No, no, no, I don't make any judgment.The Great Gatsby · 2013 — Chapter 3 of 18 · 5'00" · B2
Tom's Secret Apartment Party, Explained: sit on the sideline
One question to Nick sets the tone: "Now, do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?" Everyone here is performing for one man's attention. Under the drinking and flirting, the party is a bid for a life someone else already owns, and the ending shows who really holds the power.
What happens
Tom brings Nick by train into New York and up to a hidden flat he keeps for Myrtle. Myrtle's sister Catherine, then the McKees, crowd in as the drinking takes hold and Nick gets drunk. Myrtle needles Nick about Gatsby, then keeps saying Daisy's name until Tom silences her with a blow.
Listen for
sit on the sidelinethe inexhaustible variety of lifemake any judgmentain't
00:00 / 05:00Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Tap a line to replay it
Phrase of the scene
sit on the sideline
坐场边看戏；袖手旁观
汤姆在纽约的公寓里逼问尼克，是要旁观他和茉特尔的事，还是干脆入伙。
You can't sit on the sideline forever and then complain about the result.
Also in this scene
- the inexhaustible variety of life
生活取之不尽的花样；人生百态
- make any judgment
下任何判断；评断别人
- ain't
nonstandard contraction of am not / is not / are not / has not / have not
Everything marked in this scene
26 notes across 87 lines
weak form
No, no, no, I don't make any judgment.Now, do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?Now, do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?alternative question
Now, do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?- Ain't we good enough for you? MYRTLE: Come on!Take off your hat and stay a while.- ...is in the artistic game. - Photography.I live right next door to him.liaison
I live right next door to him.He's a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's.possessive
He's a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's.- Take a picture of that. MYRTLE: Ah!Neither of them can stand the person they're married to....little scumbag.No, thanks, I feel just as good on nothing at all.I had been drunk just twice in my life....we were buoyed by a sort of......windows must have contributed their share...Enchanted and repelled......by the inexhaustible variety of life....to speak her name.- You got no right to speak her name! - I'll speak her name whenever-flap
- You got no right to speak her name! - I'll speak her name whenever-- Oh, my God, you are crazy! TOM: You whore!be gonna
They're gonna arrest you!Tom's Secret Apartment Party, explained
What's really going on
The party is a performance with an audience of one. Myrtle fills the flat with her sister and the McKees because Tom is finally there to be seen with her, a rehearsal for the respectability Daisy already owns. One line spells out the arrangement: "Neither of them can stand the person they're married to." Tom, meanwhile, keeps score. The question "do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?" tells Nick that neutrality is not allowed; you are with Tom or you are a spectator he can mock. An aside—"I had been drunk just twice in my life"—quietly marks the narrator as an outsider who half wants in. The violence at the end is not a loss of control but a demonstration of it: Tom decides what may be said, and who may say it.
Theme
ClassMyrtle's flat apes East Egg luxury, but the champagne, the crowd and the flat itself are all paid for by Tom's money.
DeceptionMyrtle insists neither she nor Tom can stand their spouses while Tom publicly keeps his marriage to Daisy intact.
What you'll learn
- Use play ball to pull someone in
- Hear sideline as staying out of it
- Catch scumbag and whore as insults
- Train your ear for ain't and wanna
Listen for
- don't make any judgment — weak form
- right next door to him — liaison
- no right to speak — flap
Neither of them can stand the person they're married to.Catherine says both Tom and Myrtle can't stand their spouses, so the affair is less romance than mutual escape. It is the party's blunt epigraph: everyone here is using someone.
I had been drunk just twice in my life.Nick frames his rare drunkenness as a threshold moment: the party pulls the careful observer into the very world he is judging.
Listen, I know you like to watch. I remember that from college.Tom accuses Nick of being a watcher, using an old college memory to pressure him into joining rather than observing.
No, thanks, I feel just as good on nothing at all.A polite refusal that claims he needs nothing; the other guests perform appetite for the party, and Nick declines the performance.
Questions about this scene
Why does Tom hit Myrtle at the end of the scene?
Myrtle keeps chanting Daisy's name after being told to stop. One line is "You got no right to speak her name!" and the blow follows when she taunts back, so the violence is tied to who gets to control what may be said and by whom.
What does "sit on the sideline" mean here?
It means staying out of the action and only watching. The question "do you wanna sit on the sideline and watch, or do you wanna play ball?" turns it into a dare: stop spectating and join in.
Was Nick really only drunk for the second time?
His narration says "I had been drunk just twice in my life. And the second time was that afternoon." The line frames his reliability and innocence, since the whole party spirals while he stands half in, half out.
Does Myrtle know the apartment is a secret?
She treats the flat as her own social stage, inviting her sister and the McKees and bossing everyone around. One line calls it the flat kept for Myrtle, which makes clear who pays for it and what the arrangement really is.
The Great Gatsby · 18 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 4old sportNick Searches for Gatsby
Chapter 1reserve all judgmentsNick Begins His Story
Chapter 2have the decencyNick Dines with the Buchanans
Watching · Chapter 3sit on the sidelineTom's Secret Apartment Party
Chapter 4old sportNick Searches for Gatsby
Chapter 5a pack of liesGatsby Tells Nick His Life Story
Chapter 6keeps his mouth shutGatsby's Lunch with a Gambler
Chapter 7pomp and circumstanceJordan Tells Gatsby's Backstory
Chapter 8acting like a little boyGatsby's Awkward Reunion with Daisy
Chapter 9If it wasn't forGatsby Shows Daisy His Mansion
Chapter 10to your likingTom and Daisy Join Gatsby's Party
Chapter 11make a point ofDaisy Wants to Run Away
Chapter 12repeat the pastGatsby Refuses to Let the Past Go
Chapter 13Have it your own wayGatsby Meets Tom at Lunch
Chapter 14Nobody From NowhereTom Calls Gatsby Nobody From Nowhere
Chapter 15in our bloodTom Exposes Gatsby at the Hotel
Chapter 16pull yourself togetherThe Yellow Car After the Crash
Chapter 17keep your voice downGatsby Waits Outside Daisy's House
Chapter 18made something of myselfGatsby Keeps Vigil Until DawnChapter 3 of 18 · about 69 min to go