More Used than a Porta Potty at Blossom

I would like to ask my readers a serious question: do you like when new acquaintances use you for your personal connections or take advantage of your tolerant and helpful personality? Personally, I do not; however, Nick Carraway seems careless when his new neighbor “friend,” Jay Gatsby, chooses to execute a plan using Nick to achieve his goal. Surprisingly, to me, we did not address this situation in class while I see it as a large complication in both the characterizations of Nick and Gatsby. From the start of Fitzgerald’s novel, Nick adamantly shows his fascination in Gatsby and his desire to befriend his new neighbor. Nick finds solace in Gatsby’s genuine kindness and devotion to creating a strong friendship, later destroyed by Gatsby’s revealed intentions of befriending Nick to enhance his chances with his ex-lover. After pursuing Nick with trips to the city, rides on his boat, and extravagant parties, Gatsby indirectly asks Nick to host afternoon tea and to invite his cousin, Daisy (78). Initially, I felt that Fitzgerald evoked sympathetic pathos from readers who have experienced the same feelings of distress after discovering the true purpose of a hurtful friendship; however, Nick’s only response shows his dedication to helping Gatsby at any cost: “the modesty… shook me” (78). Disappointment filled me as Nick overlooks his neighbor’s rudeness and apparent claim to superiority. In both the West Egg and East Egg, Nick holds only few friends among a community of self-centered and fake people: Gatsby tricked Nick with his façade. Did no one else feel the devastation of such a seemingly awesome character turning evil at the prospect of love? Or even the immediate recall of masculinity by Nick as he allows Gatsby’s “plea” to turn into a demand? A classic case of commensalism, perhaps even an alpha male of the pack situation. In Layman’s terms, Gatsby benefits from Nick’s tolerant personality while he, himself, reaps none of the rewards. This external conflict proves problematic for me: I no longer have a protagonist to cheer on. Not Gatsby, for he holds the characteristics of an unfaithful friend. Not Nick, for he shows weakness and inevitable failure. At this point, I can only hope that both men see their flawed figures and attempt to fix their disturbing definition of friendship. I may show extreme passion in this seemingly small event; yet, I believe that I would have responded quite differently to the request. How? With an absolute “no.” Hosting afternoon tea would entail me to clean and you can bet, I will not clean prior to an answer to my question, “what’s in it for me?”