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The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 Summary

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The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 Summary
How does Fitzgerald tell the story in Chapter 4
Fitzgerald opens the chapter with more rumours around the infamous Mr Gatsby that we still know little about, such as 'he once killed a man', we met him briefly in the previous chapter but still find him mysterious, as even Jordan ,who claimed to know him didn't believe he was' an oxford man'. Nicks own perception of the character is not fixed as he juxtaposes between flattery and resentment. Nick goes on to name and describe all the characters he has met whom had visited Gatsby, the array of ages and backgrounds of these people only further our frustration to comprehend Gatsby as we cannot place him within any structured group of relation.

Nick narrates how Gatsby appears at his doorstep
…show more content…
This sense of confinement mimics the feelings Nick would assume when meeting Woflsheim for the first time, we are presented with a figure representative of the corrupt morale of the underground criminal system within America in the 20's, we are introduced to the man who 'fixed the world series' with 'molars' for cufflinks, this intimidating man seems suited to the dark suffocating setting of the cellar which seems only to exaggerate his dark criminal Nature. Fitzgerald inputs the voice of Wolfsheim to disturb the pleasantries we have been exposed to already- so far the parties and wild lifestyle have been presented as part of the upper-class materialism and decadence. When greeted with the roots of the bootlegging we realise the darker undertones of the event. Suddenly we are exposed to real stories of murder which make the rumours of how Gatsby 'killed a man' seem suddenly more believable. However the way he juxtaposes between the remark of the men who were 'electrocuted' to stating that Nick 'was interested in a business proposition' shows the characters casual attitude towards death, his language around death shows no more tension than an everyday conversation, we infer that the character has a relation to

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