The Smolder

The Great Gatsby

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

chap IV, pgs 61-71

One thing I focused on this section was the continued, emotion of Gatsby’s captivating smile.  Earlier the narrator described the smile as understanding as much as you wanted to be understood, and now he states that “the smile comprehended Montenegro’s troubled history and sympathized with the brave struggle of the Montenegrin people. It appreciated fully the chain of national circumstances which had elicited this tribute from Montenegro’s warm little heart” (Fitzgerald, 66).  The lengthy description of this amazingly enrapturing smile seems to disguise pain and mystery.  It is as if his smile is a shield.  Smooth-talking men have captivating smiles to fool women and hide secrets.  Gatsby’s smile actually reminds me of another charming smile from the movie Tangled.

Flynn Ryder’s famous “smolder” is used to charm the ladies.  Though it has always worked before, it fails when he uses it on Rapunzel.  Gatsby’s smile eventually loses its charm on Nick as well: “There was the smile again, but this time I held out against it” (Fitzgerald, 71).