The Great Gatsby - Chap 4 Flashcards
Who are the main characters of this chapter?
Nick Carraway
Jay Gatsby
Meyer Wolfsheim
Tom Buchanan (briefly)
Jordan Baker
What are some of the things Gatsby’s guests say about him in the beginning of the chapter?
“He’s a bootlegger”
“He killed a man”
He’s the “nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil”
What is a bootlegger? And how does this apply to Gatsby?
A person who makes, distributes or sells goods illegally, this can apply to Gatsby as we find out he sells alcohol
Who is Von Hindenburg?
A German military leader and salesman who led the imperial German army during WW1
What are some ways Gatsby’s party guests have died or been injured, according to Nick?
“That Muldoon who afterward strangled his wife”
“Henry L Palmetto who killed himself by jumping in front of a subway train”
“Mrs Ulysses Swett’s automobile ran over his right hand”
What do these deaths and injuries suggest about the people who attended the parties?
This lifestyle corrupts people, it makes them lose themselves
What are some unusual names Nick lists?
“The Hammer heads and the Beluga”
“Beluga’s girls”
“Ferret”
“last names were either the melodious names of flowers and months”
What do the animal and flower names from Gatsby’s party guests, suggest?
Shows the difference in people of West and East Egg, but also shows creative freedom
Its all fake
What is Nick doing with Gatsby?
Going out in Gatsby’s car for lunch in the city
How does Nick describe the way Gatsby balances himself?
“So peculiarly American”
And the fact “he was never quite still”
What question did Gatsby pose Nick with, before they had reached West Egg? Why did he ask this?
He asked Nick “What’s your opinion of me, anyhow?
This was so Nick wouldn’t “get a wrong idea” from “all these stories you hear” (rumors)
What did Gatsby claim about his family and what had happened to them?
He was “the son of some wealthy people in the middle west, all dead now”
Why did Nick say he believed Jordan’s claims about Gatsby’s dishonesty?
Gatsby “hurried the phrase ‘educated as Oxford’, or swallowed it or choked on it as though it had bothered him before”
Almost as if Gatsby is convincing himself, just as much as convincing Nick
What did Gatsby’s claim about how he came to get his money?
His said “My family all died and I came into a good deal of money”
What did Gatsby say he did after his family supposedly died?
He lived “like a young rajah” (Indian prince, royalty) “collecting jewels, chiefly rubies”
What was Nick’s reaction to finding out about Gatsby’s supposed life as a jewel collector? Why did he do this?
“With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter”
He stated “The phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image” (he was reading between his lies)
What position did Gatsby hold during the first world war?
The first lieutenant, and then promoted to be a Major
What did Nick say about his incredulity towards Gatsby’s war stories/past?
His “Incredulity was submerged in fascination now, it was like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines”
What was Nick’s reaction to Gatsby’s proof of decoration from Montenegro?
“To my astonishment, the thing had an authentic look”
He was shocked
What other piece of proof of his past does Gatsby carry around?
“A souvenir of Oxford days”
“A photograph of half a dozen young men in blazers”
How did Nick feel after seeing proof of Gatsby’s past?
He believed it, he could finally picture it
“Then it was all true”
What did Gatsby tell Nick after the story of his past?
“I didn’t want you to think I was just some nobody”
How did Nick feel about Gatsby requesting him to talk to Jordan at lunch to discuss Gatsby?
He “was more annoyed than interested” since he “hadn’t asked Jordan to tea in order to discuss Mr. Jay Gatsby”
What did Gatsby show a policeman once pulled over? And what happened after?
He took “a white card from his wallet” to show the officer
The policeman let them continue on driving with no punishment or warning
What did Gatsby and Nick pass whilst driving through the city? What could this mean?
“A dead man passed us in a hearse”
Could be seen as foreshadowing of Gatsby’s car becoming the ‘death car’ that kills Myrtle later on
