featured image: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
The next few blog posts might be controversial in that I am going to attempt to explain the dynamics of relationships through Kpop songs. Specifically, I will examine the relationship between Nick and Jordan, Tom and Daisy, and Tom and Myrtle. I feel that these relationships often are not examined as heavily as the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby. To start with I want to discuss Nick and Jordan.
Nick Carraway has established himself as a trustworthy and honest character but as a reader, I entirely disagree with him. So when he admits that he is in love with Jordan, it is hard to believe. Their relationship starts when Nick is introduced to Jordan on a visit to Daisy and Tom. He does not seem immediately enamored with her. He does mention her appearance before anything else. He says, “I enjoyed looking at her” (Chapter 1). But he does not seem to see her as anything more than someone pretty. Nick seems to have some idea of who she is while she does not know anything about him. His knowledge of her is not completely pleasant as he says, “I had heard some story of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten long ago” (Chapter 1). He has a preconceived idea about her but he seems like he still wants to get to know her even while knowing this. Daisy also hints at some unpleasant past as she says, “I think the home influence will be very good for her” (Chapter 1). This seems to indicate that Jordan has been going a little wild and needs a man to settle down with. While this idea is not favorable, Daisy does seem to want the best for Jordan and Nick.
He and Jordan do not ever seem really close. Their interactions are fairly limited. Considering that Nick is the narrator of the book, it would seem likely that he would talk more about himself but the book heavily focuses on Nick’s relationship with Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy more so than his relationship with Jordan.
Nick meets Jordan again in Chapter 3 at Gatsby’s party. He does not quite match the world of the partygoers but he is glad to have Jordan there. Their interaction is fairly limited in this chapter as the focus is more on the reveal of who Gatsby is. Nick does say, “I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity” (Chapter 3) regarding his time spent with Jordan. A few paragraphs later he mentions that he finally remembered what story about Jordan he had heard. He believes that Jordan is a dishonest woman but he does not seem to hold this against her. He even remarks, “It made no difference to me” (Chapter 3) when he realizes this about Jordan.
Nick is not completely single either. Daisy and Tom inquire about whether or not Nick was engaged. Nick also mentions that he needed to wrap up something he had left behind near the end of Chapter 3. He wants to stop relations with this person before pursuing Jordan.
In Chapter 4, Jordan gets her own voice. She tells Nick about how she knows Daisy and about Daisy’s relationship with Gatsby. However, Nick does not want to just listen to her as they spend more time together. Chapter 4 says, “Suddenly I wasn’t thinking of Daisy and Gatsby any more, but of this clean, hard, limited person, who dealt in universal scepticism, and who leaned back jauntily just within the circle of my arm.” Nick seems to be getting acquainted with her and he likes spending time with her. Whatever business he had back home is gone now because Jordan is the one within reach.
Chapter 6 mentions offhandedly that Nick had been spending more time with Jordan and had met her aunt. Chapter 7 then shows the evolving of their relationship as they spend time with Tom and Daisy. They are both there to witness Daisy’s performance finally being done as she realizes that she cannot have both Gatsby and Tom. Nick values that Jordan is not like Daisy. As they leave the city Nick thinks, “But there was Jordan beside me, who, unlike Daisy, was too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age” (Chapter 7). Nick appreciates Jordan for who she is in comparison to Daisy. He does not want the complexity of Daisy.
In the next chapter, Nick mentions, “I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (Chapter). This seems to suggest that Nick valued Jordan only to a certain extent. He still associated her with the world of Tom and Daisy because he met her through them. Then in the very next chapter he says, “I couldn’t have talked to her across a tea-table that day if I never talked to her again in this world”(Chapter ) which indicates that Nick had grown tired of her even more. He had reached the point where he did not like her anymore and did not want her. This idea contradicts itself in Chapter 9 when he says, “Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away” (Chapter ). He believes that he loved her the whole time. However, his treatment of her does not indicate love only companionship. He valued her for the time he had with her but that is not love only convenience.
I have spoken of Nick’s thoughts on his relationship in this whole blog because Jordan’s thoughts are much harder to figure out. There is no insight into who she is beyond Nick’s description of her and her actions. I suppose that she did not love Nick either but appreciated that there was someone else in this wealthy world who did not see it the same way as everyone else. She enjoyed his company and perhaps she even liked him but I do not believe this was ever love. She even lies to Nick about being engaged to someone else because she does not want to restart their relationship again. However, Jordan acts of her own volition so it is entirely unknown whether she loves Nick or not.
It would not be a normal blog without the mention of some kpop song. For this one, it was difficult to express the kind of love of their relationship because the love was never real. However, I found a song that I believe translates well on Nick’s end. The lead singer of the girl group Blackpink, Rose, released a song called Gone detailing the heartbreak and emotions after a breakup. While Nick and Jordan never had an official relationship, their “breakup” of sorts upset Nick toward the end of the book. Rose sings in the pre-chorus, “I just wanna be the one/But to you, we’re already done” (Genius Lyrics) which is how Nick felt when Jordan told him she was engaged to someone else. I suppose he expected her to feel the same as he did. Or perhaps he just wanted to continue with what they had before.
In the second verse of the song, Rose sings, “All my love is gone and the hate has grown” which is probably how Nick felt as he walked out of their last conversation. He was disappointed in the world of the wealthy after he saw the terrible actions of the people who inhabit it. She was part of that world too and so he just left it all behind.
Nick and Jordan had a complicated relationship based on convenience and similar attitudes toward life. In the end, theirs was not one to last and Nick left with hurt feelings. Jordan on the other hand is an open book, one that may never be disclosed.
