The Great Gatsby #2

1. What is the purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character?
The purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim's character is to add more mystery to Gatsby's character. After reading about Mr. Wolfsheim, the audience starts to doubt Gatsby's virtues. All up until now, we assume that the rumors about Gatsby killing a man, being involved in crimes, and bootlegging is false, but now that he's associated with and doing business with a famous gambler, Nick (and thus the audience) starts to suspect the rumors to be true.

2. What does the backstory about Jay and Daisy's past do to our impressions of Gatsby?
Learning Gatsby's past with Daisy seems to help us understand Gatsby more. He also seems to be a bit more normal because now we know that there's something he yearns for and we also know the reasons behind his lavish parties. His backstory with Daisy makes us like Gatsby more because he seemed to be a romantic soldier and has waited for his love for 5 years.

3. What does the rest of Gatsby's past do to our impressions of him?
After finding out that he lost all of his family, we find sympathy for him. It helps us, as the audience, to understand a little better that he's strange and mysterious because of all the pain he had to endure. It also makes us feel sorry for him because he describes how he turned to jewels, gold, and rubies to try to forget the pain he was in.

4. How does your overall impression of Gatsby change over these three chapters- do you like him more, less, and why?
In the last three chapters, we find out a lot more about Gatsby. We find out that he's been waiting and longing for Daisy for the past five years and we also find out that he lost all of his family before the war. However, we also find out that he might be associated with shady business. I have grown to like Gatsby more over the past few chapters because he seems to be less of a figure and more an actual person.