The Great Gatsby, to bid them a hasty goodbye

Question

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, to bid them a hasty goodbye

I'd like to know if "them" in the phrase "to bid them a hasty goodbye" in the chapter Nine from The Great Gatsby refers to "a few Chicago friends" or to "those who went farther than Chicago":

One of my most vivid memories is of coming back West from prep school and later from college at Christmas time. Those who went farther than Chicago would gather in the old dim Union Station at six o'clock of a December evening with a few Chicago friends already caught up into their own holiday gayeties to bid them a hasty goodbye.

Thank you.

Asked by eric c #312325 on 6/14/2013 12:07 PM

Last updated by jill d #170087 on 6/14/2013 1:51 PM

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Answered by jill d #170087 on 6/14/2013 1:51 PM

This would include those who lived further away than Chicago. It means that school would break for the holiday, and Union station would be a gathering point (as many would have been leaving the city for non-Chicago addresses) before getting on the train to go home for the holidays. Prep schools accepted (and still do) people from all over the country and beyond.

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