What Is Nick's Love In The Great Gatsby

In the book The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a detail, that some may say is hidden, is that Nick is gay and loves Gatsby, even though he is married. Throughout the book it may seem that Gatsby uses his material wealth to try and impress Daisy, that may be the case, but everything he does impresses Nick too and that might have been his intention. This is why Nick loves and looks up to Gatsby, and Gatsby may love Nick too.

Before Gatsby is introduced in the book and we learn about his material wealth and how he uses it, Nick already shows his love towards Gatsby. On page 2 Nick says “... Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn… what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed

out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” Here, Nick is saying how much he is against Gatsby’s beliefs and what Gatsby represents. Usually, when people continuously mention the fact that they hate something or someone, it may mean that they are denying the fact that they actually love them. Even though Gatsby has not yet had an appearance in the story, we already know that he is trying to fit into the upper class and trying to impress someone, but we do not know who. From the tone of Nick’s voice, and the way he talks about Gatsby, we can figure out that Gatsby is trying to impress Nick.
Again, before we see Gatsby showing off his material wealth, we see Nick has a strange addiction with Gatsby.

Nick stood outside and watched Gatsby reach to something across the pond. It seems strange that Nick was standing there observing what Gatsby was doing. It must have been that he knew Gatsby was reaching over for Daisy and wanted to try to prevent it because he loved Gatsby. On page 20, as Nick watches Gatsby, he says, “... suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself… I decided to call to him… But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone…” In this scene, Nick puts Gatsby on higher level than himself by saying “Mr. Gatsby himself”, portraying that Gatsby is better than he is and there is something he wants to gain and get from Gatsby. When Nick decides not to talk to Gatsby, it is possible that Nick became to scared to talk to his love. It is just like a little kid wanting to tell their crush that they like them, then chickens out because they think the other person is better than them and will be able to turn them down. And since they are better, there is nothing you can do to make it happen. It is almost as if Nick is scared to be rejected by Gatsby. The quote then continues to say “When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.” This can be interpreted to mean that Nick is now comparing himself to Gatsby by saying he is alone. Nick sensed that Gatsby wanted to be alone,

so now he feels the need to mock that behavior and have some alone time.
Later on in the book, Gatsby threw a party to try and impress Daisy.

According to Nick’s narrations, he makes it seem as if the party was for him, which may be correct. On page 41, Nick mentions the first time he went to Gatsby’s house for one of his parties to impress Daisy. He says “ I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited--they went there.” It suggests that Nick believes that the party was thrown for him. And if you continue to read the page, it gives proof that shows the party may have been thrown for Nick. “A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his ‘little party’ that night… signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand.” Gatsby may have sent him a regular invite to his party, but knowing that only a few people were invited, that could not have been the case. It must have meant that Gatsby can interpret this to mean a party for him to get to know Nick better, but that was not his only intention by throwing this party. Nick definitely takes the invite to mean that the it was for him. Additionally, when Nick describes Gatsby’s hand as “majestic” he is just trying to find all the good in Gatsby, and express as much as he can because he cannot keep all his feelings inside

anymore.
While at the party, Gatsby and Nick encounter each other in a group conversation. Before Gatsby walks away he says to Nick on page 48, “Excuse me, I will rejoin you later.” This can mean that Gatsby actually does love Nick and the party was thrown for him, and Gatsby is implying something will happen between them later on in the story. It might not be said in the book, but this can imply a sexual relationship Gatsby wants to have with Nick. When Gatsby says this it opens up the door that can prove everything he does is really to impress Nick, even if he might be to impress Daisy too. It changes the entire dynamic of the story, now knowing that Gatsby wants to be with Nick just as much as Nick wants to be with Gatsby.
On page 59, Nick says “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” This is a complete lie, because he is not even honest with himself and he cannot even admit to loving Gatsby. Then on page 78, even though Nick is not the one talking, Jordan is talking to Nick and tells him that “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” Nick had to process this information told to him because he wanted Gatsby to love him. A few sentences later, Nick sounds as if he is trying to understand what was just told to him. He is not being honest with himself here because he already knows that he has some sort of relationship with Gatsby, even if Gatsby wants to have an additional one with Daisy, and he does not want that. Jordan tells Nick that he should invite Gatsby and Daisy over together and Nick responds by saying, “ He had waited five years and bought a mansion ...so that he can ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger's garden.” Here Nick is underestimating the connection he has towards Gatsby. Once Gatsby intentionally invited him to the party, and said “I’ll rejoin you later”, he understood that this could work out. Nick now pretends Gatsby is a stranger to him, and if you read the book through this lense, the entire story can be read differently.
After one of Gatsby’s parties, on page 109, he asked Nick to stay late to ask him if Daisy liked it. Gatsby continues to deny the fact that she liked it, and Nick keeps telling him that she did. This can just be a way of asking Nick if he liked the party. He might have just used Daisy as an example in this situation because he wanted to hear the truth from Nick on whether or not he enjoyed it. Gatsby really wants to hear what Nick really feels and thinks about him because he knows that at this point he does love Nick, in addition to Daisy. Nick said Daisy liked it, meaning that he liked the party, and to Gatsby he now knows that it is official. Nick has now gotten his approval from Gatsby, and he had not been rejected.
Overall, the story of the Great Gatsby is very complex and has many ways to understand each sentence. But one can say that the most important aspect of understanding the story line, is understanding that Nick loves Gatsby, and it can be shown that Gatsby loves him back.