Wolfshim In The Great Gatsby

When Nick receives Wolfsheim’s message that Wolfsheim, who was one of Gatsby’s only friends, will not be coming to the funeral, Nick feels that it is he and Gatsby against them all. Nick realizes that no one truly cares about him and his friend. After reaching out to people to encourage them to come to the funeral and finally being rejected by someone who Nick thought Gatsby called a true friend, he experiences “a feeling of defiance, of scornful solidarity.” Because of Wolfsheim’s close connection to Gatsby and his friendship and relationship with Gatsby, Nick believes that he will at least be able to bring someone to Gatsby’s funeral. However, when Wolfsheim says that he doesn’t want to get mixed up with Gatsby’s murder, Nick senses that no one has really cared for Gatsby or for him. Nick feels that he is all alone, that everyone is against him and that there is no one left who cares.

“He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.”(Fitzgerald). “The Great Gatsby” was a great literary piece that has conjured numerous meanings. Some might say that the meaning of the novel is focused on the consequences of obsessive love; Or it might be focused on a dark depiction of the world and maybe the novel defines something essential about American cultural values. However, I believe that the true denotation of “The Great Gatsby” is that our desire to recapture the past holds a deep allure, but this desire is both unachievable and self-destructive because of the actions and dreams that Gatsby had

From first impressions to the every next time us readers pick up the book, the title strengthens the remembrance of only good things Gatsby did. This convincing biased perspective toward Jay Gatsby is only a result of Nick’s unreliability as an author. From a reader’s perspective, it conveys this feeling of Gatsby’s greatness and overlooks his flaws. The title of the book was promptly proven to foreshadow Nick’s everlasting fidelity toward Gatsby as the narrator further begins the book describing Gatzs “extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness” (Fitzgerald, pg 2). This awing quality caused Nick to be more loyal to Gatsby than anyone in the book. As a result, Nick forgives Gatsby’s criminal behavior such as bootlegging (what brought Gatsby to wealth) and being associated with corrupt men such as the character Meyer Wolfsheim, a man rumored to have fixed the World Series in 1919, activities that we would expect Nick to disapprove of. Nick narrates about Gatsby in such an amazing way that it somewhat convinces us readers into overlooking Gatsby’s wrongdoings as well. It could be said that Nick is an unreliable narrator as his judgments are contradictory; on one side he disapproves of certain characters actions and yet dismisses Gatsby’s immoral behavior. Nick is blinded by his romantic view of Gatsby and as a

Fitzgerald uses Gatsby's parties and the way in which Nick views them to reveal that whilst Gatsby is surrounded by shallow and vulgar people, he is above this. Fitzgerald also uses these parties to expose Gatsby's isolation which leads us to feel sympathy toward Gatsby. Despite the amount of people at the party, Nick observes Gatsby's seclusion and loneliness, "my eyes fell to Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps". This evokes a great deal of sympathy from us as although Nick describes Gatsby in a warm and friendly way, "It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life", we now can see that Gatsby is a lonely figure. This sympathy is accentuated when Nick is the only person to turn up to Gatsby's funeral, as we know that Gatsby is a decent and honourable character and thus our sympathies are emphasised by Gatsby's isolation. When Nick first meets Gatsby, he reveals Gatsby to be a fascinating character that we would like to know more about. The warm and assuring smile that Nick describes is in antithesis to the

Gatsby introduces him to Nick. Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby is a good friend of Jay Gatsby; he was an older fellow and had human molars for cufflinks. This Meyer Wolsheim is known to be trouble, a notorious gambler and Nick wants nothing to do with him. It is because of Wolfsheim’s friendship with Jay Gatsby that Nick begins to suspect that Gatsby is trouble and is not who he says he is. It is also believed that because of Gatsby’s association with Wolfsheim that they were able to get away from the police who attempted to pull them over for reckless driving on their way to lunch. The officer seemed intimidated and that he was the one who was in the wrong because he pulled them over. This shows how powerful and notorious Meyer Wolsheim

Instead of promoting the idea of hard work and decency, the American Dream now sprouts the want for wealth above anything else throughout the novel. This is most evident in Jay Gatsby, he truly believed that wealth and material items would be able to fix his problems and recreate his happiness from the past. Gatsby was not born into money, he came from a family of poor North Dakota famers. Therefore, he must go out and acquire wealth for himself. However, Gatsby did not make his fortune honestly, throughout the novel it is suggested that he made a profit off illegal and corrupt business deals. This is first suggested when Nick meets Wolfsheim, a business associate of Gatsby, curious of what Wolfsheim does for a living, Nick inquires. Gatsby then tells him, “He’s the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919.” (73) Fixing a World Series is not honest work and it shows that Wolfsheim is a corrupt individual. Furthermore, Gatsby does business with Wolfsheim which implies that he has not earned his money through honest means either. Nevertheless, the wealth alone does not bring Gatsby the happiness and satisfaction he desires. Towards the end of the novel, Nick discovers the reason that Gatsby went through all the trouble to acquire his massive fortune, it was to reconnect with the love of his life and recreate the happiness they once shared together. However, in chapter six, Nick reminds Gatsby that the past cannot be repeated. Gatsby, who is infinitely full of hope

However as we begin to learn about his corruption, and the way by which he came by this money, we begin to loose this image of greatness. Even Nick swings form admiration to resentment. When Gatsby tells Nick about all his great travels and accomplishments around Europe traveling like royalty and studying at oxford. This Makes Gatsby a hero, however Nick doesn’t believe him, until Montenegro is mentioned, and the same applies to us. This is the point when our faith in Gatsby’s greatness, is reaffirmed. As the book progress and we dig deeper into Gatsby’s past. We begin learning more and more about his life built upon deception, we really start to suspect the rumors of his under ground involvement in crime, specially after meeting Meyer Wolfsheim. It is my personal opinion that Wolfsheim, was in fact a Jew, due to his characteristics, “a large nose” “a diminutive stature”. It is an important point to note, due to the fact that during the 1920’s, The Jews were blamed for Americas corruption, due to there infamous greed at that time. So when Gatsby is seen doing business with people like Wolfsheim, it slanders his name and he, is no longer the American dream, on the contrary, he is now, one of the people that corrupted America . We begin to learn his true identity is not Jay Gatsby, but that he is relay a man named James Gatz.

Several years passed and Gatsby joined the army. He survived the war and his dreams did too. After the war Gatsby met a man by the name of Meyer Wolfsheim. Once again, Gatsby’s upper class like manners allowed him to make a good first impression and find a path to wealth. According to Mr. Wolfsheim, “I had discovered a man of fine breeding... There’s the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister” (72). Even though what he joined was illegal, Gatsby bagan working with Mr. Wolfsheim in the sale of illegal alcohol. It is evident that Gatsby never lost his dream because of the great lengths and risk he took to get his wealth back. He turned to crime in order to gain his wealth. Even though it still appeared that Gatsby had manners of a wealthy person, on the inside he lost those morals when he sacrificed them for a dream that turned sour. On another note, Gatsby’s dream was to be wealthy, which he achieved, however, in reality he no one else acknowledged Gatsby at the

Nick is a dynamic character. Starts to leave his values behind, temporarily and in one instance, he gets drunk for the second time in his life “… either it was terrible stuff of the whiskey distorted things, because it didn’t make any sense to me” (29). Only has gotten drunk twice in his life, and the reader can come to the conclusion that the whole scene at Myrtle's party is skewed. "Instead of being the warm center of the world, the middle west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe" (3). Gatsby's Influence The title of the story is The Great Gatsby Is Fitzgerald being ironic about how "great" Gatsby is or is it to emphasize how great Nick thinks he is? Nick thinks Gatsby is admirable and see that he is driven by love to achieve his dream. He finds that praise-worthy and thinks its an honorable dream. He believe he truly is a good person. Thinks Gatsby is an unfortunate victim to the Easts eccentric ways but is respectable. In the end he sides with Gatsby. It sets up his biases. He hears rumors that Gatsby is a "spy" and "killed a man" (48). He had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person" (48). Time vs. Opinions His outlook gradually alters towards corruption as “the events of three nights several weeks apart” took effect on his writing and he found that they ” gave the impression that… they were all that absorbed” him (55). He has been focusing on one event and giving it great importance. He was partially opinionated

Fitzgerald paints Gatsby out to be this charming infectious man, although Gatsby retains some secrets. Gatsby was involved with this man named Meyer Wolfsheim, who happened to be a big time bootlegger. In chapter four Gatsby introduces Nick Carraway, the main character narrating the story, to Mr. Wolfsheim. He continues to ask him an odd question:

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has been celebrated as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - American works of fiction. Of course, one could convincingly argue that Gatsby barely qualified as fiction, as it is the culmination of a trio of Fitzgerald’s work that

Fitzgerald chose Nick to narrate the text because his perspective creates a multifaceted view of the world Fitzgerald portrays. He is an outsider to the wealthy materialistic world in which he lives. His similarity to Gatsby in that respect helps us gain an appreciation for Gatsby’s character, but although Nick and Gatsby are both outsiders Nick fails to fully understand Gatsby. This appreciation but lack of full understanding gives the reader a very different perspective than a narration from Gatsby’s point of view or that of anyone else in the novel. Nick is caught between the perspective of the man “looking up and wondering” (35) and the man in the party. Gatsby is neither; he holds the party but then scarcely shows up. Far from being an outsider to the world of wealth and materialism, he seems to embody it. Gatsby and Nick both disdain the world of vacuous wealth, but they do so from different perspectives. Gatsby has everything he needs to be part of it and chooses not to; Nick is caught on the edge, unsure whether or not he wants that world, but ultimately he cannot have it. If Nick is an outsider unsure about trying to become an insider, Gatsby is an insider trying, studiously, to make himself an outsider.

Before Nick could even manage to answer for himself Gatsby jumps in, answering for him “Oh, no…This is just a friend. I told you we’d talk about that some other time” (71). Immediately it becomes clear that Wolfsheim has some prior business connections with Gatsby. On its own, that would be no cause for alarm. Yet in not much time at all Gatsby tells Nick who the mysterious Mr. Wolfsheim is himself, describing him as “a gambler,” nonchalantly adding that “he’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919” (73). Suddenly connections with this man raise a lot of flags, as we have just begun to discover the sort of illegal activities Gatsby’s been engaged in during his pursuit of wealth. This is a man whom most find villainous, taking such a treasured American pastime and thoroughly corrupting it by fixing the results all together. Yet Gatsby defends the gambler, saying “he just saw the opportunity,” but “they can’t get him, old sport. He’s a smart man” (73). To most, that kind of defense wouldn’t really matter all too much, wrong is wrong no matter how it’s spun. Yet the bad guys never think they’re the bad guys after all, and Gatsby sees no problem with what Wolfsheim did.

Nick meets a numerous amount of people throughout the book but specifically in chapter 4 he meets the more interesting characters of the book. But one of the main focuses is, Meyer Wolfshiem, he is a world wide known gambler and friend of Jay Gatsby. But also along with being a friend of Jay Gatsby he was also a known business partner but no one knows what type of business. But nicks main concern is why Gatsby is hanging out with Wolfshiem. Probably because of his appearance and his line of work. Although Nick has begun to like and appreciate Gatsby and wants to give him a chance to explain himself. Gatsby's has a unique taste in business connections and is not what is expected who comes from the background like Gatsby's. Nicks describes Wolfshiem

The 2013 movie adaptation of ‘The Great Gatsby” certainly steps out of the cozy boundaries of the novella of less than two hundred pages by F. Scott Fitzegerald with its gaudy attitude and fast-paced scenes that at the same time is quite picturesque and full of details reproduced to match the prose that has been written. Some lovers of the classic might be horrified at the big top-esque film that Baz Luhrmann has made it into, for this director is no stranger to flashiness and taking risks, as shown in his past films “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet”; and the same desire in the both of them is still present in his installment of “Gatsby”: the want to capture the contemporary audience, even if it