Chapter 4 Discussion Notes
Quotation/ Event/ Character
Analysis/Explanation/ Significance
“ ‘I’m going to make a big request of you today,’ he said,
pocketing his souvenirs with satisfaction, ‘so I thought
you ought to know something about me. I didn’t want
you to think I was just some nobody. You see I usually
find myself among strangers because I drift here and
there trying to forget the sad thing that happened to
me.’” pp 71-72
Gatsby doesn’t want to seem pathetic/minor to Nick—he
needs Nick to think that he is important/worthy of his effort to
connect him with Daisy (wealthy, aristocratic). Gatsby also see
himself as a victim of sorts, the result of something that
happened “to” him, instead of something that he did/did not
do. Daisy moved on from him, and now he is trying to get her
back to turn around “the sad thing” that has happened. Gatsby
has created a new persona to “win” Daisy from Tom.
Mr. Meyer Wolfshiem pp 73-78
Nick meets Tom in the restaurant while having lunch
with Gatsby
“ ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just
across the bay.’
Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had
aspired on that June night. He came alive to me,
delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless
splendor.” p 83
“A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady
excitement: ‘There are only the pursued, the pursuing,
the busy and the tired.’” pp 84-85
Wolfshiem is a gambler that Gatsby has some sort of
“business” relationship with. The man is paranoid, always
looking around him at who is near. He was present when Rosy
Rosenthal, a famous gangster, was murdered, and he is always
watching his back. He has human molars as cuff buttons,
showing his more violent side. The man was responsible for
rigging the 1919 World Series, to earn money off of bets.
According to Nick, this “one man…[played] with the faith of
fifty million people” (78).
When Nick runs into Tom, Gatsby has a “strained, unfamiliar
look of embarrassment” (78) come over his face. He is in pain
while looking at the man who has succeeded in marrying Daisy,
his love. Gatsby soon disappears suddenly, leaving Nick alone
with Tom and his forceful, demanding questions concerning
Nick’s absence from Daisy’s presence. This disappearance and
lack of confidence on Gatsby’s part is “unfamiliar” to Nick.
Gatsby seems threatened by Tom.
The reader finds out here that everything Gatsby has been
striving for with his house, wealth, and parties, concerns Daisy.
The whole reason he has the material goods is to win over the
affections of others, so that he can get another chance with
Daisy. When Nick realizes this truth about Gatsby, the man
“comes alive,” indicating that now Gatsby at least seems to
have a purpose to his existence, as opposed to the other
aimless characters in the novel. Nick seems to feel more
positively to Gatsby after hearing about his motivation for the
wealth.
Nick has this phrase running through his head after hearing
Jordan tell the story about Gatsby. It seems that every
character in the novel fits into at least one of these categories,
including Nick himself.
Pursued Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle, Nick, Tom
Pursuing Tom, Myrtle, Gatsby, Nick
Busy Jordan, Nick
Tired Daisy, Gatsby
This quote indicates the striving of characters for relationships
and success, as well as the failure to obtain such things in
many cases.