rhys2

I think Fitzgerald did create something ‘beautiful and simple and intricately patterned. The plot, while simple, is rendered exquisite by Fitzgerald and each of the initial chapters are enticing and necessary in themselves while forming the basis for a greater narrative.

The characters would be unpleasant were it not for our unique insight into them; Nick. To spend an evening with either the ignorant Tom Buchanan party or the insufferable Myrtle Wilson party would be agonising but Nick’s narration makes their absurdity almost comedic. ‘She came in with such proprietary haste, and looked around so possessively at the furniture that I wondered if she lived here.’ Rather than disliking them because of their unpleasantness - the superfluity of Myrtle and the awkwardness Tom radiates due to almost everyone around him being more intelligent - I actually want to better get to know them through the eyes of Nick/Fitzgerald, who orchestrates their every move with a perceptive and eloquent wit. Their unpleasantness is determined by the reader; I find them delightfully ludicrous.