The carnivalesque atmosphere of Gatsby’s party continues as the couple heads outdoors, still searching for their host. Nick offers a telling commentary on the way of life he’s witnessing, stating that after he had enough champagne, “the scene had changed before [his] eyes into something significant, elemental, and profound.” Sober, this scene has no more significance than any other, but through the haze of alcohol, it seems to become steeped in meaning. Again, Fitzgerald offers candid commentary into life in the Jazz Age. He is, in effect, offering harsh social criticism, by suggesting that the only way in which a sense of meaning is to be found in this time is through altering one’s sense of consciousness. Through the partying, people were able to bring meaning (regardless of the fact it may be false meaning) into their otherwise meaningless lives. For them, drinking was an escape, allowing them to exit the mundane world and take part in something bigger, something more meaningful.
The first glimpse of Gatsby reveals a man who stands apart from the type of guests he routinely hosts at his parties. Much to Fitzgerald’s credit, the reader, just like Nick, falls into the trap of interacting with Gatsby before his identity is ever revealed. Nick strikes up a conversation with someone of a bit more substance than the typical party guest — someone who asks him questions about himself and is somewhat interested in him (albeit a general passing interest). In fact, as Nick remarks that Gatsby possesses “a quality of eternal reassurance . . . that you may come across four or five times in life.” His smile, Nick asserts, “believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.” The understanding projected through Gatsby’s smile is not without its roots — the incidents in his past (especially those discussed in Chapter 6) have lead him to value a well-crafted appearance.
