Chapter 4 Analysis

Summary The chapter begins with 3 pages of details on Gatsby’s party guests. As Nick continues the list, it becomes clear that most of these party-goers are not as lucky as their good fortune makes them appear. Many of them encounter a tragedy of some sort. After Nick finishes his list of guests, the story jumps to Gatsby taking Nick for lunch in the city one day late in July. Gatsby tells Nick his “story” and shows him “proof” that he is telling the truth—a picture at Oxford and a medal from the military. Nick feels bad for not believing Gatsby at that point. Gatsby asks Nick to invite Jordan over for tea, so that she can relay the favor that Gatsby wants to ask of Nick. Nick meets one of Gatsby’s business acquaintances, Meyer Wolfsheim, who has human molars for cuff buttons.

Here, through the characters’ interactions with Wolfsheim (who fixed the World Series in 1919), we start getting more hints into the possible nature of Gatsby’s business. It probably isn’t too wholesome. Tom arrives where Gatsby and Nick are for lunch and after a brief introduction Gatsby disappears. The scene skips to Nick and Jordan’s tea date, where she tells him the story of Gatsby and Daisy: how she met Daisy, how Daisy and Gatsby were in love, how Gatsby left for war and Daisy married Tom. Daisy was sad on her wedding day, drinking (a rarity for her), crying, and clutching a letter from Gatsby. However, when the time came to marry Tom she put on the pearl necklace he bought for her and pretended nothing was wrong. We discover Tom has been cheating on Daisy since the beginning of their marriage. We also discover Gatsby bought the house because it was across the bay from Daisy’s. And Gatsby’s favor is that he wants Nick to invite Daisy over, so that Gatsby can then come over too and be reunited with her.

Syntax P —The lists of people attending Gatsby’s parties is presented in the format of several polysyndetons. This adds to the sense of movement, as these people move in and out of Gatsby’s house and his life, without ever really knowing anything about him. P. 63– “All these people came to Gatsby’s house in the summer.” This shorter sentence comes after a two page series of long sentences containing lists of people. This sentence is short to signify a change in direction.

Figurative Language 68 “fenders spread like wings”--simile Gatsby’s car can take them anywhere and has an almost magical quality. Also, Gatsby “flies” above the law, as is evidenced by a police officer not giving them a ticket simply because Gatsby is, well, Gatsby. 68 “I heard the familiar “jug-jug-spat!” of a motorcycle…” – onomatopoeia 71 “Mr. Wolfsheim…..began to eat with ferocious delicacy.” – oxymoron “Ferocious” and “delicacy” are no normally associated words. This combination serves to emphasis Wolsheim’s mysterious nature. He seems refined in a way, and yet he is more than likely a very dangerous, volatile man.

Diction P. 80: “We passed a barrier of dark trees, and then a façade of Fifty-ninth Street, a block of delicate pale light, beamed down into the park. Unlike Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, I had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs, and so I drew up the girl beside me, tightening my arms. Her wan, scornful mouth smiled, and so I drew her up again closer, this time to my face.” The adjectives and several nouns in this passage are a bit contradictory to the situation. It’s a date, so normally it would be described more joyfully. Fitzgerald uses words to convey the message that all is not well in the novel. Even during what would normally be a happy situation, a certain sadness or sense of uncertainty lurks beneath the surface. Throughout this chapter, the author uses adjectives to evoke a sense of mystery and darkness. His descriptions are meant to foreshadow the tragedies that are rapidly approaching.