The Great Gatsby - Chapter Six

Key themes of this chapter:

• Love
• Power
• Lies
• Superficiality

Love

• Love triangles: Gatsby and Tom both love Daisy, Daisy loves them both but is choosing Tom.
• We never see a single scene of Gatsby and Daisy's relationship, as Nick is our narrator and respects their privacy. Leaves the reader to imagine what they want to happen, Fitzgerald keeps a certain amount of mystery in it.

Power

• Social class is explored in the chapter, with relation to Gatsby (e.g. he is embarrassed by the fact that he had to work as a janitor during University.
• Gatsby has changed his name - Shows how he wants to reinvent himself as a rich man, wants to leave his lower class days behind him.
• Tom seems to have a lot of power over Gatsby, makes him feel uncomfortable without even knowing very much about him.

Lies

• Gatsby kept so much a secret about his past, changed his name etc. Almost as if he's lying to himself about who he truly is.
• Gatsby lies to Tom, deceives him about who he really is, only says he knows Daisy, gives no information about how close they actually are or his feelings for her.

Superficiality

• Tom and the Sloane's invite Gatsby out to dinner and are disappointed when he accepts, invite was fake, Gatsby doesn't realize this, is very superficial