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What Impressions are Created of Gatsby in Chapters III, IV and V?
the myth. ‘So, my first impression, that he was a person of some unidentified consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate road-house next door.’ Here the narrator addresses the problem of the impersonal Gatsby. It was difficult to get to know any person who clearly hid many things about themselves from the rest of the world. The use of the word proprietor further enhanced the distance between the neighbours.
Gatsby’s manner of speaking about himself is so mechanical and rehearsed that one automatically suspects whether it is true or not. ‘I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West- all dead now’ displays the emotionless attitude Gatsby possesses towards his background, as if is something that hindered him for a long time and he would prefer to avoid speaking about it. ‘He hurried the phrase ‘educated at Oxford’, or swallowed it, or choked on it, as if it had bothered him before’ and it is at this point that nick contradicts himself and states ‘I wondered if there wasn’t something a little sinister about him, after all’. Gatsby’s flaw is evident in this chapter, and that is that he is an unconvincing liar. His style of speaking about his past is defiant yet he displays hesitancy when he attempts to prove the authenticity of his biography by showing Nick various ‘souvenirs’. This reveals that Gatsby possesses a sense of insecurity, and requires proof to convince Nick of the things he tells him. At one point Nick responds to Gatsby’s stories with ‘my incredulity was submerged in fascination now; it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines’. The image of glamour, Hollywood and wealth is portrayed here, and is representative of what Gatsby desires to exude and what Nick is subconsciously drawn to. It is deeply ironic when Gatsby mentions to Nick, upon their first real meeting, ‘I didn’t want you to think I was just some nobody’ because sadly the reader is aware that in fact it describes Gatsby poignantly.
In the rest of chapter four, the incident with the policeman on the way to New York, for whom Gatsby ‘was able to do a favour once’ but most of all the meeting with Gatsby’s business connection, Meyer Wolfshiem introduces the reader to Gatsby’s shady business dealings and suggests a certain degree of corruption. However there are glimpses of Gatsby’s character traits that are separate from his business deals. His assessment of Jordan as a ‘great sportswoman’ who ‘would never do anything that wasn’t right’ is naпve and displays a bad judge of character. The audience is aware that Jordan has been linked to a cheating scandal in previous tournaments. The naivety of Gatsby’s certain views create an image of vulnerability and fragility, despite his dangerous business connections.
Tom is shocked at the ‘modesty’ of Gatsby’s ‘demand’ and this is representative of Gatsby’s belief that nothing in the world comes for free.