The Great Gatsby

1. The Great Gatsby Chapter Four

2. Summary • Gatsby visits Nick’s hose for the first time, and talks of his wartime experiences. • They travel into New York, where Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem. • Later, Jordan tells Nick about Daisy’s past, her brief love affair with Gatsby, and her subsequent marriage to Tom.

3. Point of View • Much of the chapter is concerned with how the point of view of the teller modifies the character of the account. • Gatsby comments that Jordan Baker would ‘never do anything that wasn’t all right’. • Yet in the previous chapter, Nick has characterised her by her dishonesty.

4. Meyer Wolfshiem • A criminal associate of Gatsby • His narrative recounts the violent death of Rosy Rosenthal. • This follows Gatsby’s account of his own history. • This allows Fitzgerald to present Gatsby as the heroic soldier and as the innocent lover, while hinting at his corruption.

5. Meyer Wolfshiem • A gambler who fixed the 1919 World Series baseball tournament. • Based on a real-life event: in 1919 the Chicago White Sox baseball team were bribed to allow the Cincinnati Reds to win the World Series. • This highlights the corrupting influence money has had on American life.

6. Nick’s Scepticism • He has doubts concerning Gatsby’s on version of his story. • It ‘was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines’. • At this time in American history, illustrated magazines promoted society gossip and helped create Hollywood legends, while also serving the requirements of modern advertising. • Nick is suggesting that although an image of Gatsby’s past has become visible, the reality behind it is far from distinct.

7. American Ideals • The Founding Fathers of modern America signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. • They were adamant that it was to be a peaceful nation. • Ironically, the success of Major Gatsby, promoted while serving in a European was, is further evidence of the failure of fundamental American ideals.

8. Daisy’s Past • Her name before marriage was Daisy Fay • Fay is an old English word for fairy. • This is appropriate because, in Gatsby’s eyes, Daisy appears to be an inhabitant of an enchanted world. • Daisy suggests something delicate. However, there are suggestions that Daisy is tough and unfeeling.

9. Gatsby’s Love for Daisy • In 1917, he was a young lieutenant in a relationship with Daisy. • He was sent overseas, and was promoted to major. • During this time, Daisy married Tom.

10. Gatsby’s Love for Daisy • Understanding Gatsby’s love for Daisy, transforms him into another person in Nick’s eyes. • ‘He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendour’. • Gatsby is no longer the flashy character he had taken him for, showy with no purpose other than showiness.

11. Nick and Jordan • Jordan is just twenty-one, but is characterised by cynicism. • Nick’s involvement with her develops during this chapter. • He presents himself as cold and detached, but he holds and kisses Jordan Baker. • Fitzgerald contrasts the reality of an attachment of someone who is materially there for Nick with Gatsby’s elevated passion for an idealised and distant object of desire.