Not quite who I thought he was.
"But there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding." (Fitzgerald 89)
With this quote, and really this whole section we begin to see a great deal about the other side of Gatsby. Up to this point we know a strong, mysterious, and powerful Gatsby and this kind of behavior is rather unlike how I have come to think of Gatsby. Gatsby is acting like a teenager who doesn't know how to talk to girls (a point that Nick actually brings up!) Where we are used to seeing him as kind of a suave powerful man. I think this whole section is really a turning point in the book. The fact that Gatsby's character changes so much not only influences the attitude of the reader but also of Nick. We really see this different side of Gatsby and begin to understand his devotion that he must have toward Daisy. Particularly at the end of the chapter on pg 94-96 I really sympathized with Gatsby. If only things could have been different...
This section shows why Fitzgerald ordered the story the way that he did. First we met Tom and Daisy and learned to not like Tom very much. Now we are in the situation of seeing how Tom is the bad person and how genuine Gatsby is but he is stuck in a bad position. (Even if Gatsby is a little creepy... He did buy a house across from Daisy to watch her?) Now the things that were purposely left out are beginning to make sense.
I see what you mean. I truly did not even think about how Gatsby acted until now. He really did have a change of character.
Also, i agree one hundred percent with on being able to finally understand the ordering of the book. It truly did not make sense before and once the book is finished, it does.