The Great Gatsby

What is nicks secret engagement ?

Im writing an essay about the major characters secrets in the book. My teacher said to write about nicks secret engagement.. i don't know what that means, can someone please help me?

Asked by
Last updated by jill d #170087
Answers 2
Add Yours

Nick was supposedly engaged before coming to New York;

Daisy says, “We heard that you were engaged” (19). Nick’s response is typically elliptical, after which he tells the reader:

Of course I knew what they were referring to, but I wasn’t even vaguely engaged. The fact that gossip had published the banns was one of the reasons I had come East. You can’t stop going with an old friend on account of rumors,and on the other hand I had no intention of being rumored into marriage."(19)

The fact that there was possibly a secret engagement also provides you with a parallel between Nick and Gatsby; it ties them together. Both men have come from the Midwest to New York because of women: Nick in flight from one, Gatsby in

pursuit of another.