Who says and i like large parties they re so intimate at small parties there isn t any privacy

And so my goal of rereading my AP English course load begins…

Ok, so basically anyone who went to high school in America knows The Great Gatsby and it’s incredibly re-readable although I haven’t read it since before this treasure came out:

100 year old spoilers ahead…

In the summer of 1922 Nick Carraway is living near his cousin, Daisy, in fictional West Egg trying to make a living after graduating college and serving in WW1.  While Nick has to work to earn a living most of his acquaintances are wealthy, upper class socialites so he takes a sort of “fly on the wall” approach to his socializing. Nick went to college with Daisy’s husband, Tom, and it comes out that he has been having an affair with his mechanic’s wife, Myrtle. Tom is not a very pleasant man to either of the women in his life but his true character really comes out when he punches Myrtle for saying “Daisy” too much at party being thrown in the apartment Tom rents for their affair.

Nick’s neighbor, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man who also throws over the top parties invites Nick to a party over the summer and introduces himself when he discovers Nick and Daisy are cousins.

Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for years; they knew each other before he went to away for the war and before he earned his fortune. In a completely not creepy stalker way bought a mansion directly across from her house where he throws lavish parties hoping she’ll notice and come to one.

Their long ago relationship explains her interest in her friend Jordan’s throw away comment at the beginning of the summer about a man named Gatsby who throws wild parties.

She never comes so Jay enlists Nick to host a tea where the two of them can see each other again. It’s awkward at first but soon after Daisy and Gatsby rekindle their romance.

“We haven’t met for many years, said Daisy, her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be. “Five years next November.”

The automatic quality set us all back at least another minute.”

In chapter three, Nick describes how Gatsby gets ready for one of his elaborate parties. Nick lists all of the expensive things that Gatsby has at his parties. Nick gets invited to one of Gatsby’s parties. At first, Nick was uncomfortable because he didn’t know anyone. Then, he saw Jordan Baker and stayed with her for most of the night. There are a lot of rumors about who Gatsby is, which shows that no one truly knows him. Nick meets Gatsby and he envisioned him to be completely different. Nick recalls the past couple weeks of his life and talks about Jordan. He is attracted to her, but he realizes that she is a dishonest person. The chapter concludes with Nick stating, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (Pg 64)

Jay Gatsby

“He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was 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 such an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” (pg 53)

Gatsby has an elegant, young, rough-neck and he is in his early thirties. His speaks very elaborately and formally. He picks the words that he is going to say with care. He has approving eyes. He has tan skin, a tight face, and short hair that looked like it got cut every day.  He looked like a good guy with nothing evil about him.

Gatsby is Nick’s wealthy and elaborate neighbor in West Egg. He throws elaborate parties and lets anyone attend, even if he does not know them. No one knows a lot about him but a lot of rumors circulate about him. Some people think that he once killed a man, but no one knows if that is true. Everyone knows his name, but  no one knows who is really is. His is the mysterious Gatsby.

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.” (pg 54) This quote was said by Jordan Baker and it stood out to me because it is very ironic. She feels more comfortable at large parties, but uncomfortable and small parties. It seems like she likes large parties because there is more going on, so there are more chances for one on one conversation. However, I don’t think that large parties are intimate because there is so much going on. Small parties don’t allow a lot of privacy because there are enough people to know everything that’s going on at the party, but it is very intimate.

A poster from Etsy.com displaying Jordan Baker's quote. As in The Great Gatsby itself, this quotation has become so deeply engrained in our popular culture that it now serves not only literary purposes but decorative purposes.

With this infamous quote from The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker is making a very astute observation about anonymity. In modernism, placing oneself in a large crowd provides an opportunity like no other. When surrounded by such a multitude of people, one gets the opportunity to become anonymous, if only for a moment. This feeling is seemingly yearned for because of the freedom it provides: the freedom to find the truth in a situation. When in large groups, one does not have to be physically and/or emotionally present for others, you can just be. The aspect of anonymity touched on here is the idea of being unnoticed. In this moment, Nick and Jordan exist, are named, and are known by each other. But the surrounding crowd is oblivious to their existence. This opens the door to simply observe and take in everything around them, for no one is looking to them for anything. As a result, this sense of anonymity gives them the space to come to a full, and perhaps critical, understanding of the world around them.

A scene from Baz Lurhmann's 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

It is interesting, because it is in this moment that Nick is trying to piece together information about Gatsby. This moment in a large party becomes a sort of opportunity for Nick. With the “intimacy” that Jordan describes, Nick now has the occasion to learn the truth about Gatsby, who is still an incredibly elusive figure. It is in this anonymous state that Nick is free to push Jordan for the truth, rather than rely on the numerous rumors about Gatsby. Moreover, this statement by Jordan also begins to question Gatsby's understanding of anonymity. In giving these large parties, Gatsby himself is providing this opportunity for "intimacy". Perhaps Gatsby is not simply focused on throwing parties, but wants those who come to the parties to leave with a greater understanding of the world around him. In a way, Jordan is figuring in Gatsby's parties as a way to critique the decadent world of 1922.

When looking at how Jordan couples large parties with privacy, we see how anonymity within a group can be craved by all, not simply those existing in the world of The Great Gatsby. The opportunity for privacy is significant, for it allows you to look objectively at someone or something without fear of being judged. Moreover, privacy allows for true connections and trust, something especially lacking in the changing modernist world.