Chapter 4 Gatsby blog notes

List all of the rumors told about Gatsby

• "well, they say he's a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's. That's where all his money comes from"
• "He doesn't want trouble with anybody"
• "Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once"
• "It's more that he was a German spy during the war"
• "I heard that from a man who knew aall about him, grew up with him in Germany"
• "It couldn't be that, because he was in the American army during the war"
• "I'll bet he killed a man"
• "well, he told me that he was an Oxford man"
• "He's a bootlegger"
• "one time he killed a man who found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the Devil"
• "He's an Oggsford man"
• "yeah, Gatsby's very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend's wife"

Why does Fitzgerald list all of Gatsby's party guests? What is the effect on the reader?

• present type of people going to parties to reader+ explain why they go- "a man named Bunsen, whom I knew at Yale", "a whole clan named Blackbuck, who always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses at whosoever came near", "Edgar Beaver, whose hair, they say, turned white for no good reason at all", "Clarence Endive...had a fight with a bum named Etty", "Snell...so drunk out on the gravel drive that Mrs Ulysses Swett's automobile ran over his right hand", "Gulick the state senator" and "Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls". 
• effect on reader= fascination+ disgust- see that upper class made up of intellectuals who aren't as intellectual as seem- people turn away anyone consider to be outsider- careless people who never seem to be satisfied+ selfish i.e. no reguard for anyone else
• hedonistic people who come without invitation+ show no interest whatsoever in meeting host+ thanking for hospitality
• reader fascination stems from Nick- way describes guests+  number of people put into timetable- reader question how many Gats parties Nick been to+ wonder true extent Nick's observant nature- question reliability of info due to unascertinable honesty of narrator

Why does Gatsby tell Nick about his life? Do you believe Gatsby? Does Nick?

• Gats tells Nick coz seeks Nick's support- predom in regards to Daisy
• believes if can prove to Nick= respectable member of upper class- Nick more likely to agree to favor (asked through Jordan)
• prove to Nick= worthy of Daisy, she's Nick's "second cousin once removed"- sense Nick's approval seems equivalent of fam blessing
• main reason= Gats trying to materialise life- current life entirely self-created, reader argue much like himself, chap 3 "a dim background started to take shape behind him, but at her next remark it faded away"- key "fadeed away- Gats can be considered by reader to be dishonest+ delusional- Nick generally considered more honest (debateable)- combination of extremely different archetypes, reader idea Gats thinks Nick has power make ideal into reality
• I don't believe Gats- story seems too factually inaccurate…