Chapter Six
Summary
Jay has been a source of many rumors. These rumors please Gatsby because he feels accepted by the wealthy. A flashback occurs to when the seventeen year-old, James Gatz, first created his new identity.
Gatsby first used this new vision of himself when he met Dan Cody. Cody, a millionaire, was sailing on Lake Superior. The fifty year-old Cody took a liking to young Gatsby and employed him. With a new image, Gatsby joined Cody for a five-year trip in which they circumnavigated the world three times.
The return to the present happens
as Tom, a man named Sloane, and a woman, arrive on horseback at Gatsby's
house. Gatsby gives them drinks, and being gracious, they invite Gatsby and
Nick to dinner. Nick realizes the offer is just courtesy and declines; however,
Gatsby wants to eat with his "friends." While Gatsby prepares in his house,
the horseback party leaves.
One Saturday night, Tom and Daisy come to Gatsby's party. Gatsby and Daisy sneak over to Nick's house to be alone. When Daisy returns, Tom questions Gatsby's ethics; he thinks Gatsby is a bootlegger. Nick says Gatsby owns a chain of drug stores. After everyone leaves, Gatsby laments that Daisy did not have fun.
He then recalls a night five years before when he and Daisy first fell for each other. They were walking in the moonlight and then they kissed. That kiss was the beginning of Gatsby's never ending devotion to Daisy.
Setting
The setting of this chapter is Gatsby's house. First when the three horsemen come for drinks and then Gatsby's Saturday night party.
Characters
Jay Gatsby - He hosts a party to impress and please Daisy.
Dan Cody - He takes in Gatsby at a young age. He acts as a father figure to Gatsby. Gatsby wants to emmulate him by living lavishly.
Nick Carraway - He is the look out while Gatsby and Daisy sneak out to his house.
Tom Buchanan - He is one of the riders in the horseback
party. While at Gatsby's party, he questions the
validity of Gatsby.
Daisy Buchanan - She comes to Gatsby's party and enjoys a short time alone with him.
Important Quotations
"So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end" (104).
The original James Gatz created the person that he wanted to be, an upper-class
boy from a wealthy background. He wanted to be adventurous, ambitious, and amiable.
Up to his death, he continues to play the part of Jay Gatsby.
"As though they cared!" (108)
When Tom Buchanan, a man named Sloane, and a woman stop by, Gatsby expresses his
delight that they came. The next line is "As though they cared!" This shows that
the other culturally elite regarded Gatsby as a nobody and only went to his house
for some drinks.
"At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was
complete" (117).
During this flashback to an autumn night five years before, Gatsby kisses Daisy.
This shows that as soon as the first kiss occurs, Daisy falls completely in love
with Gatsby. This love was so great that she still loved him five years later.
Page last updated on March 5, 1999.
Curator: Mike Train