nick says, there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired. what does nick mean? how does each character in the novel fit into this schema?
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Nick Says There Are Only The Pursued
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The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nick Says There Are Only The Pursued
In The Great Gatsby, Nick says, "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired." What does Nick mean? How does each character in the novel fit this schema?
When Nick says "there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired" in The Great Gatsby, he means that all the characters he has encountered in Gatsby's world are either being pursued or pursuing something and that they are either incredibly busy or too tired to be busy. Gatsby is a pursuer and a busy personality. Daisy is being pursued by Gatsby while also pursuing happiness.
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This quote is found near the end of chapter 4, in a moment that Nick shares with Jordan. She has just revealed that Gatsby has purchased his elaborate mansion for the explicit purpose of being close to Daisy and has manipulated the details of his life for the...
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This quote is found near the end of chapter 4, in a moment that Nick shares with Jordan. She has just revealed that Gatsby has purchased his elaborate mansion for the explicit purpose of being close to Daisy and has manipulated the details of his life for the past five years in an effort to finally impress Daisy. Gatsby has asked Jordan to speak to Nick with the purpose of providing a location for an "accidental" meeting between Daisy and Gatsby. Since Nick lives right next door, Daisy will certainly see the enormity of Gatsby's wealth if she visits, and Gatsby needs Daisy to visually appreciate the degree of his financial success.
After hearing these details, Nick slips his arm around Jordan's shoulder and comments on her "universal skepticism"; he calls her a "hard, limited person." A phrase then begins to beat in Nick's ears: "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired."
In this statement, Nick realizes the commonality that exists in relationships. Ignored by her husband, Daisy wants to be pursued. Gatsby is willing to actively pursue her, transforming his entire identity to fit an ideal that he hopes will meet Daisy's expectations. To a lesser degree, Jordan also wants to be pursued, her aloof and cool persona drawing Nick closer to her throughout most of the plot.
Nick is content to pursue Jordan for a while, until she becomes synonymous with the dishonesty of Daisy and Tom's world. Tom also wants to be pursued, his sense of self-importance being inflated through his secret rendezvouses with Myrtle. Because Tom represents a life that Myrtle cannot attain with her own husband, she pursues Tom and the lifestyle she has access to through her association with him.
Many of the characters pursue a lifestyle of busyness until they reach a point of exhaustion. Gatsby relentlessly organizes every detail of his life for Daisy; yet ultimately, she doesn't choose him. Later, Nick imagines Gatsby's final moments as he waits for a phone call from Daisy that never comes:
I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn't believe it would come and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about.
It is this sense of exhaustion that pervades the mood of the ending of the novel. Gone are the tones of exuberance and gaiety; all of the scheming and planning have dissipated into an empty sense of acceptance. Daisy is too tired to do anything except recommit herself to Tom. With Myrtle gone, Tom settles in to a life with his wife. Even Nick finds that he is too tired in the end to force Tom to fully face the consequences of his actions:
I couldn't forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made....
I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child.
In Nick's reflections, he sees that the people around him busy themselves until they cannot sustain such a pace any longer.
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What Nick is saying here is that all the characters around him are either being pursued or pursuing something or somebody. The second part of this quote tells us that everyone either has a lot to do, or is too tired to do anything anymore.
Jay Gatsby is definitely a pursuer, since he is head over heels in love with Daisy Buchanan and will do anything to get her back. Jay is the busy type, which can be seen by the rigid schedule that he created in 1906, with every period of the day from dawn until night allocated to an activity.
nick says, “there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” what does nick mean? how does each character in the novel fit into this schema?
helppp
The Great Gatsby
nick says, "there are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired." what does nick mean? how does each character in the novel fit into this schema?
helppp
Asked by brittany w #232771 on 2/29/2012 6:20 PM
Last updated by Kytiana M #950977 on 11/13/2019 4:56 PM
Answers 3
Add YoursAnswered by jill d #170087 on 2/29/2012 6:38 PM
When Nick says "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired."he is saying that everyone falls into one of those categories. The pursued are men like Gatsby who everyone is after, people who there are always interest. Jordan would also fall into this category. The pursuing are people who are always chasing something wether it be a person or a goal. Gatsby is pursuing Daisy, Nick is pursuing Jordan and Gatsby. The busy are always doing something like Tom and Jordan. The tired are barely ever doing anything like Daisy or sometimes Nick. Nick believes that these categories are true and based on the people he knows they are.
Source(s)
http://wildcatliterature.blogspot.com/2008/12/great-gatsby-chapter-4-question-7.html
Answered by parker h #367861 on 4/17/2014 7:53 PM
The answer is somewhat right. Except for Gatsby is not pursued. he falls under the pursuing category.
pursued-> jordan and daisy.
pursuing-nick-> jordan, and Gatsby-> daisy.
Busy- Jordan and Tom as they are preoccupied.
Tired Nick in the end and those who do not get what they want.
Source(s)
Read the book
Answered by Kytiana M #950977 on 11/13/2019 4:56 PM
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Chapter four assignment the great gatsby Flashcards
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Chapter four assignment the great gatsby
What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
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He is the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West and he was educated at Oxford.
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What accomplishment of Meyer Wolfsheim's does Gatsby describe to Nick? How does Nick react?
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He fixed the World's Series in 1919. Nick was staggered.
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What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
He is the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West and he was educated at Oxford.
What accomplishment of Meyer Wolfsheim's does Gatsby describe to Nick? How does Nick react?
He fixed the World's Series in 1919. Nick was staggered.
According to Jordan, what did Daisy do on her wedding day? Why? What does this reveal about Daisy?
She got drunk. She received a letter. She's sensitive.
Why does Gatsby want to have tea with Daisy in Nick's house? Why doesn't Gatsby ask Nick for this favor himself? Why did Gatsby want Daisy to see his house?
Gatsby thinks she will turn his invite down if it wasn't from Nick. He lives next door to Nick. He loves Daisy.
What does Tom do when he and Daisy return from their honeymoon.
He was with another woman
What does Gatsby's friendship with Meyer Wolfshiem imply about his own background?
He appears shady
List all of the rumors told about Gatsby
He is related to Keiser Willhelm, He killed someone, He is a German spy, He is a bootlegger, He is an Oggsford man, He is a war hero
Why does Fitzgerald list all of Gatsby's party guest?
So the reader gets a sense of who attends
Why does Gatsby tell Nick about his life? Do you believe Gatsby? Does Nick?
He wants Nick to trust him. No. Nick is skeptic.
What role does Meyer Wolfsheim play in the novel? Why is there so much focus on his nose and what does this tell you about Fitzgerald's politics?
Possibly his mob connection. He's Jewish. Anti-Semitism
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