Chapter III of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby introduces the famous Mr. Gatsby. Fitzgerald fills this chapter with excruciating detail of Gatsby's lavish party. He emphasizes the extravegance of the ordeal, obviously wishing to focus on the advantages of the wealthy in the 1920's. Despite the detailed and luxarious party, Nick's introduction to the host is anything but. Nick spent most the night trying and failing to meet the mysterious Gatsby. When he finally gives up on meeting his host, Gatsby strikes up a conversation with him. Nick was even unaware that the man he was speaking to was Gatsby until he introduced himself.
"For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand. 'I'm Gatsby,' he said suddenly" (Fitzgerald, 48).
The irony of the situation is not lost on the me. I had been eagerly anticipating Gatsby's intoduction, expecting some fancy, clandestine meeting. Instead, Nick meets Gatsby in a most informal way, and he isn't even revealed to be Gatsby until the middle of the conversation! Although I found the introduction of Mr. Gatsby somewhat anticlimatic, I appreciate the unpredictability of Fitzgerald's plot.
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