The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 

 
Brief Summary 
- Nick gives thorough descriptions of the people who attended Gatsby’s last party 
- Gatsby tells Nick about his past and family history as he picks Nick up in his Rolls 
Royce (perhaps to solidify his background; he is indeed rich - just look at the car) 
- We get an insight into how influential Gatsby was, as a white card shown to the 
police was enough for him to be let go after being pulled over for speeding  
- While in the city, Gatsby takes Nick to lunch, where he gets introduced to his 
‘business partner’ Meyer Wolfshiem. 
- They meet Tom by accident, but when Nick turns to introduce Gatsby to Tom, 
Gatsby has disappeared.  
- Jordan later tells Nick about the history of Daisy and Gatsby, she promised to wait 
for him but she married Tom instead. 
- Daisy seemed to regret this marriage when the night before she was to be married 
with Tom, she was drunk and was waving a letter in the air while saying she 
‘changed her mind’. 
- They did got married and she got a daughter in April 1920. 
- Daisy has started asking questions in the dinner in the first chapter when they 
mentioned Gatsby, she now knows that it was the man she had loved a long time 
ago. 
- They continue with their plan, Nick will invite Daisy (not Tom) over to tea and 
Gatsby would swing by so that they could reunite. 
- drip feeding information about Gatsby; trying to figure out which version of 
Gatsby’s story is true 
 
Key Events 
 
❏ Gatsby is trying to gain Nick’s trust by explaining his history 
❏ The history behind Daisy’s and Tom’s marriage 
❏ They are preparing a meeting for Gatsby and Daisy 
 
Themes 
 
❏ the american dream 
❏ social class; daisy chose Tom over Gatsby because he was able to support her 
financially , despite her feelings for Gatsby  
 
Characterization 
 
Gatsby​: 
 
❏ Gatsby provides Nick with all sorts of information about his past, but something is 
suspicious when he says his family is from the Middle West, but then he says he’s 
from San Francisco 
❏ it has become clear to Nick that Gatsby is hiding something, and recalls that even 
Jordan had doubts about his past, including his studies at Oxford 
❏ Gatsby starts sensing Nick’s doubt, and so to prove himself he shows Nick all sorts 
of evidence; a medal from the war with Major Jay Gatsby written on it, and a 
photograph of him with his friends from Oxford (here the reader develops a feeling 
of distrust toward Gatsby, because although he’s shows evidence, his lies seem to 
start to seem as though they’ve been recitied and memorized over and over so that 
no one could find a flaw in his elaborate pile of lies) 
❏ however, Nick chooses to believe Gatsby 
 
Nick: 
 
❏ although Nick believes Gatsby when told about his background,  
❏ it has become clear to Nick that Gatsby is hiding something, and recalls that even 
Jordan had doubts about his past, including his studies at Oxford  
❏ How reliable is nick in revealing some of his details. 
 
WHAT IS NICK’S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET