Gatsby #2

Fitzgerald does a fantastic job of revealing details to us a little at a time, allowing us to pass and change judgment as the story progresses. Address the following questions in relation to the development of Jay Gatsby: 1) What is the purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character? How does he affect the way we see Gatsby? 2) What does the backstory about Jay and Daisy's past do to our impressions of Gatsby? 3) What does the story of the rest of Gatsby past due to our impressions of him? 4) How does your overall impression of Gatsby change over these three chapters - do you like him more, less, and why?

1. Meyer Wolfsheim is almost known as the accomplice to Gatsby when he first started out making money. He is the character that allows us to see into Gatsby's questionable past and we start to wonder whether Gatsby is genuine or not.
2. Gatsby's relationship with Daisy shows us that he chooses to live in the past. He states he feels "married" to her, so he continuously tries to return to her with no luck. When he finally meets her again, Gatsby is able to satisfy his dream of being with her. His feelings in the one moment when he realized he liked Daisy stuck with him forever, never letting him leave the past.
3. With Gatsby's past, we realize he is not always telling the truth. Yes, he is an Oxford man, but it is because he attended Oxford for 5 months thanks to the military. How can we trust the small things Gatsby says? We realize he is much more of a common man than we hold him to be.
4. I started to think less of Gatsby. At first, I felt he was a mysterious character and I was entranced by his presence in the book. After learning about his past, I wanted to resent him. I wondered why he wouldn't tell the truth and stretched the small lies.