Passage 4
" There was dancing now on the canvas in the garden, old men pushing young girls backward in eternal graceless circles, superior couples holding each other tortuously, fashionable and keeping in the corners-and a great number of single girls dancing individualisticallyor relieving the orchestra for a moment of the burden of the banjo or the traps. By midnight the hilarity has increased....A pair of stage "twins" -who turned out to be the girls in yellow did a baby act on costume and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger bowls...I was enjoying myself now. I had taken two finger bowls ofchampagne and the scene has changed before my eyes into something significant, elemental and profound".
Fitzgerald uses this single paragraph to take Nick's views of discomfort and disgust and warp it into excitement and pleasure. Nick begins to narrate this passage with uneasiness, describing old men and their ridiculously young dates. He speaks as though it is a mad house, a maelstrom of sin and shamelessness. However, this passage also admits to Nick's ability to be easily influenced. In this case, the alcohol housed in large wine glasses is what disfigures Nick's moral views. Suddenly, Nick's vulgar perspectives of Gatsby's party has evolved into "something significant, elemental and profound."
