The smile comprehended Montenegro's troubled history and sympathized with the brave struggles of the Montenegrin people. It appreciated fully the chain of national circumstances which had elicited this tribute from Montenegro's warm little heart. My incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines.
Chapter 4 · Narrator
Context
After Gatsby mentions receiving a medal from Montenegro during World War I, Nick describes the power of Gatsby's signature smile—attributing to it an almost supernatural ability to communicate meaning. This occurs at a turning point where Nick's skepticism begins to yield to Gatsby's charismatic performance.
Analysis
The personification of Gatsby's smile as an entity capable of 'comprehending' and 'sympathizing' with an entire nation satirizes both Gatsby's performative charm and Nick's susceptibility to it. The concluding simile comparing the experience to 'skimming hastily through a dozen magazines' reveals Nick's awareness that he is being seduced by surface rather than substance—consuming Gatsby's narrative as one consumes mass media, passively and without critical depth.
How to Use in Essay
Strong choice for essays on Nick's unreliability as narrator—particularly his admitted susceptibility to charm—or for analyzing how Gatsby's persona functions as a kind of mass-produced spectacle designed for consumption rather than scrutiny.