Bad Driving is Bad
"I'm thirty," I said. "I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor."
- Nick Carraway
The Great Gatsby p. 186
When I first read the response Nick gave to Jordan, it seemed a little bit odd to me. I had expected him retaliate to the comments Jordan had made in a more hostile manner. Although I am not sure why I felt this way, after I re-read Jordan's previous statement, the answer Nick gave seemed much more appropriate to me. I interpreted what Jordan said to be accusatory, as if the relationship she had formed with Nick could be blamed solely on him. Nick had always felt she was shallow and questionable, and she was implying that he was just as low. I feel Jordan then breaks Nick down by attacking his honesty. This, I feel, became a turning point for Nick. He knew he had become just like Jordan.
Honesty played a huge role in The Great Gatsby. Characters did what needed to be done in order to obtain personal thrill or happiness; even if that happiness lasted only a moment, and soon passed. The time Nick spent in the East, with Daisy and Gatsby, was something he learned from. To me, it seems as if he had become so engaged in their private society and culture, he was slowly transforming into them. I feel as if it took the remarks Jordan made about his honesty to reinforce the knowledge that he needed to leave this place. In the short time he had been their, and with his birthday having passed - he realized it was time to grow up. Childish mind games and fights to be on top are not adult behavior. Nick could no longer lie to the person he truly wanted to be.
The way Nick answered Jordan is appropriate because of this. Nick knew it was time for his to grow up long ago. He needed to say it out loud; he needed someone to hear it, in order for him to act upon it. After finishing the final chapters in the book, I have come to the conclusion that Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan, Gatsby, Myrtle, Mr. Wilson, and the characters that pass through their lives, are bad drivers. Good life decisions were not their specialty.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL267/2009/02/online_agenda_items_1/
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Jennifer Prex on Bad Driving is Bad: No, good life decisions defini
Matt Henderson on Bad Driving is Bad: This was one of the quotes I t
Christopher Dufalla on Bad Driving is Bad: The idea of change is a consta
The idea of change is a constant matter, thus it makes sense that such a thing would happen to Nick. Rosalind, your point is extremely valid. Mankind often needs a reality check, which is what Nick receives from Jordan in this passage. Often times, we as humans become so wrapped up in all that goes on around us, be it change or boredom, that we fail to realize the miniscule changes that occur within us that mount up over time and transform us into someone unfamiliar. It can be compared to physical aging: the friend that we attend primary and secondary school with looks quite similar to us all of the time as opposed to the preschool buddy who we have not seen in more than a decade. Nick needed his character check. It just so happened that Jordan was the one to make him ponder it.
This was one of the quotes I thought about blogging about. It's definitely something that I could use to support my whole perception that Nick is a closeted homosexual who's finally learning to come to terms with the fact that he will never find romantic satisfaction with a woman, and this is partly why he's breaking up with Jordan. In this time period, being gay certainly meant facing not just a "decade of loneliness" but a whole lifetime's worth, at least in terms of open relationships.
But romantic disillusionment is part of the characters' worlds no matter what their sexual orientation is. As you said, the characters work so hard to achieve only a momentary thrill; Gatsby has spent so much of his life amassing this fortune so that Daisy would want to be with him, and it all ends up being for nothing. Was he even really in love with Daisy, or in love with the idea of Daisy? I agree that Nick uses this as a reality check. It's pointless to invest so much in a romantic relationship where you're not even sure if there is real love. Gay or straight, it's obvious he does not really love Jordan, and he shouldn't pretend to love her because it's the "honorable" thing to do.
No, good life decisions definitely were not their specialty, as you said. This is an interesting way of looking at the novel--especially considering all of the references to bad driving all throughout and, ultimately, the death directly caused by bad driving and the murder indirectly caused by the hit and run. Bad driving does seem to be a metaphor for bad decisions.
This reminds me of that old saying, "Monkey see, monkey do." It reminds us that human nature generally forces us to naturally adapt to the attitudes and views of those around us, in order to ease tension, etc. Nick realized that he was becoming just like them, and that is a hard thing to stop yourself from doing. It is good that he realizes it is time to grow up, because the other characters seem to need 50 more birthdays in order to reach his maturity level.