"'I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,' went on Jordan, 'but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found. It was that night he sent for me at his dance, and you should have heard the elaborate way he worked up to it. Of course, I immediately suggested a luncheon in New York—and I thought he’d go mad..."(Fitzgerald 84)
Chasing the American Dream is to anticipate a life filled with everything you want. It is to expect what you want to exist. The American Dream and the pursuit of happiness are major themes in The Great Gatsby and this passage is no different. After informing Nick of Gatsby’s past with Daisy, Jordan describes a plan formulated by Gatsby to meet with Daisy: his golden girl, his ultimate dream. This passage is important as it shows the lengths at which people chasing their dreams will go. Gatsby sees the fact that Daisy is, albeit unhappily, married as an obstacle more than a barrier and Fitzgerald essentially uses Gatsby as a puppet to act out the absurdity of chasing the American dream.
At this point of the book, not much is known about Gatsby aside from his extravagant parties that are open to the public. The story surrounding this exchange of dialogue leads the reader to characterize Gatsby as a bit of a fool, determined to achieve his ultimate state of happiness - to fulfill his idea of the American Dream. Ultimately, this connects to another motif of the book: emotions driving our actions. The passage ends with “…and I thought he’d go mad…” in reference to Gatsby’s reaction to Jordan’s proposal. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s reaction to express an opinion that to love is to be perfect and anything that falls short will ruin the opportunity.
Gatsby has chased his dream from Lake Michigan, to Chicago, to Europe, and all the way back to New York because of how his emotions fuel his actions. As Fitzgerald has the book end, Gatsby gave up his life to chase a dream.
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> The passage ends with “…and I thought he’d go mad…” in reference to Gatsby’s reaction to Jordan’s proposal.
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At the end of this passage, Jordan thinks that Gatsby would "go mad," in reference to her proposal (Fitzgerald 84).
Once the reader finishes the book it becomes really ironic that he "half expected her to wander into one of his parties" when the author clearly explains that these were the intentions of the parties. Gatsby tries to keep a casual image, always attempting to look sophisticated and composed. The reality is that his entire life is based around trying to impress Daisy, and therefore no one can possibly understand how important this is to him other than the reader.
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