THE GREAT GATSBY: CHAPTER IV
Felita
Rachel
Leeroy
PLOT SUMMARY
 Starts with Nick as he hears further gossips about Gatsby
from the female guests of Gatsby’s party:
1) Bootlegger that killed a man.
2) Nephew to von Hindenburg.
3) Second cousin to the devil.
 Followed by Gatsby asking Nick out for lunch in the city.
 Gatsby then proceeded to ask Nick what he thinks of him,
which followed by Gatsby telling Nick his past. But Gatsby’s
story seems very unlikely.
 Gatsby claimed to be the son of a wealthy couple who
have already died, and was from the Midwest. But when
Nick asked him which part of the Midwest, Gatsby hesitated
before he answered: “San Francisco”
PLOT SUMMARY
 Gatsby then continued on to list down all his great
accomplishments:
1) Educated at Oxford
2) Collected jewels in the capital of Europe
3) Hunted the big game.
4) Awarded medals in World War I by multiple European
countries.
Gatsby then tries to convince Nick by showing him a
medal as well as a picture of him playing hockey in
Oxford.
 In the city, Gatsby introduced Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem
who claims to be the one who fixed the 1919 world series.
PLOT SUMMARY
 Wolfshiem gives Nick the feeling that Gatsby’s wealth
came from an unpleasant source, and that Gatsby may
even have ties with organized crimes that Wolfshiem is
also mixed in.
 After the lunch, Nick saw Jordan Baker who then
proceeded to tell Nick about her “talk” with Gatsby
during the night of the party
 Jordan told Nick that Gatsby was in love with Daisy, and
that before she was married to Tom, all the military
officers in town during that time of war were in love with
her
PLOT SUMMARY
 Daisy fell in love with Gatsby who happened to be
stationed near her home. Daisy chose to marry Tom after
Gatsby left for war but she was devastated when she
received Gatsby’s letter the night before her wedding
day.
 Daisy remained faithful towards Tom, but however, Tom
was cheating on Daisy.
 Jordan also mentioned the fact that Gatsby bought the
house in West Egg so that Daisy is just across the bay from
him.
PLOT SUMMARY
 Jordan then mentioned about Gatsby’s request, which is
to convince Nick to let Gatsby to arrange a meet-up
between Gatsby and Daisy:
Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea over to Nick’s
house, and without Daisy’s knowledge, Gatsby will
come to Nick’s house for tea as well – forcing her to
meet him.
 According to Jordan, Gatsby was scared of the idea that
Daisy will refuse to see him.
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
 Gatbsy
 Daisy
CHARACTERS - GATSBY
 Modest
 “The modesty of the demand shook me” (p. 76)
 Gatsby was someone rich and powerful, yet his request to
have Daisy come over was reserved
 The unassuming estimation of his achievements and abilities
shows how even though he had to go through so much to get
to where he is, he still requests for something humble
 Nick was taken aback my purity and innocence of his love for
Daisy
 Dishonest
 “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West –
all dead now” (p. 64)
 My family all died and I came into a good deal of money”
 Gatsby is lying about his past, possibly because he was
ashamed of his poverty and disliked his own identity from
the past. He creates a new character of himself, and so he
tries to deteriorate from his own identity.
 Cross reference: his father is still alive and came for his
funeral in chapter
CHARACTERS - DAISY
 Gets over things quickly
 “By next autumn, she was gay again” (p.73)
 She was upset that her family disallowed her to
be with Gatsby due to differing social gap
 But only after a short while, she was back to
normal and had even started seeing other men.
Eventually, she married Tom Buchanan
 Unstable
 “They went to France for a year” (p.75)
 Constant moving of places symbolizes that she is a very
unstable and flippant character
 This symbolizes how she does not have a steady direction
in life, and is constantly moving around
 Voice
 Throughout the book, Daisy’s voice have been constantly
brought up. Again in this chapter it is mentioned
 “… something in that voice of hers” (p.75)
 Her voice was known for being very melodious and
seductive, and how she was able to attract men with her
voice
 One of her best traits
THEMES
 Materialism
 The theme of materialism can be seen throughout this chapter
 Daisy’s family’s refusal of her being with Gatsby due to their
differing social classes reinforces this theme
 Daisy’s decision to marry Tom instead of waiting for Gatsby
symbolizes how some people would choose wealth over love
 Romance
 One of the main themes in GG itself is further reinforced
in this chapter
 “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would just be
across the bay”
 This quote illustrates how much Gatsby wanted to be with
Daisy, and how he is willing to do so much for her
 Willing to go to such a big extent as the though of being
close to Daisy brought him content
SIGNIFICANT QUOTES

“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just
across the bay”
 This quote illustrates the extent that Gatsby is willing to go
through just to be with Daisy
 Despite being involved in corrupted illegal business, his
love for Daisy is still pure and innocent
 Shows that the motive behind Gatsby’s investment of all
his money, time and efforts was just to be with Daisy
SIGNIFICANT QUOTES

“He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his
purposeless spleandour” – p. 76
 This quote would mean that Nick was finally able to see the reasons
and motives behind Gatsby’s seemingly spendthrift character
 What seemed to be pointless spending of Gatsby’s money actually
had a motive behind it – Daisy

“He had waited five years and bought a mansion… so that he
could ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger’s garden” - p. 76
 This quote reinforces Gatsby’s innocent love for Daisy
 He was willing to spend so much money and wait for such a long
time for something he was not even sure whether he could get
 Invests his hopes highly on Daisy, and was someone that depended
greatly on ‘chance’
Our thoughts about this chapter
 I feel that chapter 4 is an important chapter as this chapter
gives us more information on the mysterious character Jay
Gatsby. The main protagonist in “The Great Gatsby”

This chapter also reflects perfectly the theme of moral
decay and vibrant optimism as Gatsby is a combination of
both because of his involvement in organized crime and his
undying hope that one day he and Daisy will be together.
 Chapter 4 is also an important chapter as it reveals to us
that Gastby still possesses the undying love he has for Daisy
ever since he was a young soldier in the war. In one way,
Gatsby is a role model because of the authenticity of his
love for Daisy and his loyalty towards Daisy. On the other
hand, he is not as he earns his money through illegal means.