The Great Gatsby question

The question is, if he is dishonest as Jordan says, how would she know? What is there in the book that would prompt her to say that? I think I know what she is talking about, but then there is nothing in the book that would give concrete credence, only suppositions.

this is an add on to Monty´s post, but first I would like to express strong complaint against the rules of this thread. This edit should be a post by itself following Monty´s writings, not here in MY ONLY ALLOWABLE POST on this message thread. Whoever has set up these threads in this manner should in the future construct them in a better way, the way in which the vast majority are.

Yes, you deduced my intent. What came to immediate mind is that Jordan realized his homosexuality and called him out on his concealment. But then there is nothing in the book that would imply her knowing of his involvement with his same gender. So yes, she has confused loyalty with honesty. There seems to be a recurring fault among the characters as to their usage of adjectives. Daisy talks about being sophisticated, but what she really means is savvy. Perhaps there are other malapropisms generated by the characters. In fact, there seems to be a general lack of insight by the various characters. Tom is not aware that Daisy is in love with another when he marries her, Jordan isn´t aware of Nick´s homosexuality, the mechanic is unaware of both his wife´s infidelity and Tom´s lie, the partygoers who think that Jay is a murderer......the case continues for the characters in the book oblivious to the truth of others´lives.

Jordan is in no position to judge anyone's honesty. She cheats at golf, drives without concern for the safety of others and helped Daisy cheat on her husband. Nick helped her with Daisy's adulterous affair; so it doesn't count against him in Jordan's accusation.

If Jordan were referring to Nick's affair with the "girl in accounting" or his gay tryst with McKee, she may have a point about Nick's dishonesty, but she doesn't mention these infidelities in the relevant passage (Ch IX, p. 186)

"Nevertheless you did throw me over," said Jordan suddenly. "You threw me over on the telephone. I don't give a damn about you now but it was a new experience for me, and I felt a little dizzy for a while."
We shook hands.
"Oh, and do you remember--" she added, "--a conversation we had once about driving a car?"
"Why, --not exactly."
"You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver? Well, I met another bad driver, didn't I? I mean it was careless of me to make such a wrong guess. I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person. I thought it was your secret pride."
"I'm thirty," I said. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor."
She didn't answer. Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.

Given this context with its lack of specific grounds for Jordan's claim, I'd say she is hurt and angry at being rejected by Nick. She is confusing his rejection with disloyalty-dishonesty, a rather arrogant stretch of the imagination in my opinion. With "I met another bad driver, didn't I?" Jordan draws an analogy between driving and their relationship by the inference that Nick is the other bad driver.

They've never discussed Nick's infidelities, nor is there an indication anywhere in the text that Jordan may have an inkling that he's been unfaithful; so I hardly think Daisy has a leg to stand on to accuse Nick of dishonesty, whether in the realm of their relationship or otherwise.

However, given that the reader knows of Nick's infidelities, this passage does make the reader ponder over Nick's honesty. His dishonesties are: 1) he's hiding from the main characters the fact that he is gay or bisexual and 2) he overlooks Gatsby's deception and criminality. (Fitzgerald has revealed Nick's gender ambiguity to the reader in three or four subtle ways, the most prominent of which is his tryst with McKee at the end of Chapter II. But Nick's no more dishonest than millions of other gay men who suppress or deny their true sexuality and try to live as a heterosexual.)

In general though, Nick is more honest than all the other main characters. He's just got a blind spot when it comes to being honest with himself and when evaluating Jay Gatsby, whom he adores despite Jay's gaping flaws of character.

He is not honest. He knows that Gatsby isn't who he says he is. And yet he doesn't tell a single person. Nick lies by omission. He has a blind spot for Gatsby because he was brought up to not criticize those who had not the advantages Nick had. (See opening lines.) He understands something about Gatsby very early. And he does not criticize him. This is a critical point. What does he understand and why does he hide it? What word does he erase from Gatsby's front steps? I think I know the answer.