They have History

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Pages 74-80

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired," (Fitzgerald, 79).

WHAT?!
A PAST LOVE AFFAIR?!

Discovering that Mr. Gatsby and Mrs. Buchanan had a fling in their early years definitely throws an element of excitement into the story. This explains the awkward interaction between Tom and Gatsby at lunch the other day.

I feel that this revelation came along at an appropriate time in the story, but I am having trouble trying to figure out why Fitzgerald selected Jordan as the herald of the news and not either of the parties involved. It would have been much easier for Gatsby to just confide in his new friend rather than to put Nick through this great ordeal of secrecy and stress.

In any manner, the truth is revealed and another mystery of Gatsby is unveiled. Just as the green light that he so longed for in the first chapter had seemed so mysterious, an unknown source calling to him over the water, Gatsby's past is also hidden in a haze which will presumably be cleared by characters surrounding Gatsby and not the man himself. However, now that Nick connects that the light with Daisy, things start to make more sense.

The symbolic connection between Gatsby and Daisy is very evident in this section. Hopefully, more characters establish connections through other symbols in the story because I just think it's a really cool way of creating relationships.