Bob Gragetty1/21/99EnglishChapters 1-4Through the first four chapters of the book The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is looked upon as a character who is secretive and mysterious. This is clearly showed through Gatsbys lifestyle, money, acquaintances, his past and the his non problematic attitude towards life.
In chapter one, Gatsby makes his first appearance in the novel. Nick, Gatsbys neighbor while on his was home, sees a man acting very odd and mysterious. The man (Gatsby) is standing outside his estate, all by himself, stretching his arms out across a lake; he is trembling to himself while he glares at a green light on a dock a far. When Nick attempts to get a good look at Gatsby, he seems to have vanished into the night. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness(P26) In chapter two there was a rumor that was passed when Nick was having a conversation with Catherine.
The rumor was that Gatsby gets all his money from Kaiser Wilhelm’s. Well, they say hes a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelms. Thats where all his money comes from. (P37) The others think that this is a scary thing and seem to want to have nothing to do with Gatsby. In chapter three Gatsby is mysterious because has another big routine party and has no real reason to even do so.
The interesting thing about Gatsby’s parties is that most of the people who wind up coming to the party are not invited, they just show up cause they know they will be allowed into Gatsbys house and have fun. People however look on as Gatsby as sort of scary and strangely eerie. At a previous party a girl named Lucille tore her dress on chair; Gatsby got her name and address and he replaced the dress for her even though he had nothing to do with the direct involvement of the dress being destroyed. He doesnt want any trouble with anybody(P48) During the middle of Gatsbys current party there is a time when Nick is looking everywhere for Gatsby and he can not find him. I havent even seen the host(P52) This interestingly odd, because it makes no sense to not be able to find the host of a party in the owners house.
Many rumors about Gatsby do surface at his party. There were two references to Gatsby killing a man; one reference to Gatsby being a German spy during a war; however a countering reference saying that Gatsby was in the American army during the same war. A final reference saying that he is an Oxford man. In conclusion, Gatsby is a very interesting man with a quite developed mysterious character.
Gatsby is so because has quite a fortune from a mysterious source, he is alone and stretches his arms out in the night towards green lights far away, he can not be found at his own party and he has a whole slew of rumors about himself and his past. This makes Gatsby out to have quite a lot of experience in his life, all the experience makes him almost seem as if he has a secret that lies within himself.
