her era, she does not seem to mind them. Rather, she describes that she is bored with life and it seems like she implies that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. Daisy often conforms to the social expectation of the American woman in order to avoid issues.
“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.”
As a part of Nick’s first close examination of Gatsby’s character and appearance he describes that Gatsby’s smile captures both the theatrical quality of Gatsby’s character and his personality. Additionally, it captures the manner in which Gatsby appears to everyone in the outside world. His smile seems to be both an important part of the role in the character. Here, Nick describes Gatsby’s rare focus—he has the ability to make anyone he smiles at feel as though he has chosen that person out of “the whole external world.”
“With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter.”
This is when Gatsby is telling Nick about his life. Nick is trying to restrain himself from laughter because he knows that there is