Chapter 3

Q1: "He smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.It faced-- or seemed to face-- the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice  in your favor.It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey"(48).

Nick has his first impression on Gatsby. Nick only knows Gatsby briefly and by this first impression, he learns a lot from his smile. Nick describes his smile as "a quality of eternal reassurance" meaning that it is sort of comforting in a way. He understands or tries to understand as to what is going on in life and didn't focus on outward appearance; he focused on what was more important and believed in one just as one believed in itself. From this description, Gatsby seems as if he is a great man.

Q2: "It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply-- I was casually sorry, and then I forgot"(58).

This quote is, maybe, describing to us what has happened to Nick in the past and throughout the book. Is this the first time that someone has lied to him? Nick describes it as something that one shouldn't take to heart rather than just let it go but maybe he is being taken advantage of. Before he says this, he explains that he might have some feelings for this girl. If this girl is constantly lying and he realizes it but looks past it every single time... That's very nice of him to forgive but at the same time... their relationship could possibly be built on lies which is not good.