"He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare
smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, 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. Precisely at that point it vanished—and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care."
The scene that is portrayed here stands out from the others in this chapter, much like Gatsby himself does. Nick describes Gatsby's smile as having "eternal" reassurance. Why use the word eternal? The novel is called
The Great Gatsby for a reason. The adjective eternal gives Gatsby a larger-than-life characteristic. It emphasizes the point that he his great. Another supporting detail for this argument is that Gatsby seemed "to face the whole world for an instant, and then concentrated on you." Gatsby seems to be above the world, being able to pick and choose which person or people he concentrates on, as if the author is portraying him as god-like. Furthermore, the fact that the smile alone conveys all of this alludes that he as a whole is even greater. Nick may not realized that he noticed this quality of Gatsby, especially when Gatsby was, "standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes"(50). It almost seems as if Gatsby was a puppeteer of some kind and the people were his marionettes. Gatsby is beyond imagination, larger than life, and has the people(at the party) in the palm of his hands, but that is what he wants people to think.
The last three lines of this quote depict Gatsby's amazing smile disappearing. He appears just like a normal human being, no better than anyone. He is described as rough-necked and a year or two over thirty. In these lines, the reader sees Gatsby's facade breaking down.His "elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd." A character who speaks with the highest utmost of formality gives the impression of being upper class or higher than other people. Nick suggests that Gatsby seemed to be trying to do exactly that task. He says that the formality was almost absurd, which means that he is going to great lengths to be above everyone(social status). The fact that Nick believes that Gatsby was "picking his words with care" emphasizes Gatsby trying make sure that there are no cracks in his facade and that he succeeds in his endeavor to be at the top.
