Central Passage Chapters 5&6

"'It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it.' 'I thought you inherited your money.' 'I did, old sport,' he said automatically, 'but I lost most of it in a big panic---the panic of the war.' I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered 'That's my affair,' before he realized that it wasn't an appropriate reply"(Fitzgerald 95).

This passage is one of the most central of the fifth and sixth chapters of this novel because it is the first time that the readers get a blatant example of Gatsby's inconsistency. In Nick and Gatsby's conversation, Gatsby is obviously detached from what he and Nick are discussing. His obvious detachment from the conversation mirrors his dishonesty about his past as well as his present life.

Throughout this novel so far Gatsby's past has been discussed only briefly and is often talked about only ambiguously. For example, when Nick first asks Jordan about Gatsby's past, she responds, "Well, --he told me once he was an Oxford man...however, I don't believe it"(53). The fact that Jordan does not believe something that Gatsby told her himself leads the reader to question whether Jordan is the one who's speculation of falseness is wrong, or whether Gatsby has been lying about who he is. It is interesting however that in both instances, Fitzgerald separates the explanation of Gatsby's past with a dash. It is evident that Fitzgerald is trying to illuminate the falseness of the knowledge that the reader has of Gatsby at this point.

When Jordan talks of Gatsby, her statement is separated by a dash in that she says "well,--he told me once.."(53). The fact that her statement is separated by the dash shows the reader that Jordan's statement is in fact speculated to be false, and the fact that she herself does not believe what Gatsby said reassures this claim. In the passage above, Gatsby says, " 'I did, old sport,' he said automatically, 'but I lost most of it in a big panic---the panic of the war' "(95). When Gatsby himself is talking about his past with Nick, his statement is separated by a dash. This separation so evidently shows that Gatsby is unsure of what he is saying. Perhaps he is unsure of what story he told who, and how he should go about recovering the mistakes that he had made in telling Nick something that didn't match the story he was previously told.

This statement is vital in understanding Gatsby because it illuminates Gatsby's inconsistency in the story he tells about his past. He is deliberately changing the story that he tells and this is the first instance that Nick catches him in one of his lies. Despite the fact that Nick does not inquire further information about Gatsby's mistake, it nonetheless proves that Gatsby is an untruthful character.