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What happens in Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby?
While driving Nick into the city for lunch, Gatsby relates to Nick a series of stories about his life and accomplishments that Nick finds apocryphal and unrealistic. At lunch, Nick meets a shady associate of Gatsby’s named Meyer Wolfsheim, which leads him to believe that Gatsby acquired his wealth through criminal means. After lunch, Nick encounters Jordan who tells him about Gatsby and Daisy’s previous relationship, and Nick agrees to set up a tea date with Daisy where Gatsby will attend without Daisy’s knowledge.
Read our Summary & Analysis of Chapter 4. (3-minute read)
Are any important characters introduced in Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby?
Chapter 4 introduces, Meyer Wolfsheim, who is less important for anything he does in the novel as he is for what he represents (including his criminal connections and his Jewish heritage) and how that reflects on Gatsby, as well as on the 1920s in general.
Read our in-depth Character Analysis of Meyer Wolfsheim. (2-minute read)
To what literary Genre does The Great Gatsby belong?
The Great Gatsby has been described as belonging to several genres. These include tragedy, modernism, social satire, and realism. The character of Meyer Wolfsheim, introduced in Chapter 4, is based on a real-life crime boss in New York in the 1920s named Arnold Rothstein. This is an example of Fitzgerald’s use of realism—in setting, detail, and social commentary—to portray New York City and Long Island as they actually were when he wrote The Great Gatsby.
Read our analysis of the various genres employed in The Great Gatsby. (3-minute read)
Read our brief essay comparing aspects of realism and modernism in The Great Gatsby. (3-minute read)
