Week 2- November 7, 2007

At the beginning of Chapter 3, Gatsby throws another party like he does about every weekend. But what I don't understand is that if Jay Gatsby has so many parties and a lot of people come to them, then why does nobody really know anything about him? I figure that he must be really secretive or not very social even though he is the host of the parties. I don't know, that just confuses me. But I am guessing that a lot more about Mr. Gatsby will be uncovered because of all of the speculations and rumors going around about him.
Nick gets invited to one of his parties. At the party, he meets up with Jordan Baker whom he met when he went to the Buchanans'. Later that night, Nick and Jordan are sitting at a table outside when the man sitting next to Nick say that he recognizes him. Nick finds out that it is Jay Gatsby, and they serve in the war together. They talk for a long while, and Nick becomes fascinated with Gatsby. I found this very ironic because earlier that evening Jordan and Nick went looking for their host to see what he is like, and later they meet him anyways. I guess it's just one of those things that was meant to happen.
In chapter four, Gatsby tells Nick about his life. He says that he is the son of wealthy, deceased parents from the Midwest. I didn't understand this part because he says that he is from the Midwest, but when Nick asks him what city, he says San Francisco. The last time the I checked, San Francisco wasn't in the Midwest. So does this mean that Gatsby just doesn't know his places or does it mean that he is actually lying?
As Nick and Gatsby are driving through the valley of ashes, a policeman pulls him over for speeding. Gatsby shows the officer a white card, and the officer apologizes and allows them to continue driving. After eating lunch with Gatsby and his friend, Meyer Wolfshiem, Nick sees Jordan. She tells him about her mysterious talk with Gatsby. She said the Gatsby told her that he is in love with Daisy. Gatsby tells her that Daisy was a beautiful girl in Kentucky and that all of the military men were in love with her, but Daisy fell in love with Jay Gatsby. After Jay left for the war she chose to marry Tom. Jordan also added that Gatsby bought his mansion on West Egg only to be by Daisy. At the end of this chapter, they plan to reunite Gatsby and Daisy.
This was a lot of information to take in and comprehend, in what seemed like such a short amount of time. For some reason it made me somewhat suspicious of Gatsby because it seems to me like he made up everything. I don't know why, but I don't believe a lot of what he says because if what he says is true then how come nobody else knows anything about him?