What are the details of Gatsby’s ‘constructed past’?

Nick describes his account as being “like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines”, which may relate to how magazines at the time could make people into stars, but were also known to be quick spreaders of gossip and scandal. He suggests that Gatsby’s story may make an image of his past visible but it is very distant from reality.

What role does Wolfshiem play in this chapter?

Gatsby introduces Nick to Wolfshiem in New York, who recalls the murder of a friend, Rosy Rosenthal, in the Metropole Hotel. His account follows Gatsby’s explanation of his constructed past, which may lead to sinister undertone’s in Gatsby’s story. The murder he describes was an actual event and one of the instances in the novel where Fitzgerald fuses historical occurrences with fiction and romance. He is the epitome of the grubby capitalist who’ll do anything when a trade makes money. Gatsby and everyone else is tainted by Wolfshiem.

What is the significance of the cars that pass Nick and Gatsby as they cross the bridge?

One car is consists of black Americans being driven by a white chauffeur in an expensive car, and the other contains people of south eastern European descent attending a funeral. They may be seen as foreshadowing Gatsby’s fate and America’s diversity. The wealthy black Americans may lend to the idea of equal opportunities for all and the American dream, but the social barriers may also implicitly suggest wealth by illegal means.

What contradictions and questions emerge from Jordan’s account of Daisy’s past?

It occured in 1917, when Jordan was sixteen years old and Daisy was eighteen. The account makes Gatsby “come alive to me” in Nick’s eyes, as he has perhaps seen that Gatsby has an emotional side to his character, with desires other than showing off. The end of it is the moment when Nick realises he is being used by Gatsby. The chapter ends with Nick embracing Jordan, which may contrast with Gatsby’s desire for the distant Daisy.

What are the parallels between Gatsby and Kurtz from The Heart of Darkness?

In The Heart of Darkness, Kurtz does not appear for a long time yet a lot of rumours are heard about him. He becomes a symbol of all that is European in Africa, similar to how Gatsby becomes a symbol of all that is new America, but inside the character, there is a heart of darkness. The Great Gatsby is a novel about light and parties, yet also about the arrogance of money. Kurtz also symbolises the arrogance of European depredation of Africa.