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No Fear The Great Gatsby Chapter 4, Study notes of Literature

Gatsby picks him up in his gorgeous car, Gatsby too, just like Nick, Jordan, Tom, and Daisy, is described at first as restless. The man can't stop fidgeting. ...

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No Fear The Great Gatsby Chapter 4
Our chapter opens with some of the gossip linked to Gatsby. Then, Nick goes into a ton of detail
about all of the guests who ever came to one of Gatsby’s parties in the summer.
The list goes on for almost three pages. Obviously, Nick took quite a bit of time making sure to
record as many people as possible. If anything, I would certainly say that this solidifies Nick as an
observer. It also shows us that clearly when it comes to who came to Gatsby’s parties, he had quite a bit
of interest in it that summer. He seems to be fairly fixated on all things Gatsby.
We are then treated to Nick’s telling of one of the first times him and Gatsby go someplace
together. Gatsby picks him up in his gorgeous car, Gatsby too, just like Nick, Jordan, Tom, and Daisy, is
described at first as restless. The man can’t stop fidgeting. He’s always moving or tapping or jostling
something.
They set off on that “disconcerting ride,” and Gatsby flat out asks Nick what he thinks of him.
Nick doesn’t really know how to answer that question, so he tries to give him a “fluff” answer- the
“generalized evasions which that question deserves,” when Gatsby cuts him off and explains that he’s
going to tell Nick all about his life, because he doesn’t want Nick to get the wrong idea of him from all
the gossip he hears.
Nick remarks to us that Gatsby obviously knew then, how much people said about him.
Gatsby says he’s going to tell Nick “God’s truth” about his life, and explains to him the intricate
details of who he is. Nick remarks that a few of the things Gatsby rushes through (like that he was
educated at Oxford) don’t really sound genuine, and so Nick starts to wonder if maybe there is something
sinister about Gatsby after all. He’s also not really sure if Gatsby is being straight up with him, or if he is
kidding around, but Gatsby is able to produce artifacts that back up his story, and suddenly Nick sees that
smile of Gatsby’s again, and he becomes enthralled with the truth in Gatsby’s words.
Gatsby points out it’s a big deal that Nick doesn’t “think [he] was just some nobody,” because he
has a favor to ask of him.
This remark ends up annoying Nick because of the arrangement Gatsby has put together in order
for Nick to find out what this favor is, and for a moment he regrets that he “ever set foot upon his
overpopulated lawn.”
A few very interesting things also happen during this chapter that are important to pay attention to:
-A police officer tries to pull Gatsby over, but Gatsby merely waves a white card in front of his face, and
the policeman tips his cap to him and apologizes for not knowing him. When Nick inquires what
happened, Gatsby says he was able to do the police commissioner a favor once.
…So, that favor means that now Gatsby can wave a card in front of a cop to excuse himself from being
pulled over. What kind of favor, would solicit that kind of reward?
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No Fear The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 Our chapter opens with some of the gossip linked to Gatsby. Then, Nick goes into a ton of detail about all of the guests who ever came to one of Gatsby’s parties in the summer. The list goes on for almost three pages. Obviously, Nick took quite a bit of time making sure to record as many people as possible. If anything, I would certainly say that this solidifies Nick as an observer. It also shows us that clearly when it comes to who came to Gatsby’s parties, he had quite a bit of interest in it that summer. He seems to be fairly fixated on all things Gatsby. We are then treated to Nick’s telling of one of the first times him and Gatsby go someplace together. Gatsby picks him up in his gorgeous car, Gatsby too, just like Nick, Jordan, Tom, and Daisy, is described at first as restless. The man can’t stop fidgeting. He’s always moving or tapping or jostling something. They set off on that “disconcerting ride,” and Gatsby flat out asks Nick what he thinks of him. Nick doesn’t really know how to answer that question, so he tries to give him a “fluff” answer- the “generalized evasions which that question deserves,” when Gatsby cuts him off and explains that he’s going to tell Nick all about his life, because he doesn’t want Nick to get the wrong idea of him from all the gossip he hears. Nick remarks to us that Gatsby obviously knew then, how much people said about him. Gatsby says he’s going to tell Nick “God’s truth” about his life, and explains to him the intricate details of who he is. Nick remarks that a few of the things Gatsby rushes through (like that he was educated at Oxford) don’t really sound genuine, and so Nick starts to wonder if maybe there is something sinister about Gatsby after all. He’s also not really sure if Gatsby is being straight up with him, or if he is kidding around, but Gatsby is able to produce artifacts that back up his story, and suddenly Nick sees that smile of Gatsby’s again, and he becomes enthralled with the truth in Gatsby’s words. Gatsby points out it’s a big deal that Nick doesn’t “think [he] was just some nobody,” because he has a favor to ask of him. This remark ends up annoying Nick because of the arrangement Gatsby has put together in order for Nick to find out what this favor is, and for a moment he regrets that he “ever set foot upon his overpopulated lawn.” A few very interesting things also happen during this chapter that are important to pay attention to:

  • A police officer tries to pull Gatsby over, but Gatsby merely waves a white card in front of his face, and the policeman tips his cap to him and apologizes for not knowing him. When Nick inquires what happened, Gatsby says he was able to do the police commissioner a favor once. …So, that favor means that now Gatsby can wave a card in front of a cop to excuse himself from being pulled over. What kind of favor, would solicit that kind of reward?
  • At lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem, Meyer is based off of a real person, Arnold Rothstein, a gambler and racketeer who was alleged to have fixed the World Series in 1919 (the “Black Sox” scandal). Two players from the Chicago White Sox tried to arrange the fix, and approached Rothstein for money. He declined to participate, but being tipped off, Rothstein put his money on Cincinnati, and won over $300,000 (which equates to over 4 million dollars today).
  • Meyer seems to be slightly…ominous, seeing as he wears a man’s molars as cufflinks. We should take this to mean that Meyer has no problem yanking out the teeth of a man who owes him something and hasn’t been able to pay up. (This also explains Nick’s hopeful question to Gatsby about Wolfshiem being a dentist.) So…it’s important to remember that Gatsby is friends with at least one gangsteresque person. These two details alone may leave us thinking the same thing Nick asked Jordan in chapter 3… “Who is this Gatsby?” Nick spots Tom across the speakeasy and goes to chat with him. He introduces Gatsby to Tom, but after a brief shake of hands, Gatsby disappears. (How odd!) Jordan then tells Nick the story that Gatsby shared with her at the party. Jordan and Daisy have been friends since Jordan was 16 and Daisy (who is two years older) was
    1. This means that in the time in which Nick is telling the story, Jordan is 21 and Daisy is 23. (In case you are wondering, Nick is 29.) Jordan tells of the time when she first met Gatsby. He was talking with Daisy in her car, and the way Nick tells us her story, Jordan said that “the officer looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time.” So, even when Gatsby was 27, he had perfected this smile of his. Then Gatsby left for the war, and Daisy’s parents kept her from seeing him off and saying goodbye. Because of this, she stopped speaking to her family for several weeks. It is worth noting then, that Jay Gatsby at one point meant a great deal to Daisy. But, by the next autumn, Daisy was happy again as ever, engaged to a man from New Orleans (ahem, Tom Buchanan). The day before her wedding Tom even gives her a strand of pearls worth $350,000. In today’s time, that would be over $5 million dollars. (Like I’ve stated before, the Buchanans are ridiculously rich.) …But strangely, the night of her bridal dinner, Jordan walked into Daisy’s room and found Daisy outrageously drunk. She’s thrown the strand of pearls away and shouts that whoever gave them to her needs to know she’s changed her mind (about the wedding). Jordan and the maid get her into a cold bath to help sober her up, and Jordan notes that throughout the whole time she’s in the tub, she won’t let go of the letter.