Gatsby's Truth

Will Landschulz

Am. Lit Per. 2 

Mrs. Lamagdeleine

Gatsby's lie, the one created to mask the less flattering history of James Gatz, is created, I think, to sequester the inadequacies he felt in himself.  He never really accepted his parents as his, he invented a noble history that ended in a dream, and when the time came, he stepped into his dream and started living it.  A less explainable topic is why Nick divulged the information about Gatsby when he did.  Nick could have let Gatsby himself tell his story, but instead, he tells us Gatsby's truth at an intermission of sorts, between the tea at Nick's house and the party at Gatsby's that Daisy attends.  I think it is likely that Nick decides to tell us about Gatsby now because he feels that there is nothing else to learn.  Up to this point, only occasional tidbits of information and surmise, truth or lies, have been disclosed.  For example, Gatsby tells Nick that "Every Allied government gave me a decoration. . . . Even Little Montenegro in the Adriatic Sea!"  (66) A guest spills her own theory to Nick at one of Gatsby's parties: "I'll bet he killed a man."  (44) I believe he dropped those clues earlier to give a sort of introduction to Gatsby, and when Nick feels we've made a suitable acquaintance, he tells us enough information to know Gatsby better than anybody else in the story.