Hello and welcome to "Read it and (Don't) Weep," the podcast that will help you breeze through your high school literature classes. Are you tired of struggling to understand the themes and characters in classic works of literature? Do you wish you could just read the condensed version and be done with it? Well, I’ve got you covered! I am your host, Jackey Taggart, and I taught high school English for almost 20 years. 

Join me each episode as I dive into the world of high school literature and break down the essential elements of each work. From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, I'll cover it all. My goal is to give you valuable insights and analysis on some of the most popular high school literary texts, as well as tips and tricks for acing your tests and essays.  Let’s start reading!

Hello and welcome to this episode of Read It and (Don’t) Weep. In this episode, we are going to discuss Chapter 4 in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. If you have not read Chapters 1-3, it might be a good idea to read those chapters and listen to my other episodes before listening.  

Well, it has been a long journey, but we are finally getting into the rising action of the plot.  Up until this point, we have only had exposition.  But now that we are getting into the action of the story, Fitzgerald overwhelms readers in Chapter 4, so much so that I divide this chapter into 3 scenes: 

·       Scene 1 is The List

·       Scene 2 is The Car Ride

·       Scene 3 is The Lunch

·       Scene 4 is The Past

Scene 1 – The List

Please forgive me if you disagree, but the beginning of this chapter is downright dull.  Nick, our narrator, tells us about the list he made of all the party guests he met at Gatsby’s parties that summer up until July 5, 1922.  If you think back to Chapter 1, it was approximately June 7, 1922, so it has been about a month since our story began.  Remember, time is an important symbol in the novel, so make a note of this date so you can reference it later. 

Now, why does Fitzgerald give us all these names? And it’s a lot of names as the list in my book is just over 3 pages!  The list is a mix of individuals from different social classes, backgrounds, and places, which is used to show the diversity of people who come to Gatsby’s parties (remember, Nick is the only one ever invited).

These people who attend Gatsby's parties are generally wealthy and come from high society (aka East Egg), but they also include a mix of artists, musicians, and some more questionable characters. This emphasizes the allure and appeal of Gatsby's parties – anyone who’s anyone attends Gatsby’s parties!

You do not need to remember these names, except for Klipspriger, the “boarder” who we will discuss again later, they are just included to create a broader picture of the type of people that Gatsby surrounded himself with. Gatsby has a massive social circle, but most people have never met him personally. This continues to add to Gatsby’s allure, where did he get his money? What is his motivation for being here in West Egg? How can one person have connections to so many diverse groups of people?

This list also gives readers a sense of the excess and extravagance of the Roaring Twenties, a period of economic growth and widespread prosperity in the U.S., when parties like Gatsby's were a common occurrence among the elite class. If you have listened to the episode on the Roaring Twenties, you will remember that Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, were the ones who coined the term “The Jazz Age” because of the parties they hosted and attended. 

So, in simpler terms: imagine that you throw a party, and people from all over your town, and even from other cities and states, famous people – politicians, artists, musicians, actors, influencers, etc…come to your party. You don't necessarily know all these people personally, but your party is so cool that everyone wants to be there. That's kind of what Gatsby's parties were like. 

Scene 2 – The Car Ride

This section starts with another time reference: late July.  I have often thought that the last part of chapter 3 (when Nick mentions that the events of chapters 1-3 took place over several weeks) and this long list at the beginning of Chapter 4 should be switched, but Fitzgerald and his editor felt otherwise.  Back to our time reference.  It has been 6 or 7 weeks since the dinner party at Tom and Daisy’s house. Nick has become one of “those people” who hang out at Gatsby’s house, but he has yet to have a meaningful conversation with Gatsby, until Gatsby shows up at his house and takes Nick to lunch. 

Let’s pause to admire Gatsby’s car. For a point of reference, I always envisioned Gatsby driving a Rolls Royce, cream colored, green leather interior, just as extravagant as everything else Gatsby owns. For car buffs like me, it must have been a thing of beauty! But look at the color of the car – cream.  Think back to the color symbolism discussed in Chapter 2, cream is an off-white.  If white is pure and innocent, cream is slightly tarnished and not as innocent and pure.  

On their way to lunch, Gatsby becomes incredible loquacious and tells this amazing story about his past: he is the son of a wealthy mid-west family all conveniently dead now. He was educated at Oxford, which for those who do not know is in England.   After he left, he traveled the world trying to forget something very sad that happened long ago.  Then World War I broke out and he became a war hero revered by all the governments who were part of the Allied forces.  Gatsby rattles this information off so fast and so well-rehearsed that Nick has trouble believing his story is true. Nick, being from the mid-west himself, asks Gatsby where he is from.  San Francisco.  Now, I am not a geography teacher, but I know that San Francisco is in California, and you can’t get much farther West in the continental United States than California.  So Nick continues to doubt Gatsby’s story until he conveniently produces a Medal of Honor and a photograph to support his story.  While I am not sure if Nick it totally convinced, he cannot deny that Gatsby could be telling the truth. 

Why does Gatsby tell Nick this elaborate story because he is going to ask Nick a favor.  Actually, Gatsby has asked Jordan to ask Nick to do a favor for him and Nick will find out about the favor later when he meets Jordan for tea.  Huh???  Why doesn’t Gatsby just ask Nick himself?  No idea.  While Nick ponders all that he has learned, several things happen.  First, a police officer tries to pull Gatsby over for speeding.  Gatsby waves a card at the officer, and he is free to leave.  Hmmm… this shows that Gatsby has connections in high places – like law enforcement.  Then, the pair pass a funeral procession, and then a limousine driven by a white man with three African American passengers. Lots of symbolism in all three of these events, but I am not going to get into these details here.  If you are looking for research topics, these three events would be great to explore further. 

By the end of this scene, Nick has gone from a cynic to a believer; He fully trusts in the wonder that is Jay Gatsby.   

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Scene 3 – The Lunch

Gatsby and Nick arrive at a speak-easy in the heart of New York City, and Nick is introduced to Gatsby’s friend, Mr. Meyer Wolfsheim.  Gatsby calls him a gambler, but I see him as a mobster.  Think of Al Capone, a gangster.  Remember, this is Prohibition, so alcohol is illegal.  But the men sit down and order drinks.  Wolfsheim takes a trip down memory lane and tells Nick about Rosy Rosenthal, who was murdered in the street one morning.  Both characters serve as allusions to real people who existed during the Roaring Twenties. An allusion is a reference to a person, place, event, or another piece of literature within a story.  The reference is usually subtle or indirect, but it is meant to draw attention to aspects within the current story readers should be aware of.  

Meyer Wolfsheim is said to be an indirect reference to real-life figure Arnold Rothstein, a businessman and gambler who was largely suspected, but never convicted, of fixing the 1919 World Series, a major event in American sports history.  Rosy Rosenthal is an allusion to a named Herman "Rosy" Rosenthal, a gambling house owner who was murdered in 1912 after a feud with corrupt police officers in New York.

It makes Nick, and readers, stop and think, what kind of people is Gatsby hanging out with?  Is Gatsby involved with gangsters and mobsters?   Maybe.  Wolfsheim asks Nick if he is interested in a business deal and Gatsby immediately jumps in and says Nick is not THAT man.  Nick also takes notice of Wolfsheim’s cuff links, which are made from HUMAN MOLARS!  How do you get cuff links made from human molars?  Is someone sleeping with the fishes????

But Wolfsheim goes on to confirm Gatsby’s life story and even assures Nick that Gatsby is an honorable man – Gatsby “would never so much as look at a friend’s wife.”  Can you say foreshadowing???  Make a note of this detail and come back to it at the end of the chapter. 

Lastly, Nick sees Tom Buchannan and brings Gatsby over to introduce him.  But while Tom and Nick make small talk, Gatsby disappears leaving Nick wondering what the heck is going on.

Scene 4 – The Past

 In this section of Chapter 4, Fitzgerald incorporates his first flashback.  Nick and Jordan are having tea, and Jordan is telling Nick about the “amazing thing” she learned at the party that night at Gatsby’s house.  

Note the date – October 1917, almost 5 years ago in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jordan is 16, and Daisy Fay (now Daisy Buchannan) was 18. Daisy was very popular, always dressed in white with a white roadster.  Another color reference here – white, pure, innocent.  One afternoon, Jordan sees Daisy sitting in her roadster with a lieutenant, none other than Jay Gatsby.  Daisy asks Jordan to cover for her at the Red Cross so she can sneak away with Gatsby for a few hours.    Jordan dismisses the situation but is reminded of this day at Gatsby’s party.  Jordan goes on to tell Nick that she does remember stories about Daisy trying to sneak off to New York to say goodbye to a soldier, but her family stopped her.  A year later, she was engaged to marry Tom Buchannan from Chicago, who presented Daisy with a string of pearls valued at $350,000.  Based on inflation rates, they would be over $2 million dollars.  Wow! Tom came in flaunting his family’s wealth! However, the night before the wedding, Jordan found Daisy drunk, with a letter crumbed in her hand, saying to tell everyone that she changed her mind. She does not want to marry Tom.  Jordan and the maid got her into a cold bath, the letter disintegrated into mush in the water, and Daisy married Tom the next day, pearls around her neck without another thought of the mysterious letter. Within a few months, Tom is caught cheating on Daisy with a maid from a Santa Barbara Hotel, Daisy gives birth to their daughter the following spring.  From there Tom and Daisy travelled endlessly from place to place.  Daisy has not had another drink since that night before her wedding.  

Quick pause to revisit a literary device.  Remember back in chapter 1 I mentioned that Jordan was a foil to Daisy, and a foil is a foil is a character that is used to highlight traits in another character.  Now would be a great time to jot down some notes in your reading journal about these two characters.  Daisy is sad and lonely, she seems to always be characterized as innocent and pure (through the use of the color white), and her husband cheats on her with different women. She is disillusioned by life.  She expected to live happily ever after with her rich husband and grand life, but now her only hope is for her daughter to be a beautiful little fool and not know the harshness of reality.  Jordan is a self-made woman, an athlete, an independent woman, but she is careless and a liar.  She only cares about herself and her happiness, and she doesn’t care if anyone else gets hurt in the process.  What do you think Fitzgerald’s purpose is by contrasting these two characters?

Back to the present, six weeks ago, Daisy questioned Jordan about her comment about Gatsby at dinner.  It was then that Jordan connected the man in Daisy’s white roadster all those years ago with the man in West Egg.  And Gatsby told Jordan that he bought his house because it is directly across the bay from Daisy – the green light!  The goal that Gatsby is striving for is Daisy. He is trying to win her back!

The favor that Gatsby needs from Nick is to invite Daisy over for tea so they can be reunited. Gatsby wants to show Daisy his house and his wealth – that he is now worth of her affections.  Gatsby had hoped that Daisy would just wander into one of his parties like so many others, but once Gatsby learned that Nick and Daisy were cousins, he has Jordan request Nick to invite Daisy to his house so Gatsby can casually run into her after all these years.  Nick is not to mention Gatsby before Daisy arrives. It will be quite a surprise!

Whew!  That was a ton of information in one short chapter.  So, let’s review for a moment.  Gatsby bought the house across the bay from Daisy so he could be close to her.  A bit stalker-ish, but let’s go with this for now.  Wolfsheim says that Gatsby would never so much as think about another man’s wife, but this is exactly what Gatsby has been doing for the past five years.  Gatsby quickly disappears from the club after being introduced to Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. With his goal of breaking up their marriage, I can understand his quick departure.  And now, Nick is going to invite Daisy to tea so she can be reunited with Gatsby and then….  Well, I guess that is the question.  What is going to happen when they are finally reunited?  If you are keeping up with your reading journal, jot down your thoughts on this question.  What do you think is going to happen?  Will Daisy leave Tom and run off with Gatsby? Or will something else happen?  Personally, I might be a bit angry at my cousin for not giving me a heads up before springing an old boyfriend on me so suddenly, but that is just my response.  We will have to keep reading to find out what is actually going to happen next. 

Thanks for listening to this episode of Read it and (Don’t) Weep. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you will be notified when new episodes are released. If you liked today’s show, please leave a review so others can discover my show.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, drop me an email at readitanddontweep@gmail.com, or reach out to me on social media. I would love to hear from you. The links are in the show notes.  

Thank you for listening.  I am Jackey Taggart and remember to read it and don’t weep. 

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