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Summary Of Chapter 6 Of The Great Gatsby

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In chapters four through six of The Great Gatsby, the reader is introduced to the real Gatsby who was incredibly poor in his early life. At the beginning of chapter six, Nick explains to the reader Gatsby’s real upbringing. Nick explains, “James Gatz — that was really, or at least legally, his name… His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (Fitzgerald 62-63). Gatsby’s desperate longing for something more than what he had at such a young age urged him to create the persona of “Jay Gatsby” from the ordinary James Gatz. Comparably, the young Gatz spent much …show more content…

The reader learned that Gatsby was an apprentice of a sort to a rather rich middle-aged man named Don Cody. Gatsby traveled with him, learned from him, and admired him until Cody passed away. Nick explains the wealth Gatsby was supposed earn recounting, “And it was from Cody that he inherited money — a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. He didn’t get it…[but] He was left with his singularly appropriate education; the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out to the substantiality of a man” (Fitzgerald 64). Although Gatsby was not able to access the money left to him by Cody, the education he was provided with allowed Gatsby to gain wealth and status to purchase his estate at West Egg. Moreover, Gatsby never attempts to hide his wealth from anyone, especially Daisy. As Nick is returning to his home he spots a bright light and thinks his house is aflame only to realize it is Gatsby’s estate, “Turning a corner, I saw that it was Gatsby’s house, lit from tower to cellar. At first I thought it was another party…with all the house thrown open to the game. But there wasn’t a sound. Only wind in the trees, which blew the wires and made the lights go off and on again as if the house had winked into the darkness.” (Fitzgerald 53). Gatsby wants his wealth to be noticed because he wants to prove to Daisy

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