- MC page rewrites in order
Minor minor characters
CH1: Nick: The fin and an old dodge, Tom’s butler,
Pam’s nurse
CH2: Italian child, old man sells her an Airedale boy
puppy, elevator boy
CH3: Twin + Lucille – Mckee? 3 married couples,
Jordan’s undergrad escort, owl-eyes, man in the
crashed coupe.
CH4: Edgar Beaver… Toby Rosenthal, Daisy’s
bridesmaids.
CH5: Finn, Ferdie (chauffeur), Ewing Klipspringer.
CH6: young reporter, Miss Baedeker drunk at party,
Sloane and woman, couple in moonlight.
CH7: Buchanan’s Butler, Pammy’s nurse, Jordan’s
cousin Bill, motor-cycle policeman, witness of “big
yellow car”, late doctor, taxi driver.
CH8: garage owners.
CH9: Edgar, Stella, Slagle, Klipspringer, Henry. C. Gatz,
the minister, 4/5 servants, postman
Meyer Wolfsheim
, WHO: Direct analogy to the real-life individual known as Arnold Rothstein,
kingpin of the Jewish Mob in 1920s New York. Both are reputed to have
fixed the 1919 World Series. Shady character. “Gatsby is simply the conduit
that allows Wolfsheim to develop his bond scam, which is the crucial piece of
gossip Tom uses to break Gatsby at the Plaza Hotel confrontation. Klein even
speculates that all the parties and the glamorous mansion were as much about
attracting business for Wolfsheim as they were about attracting Daisy to
Gatsby.”
WHAT: Represents the link between the two different worlds that Gatsby
inhabits. Gatsby relishes in the splendour of high society and class as
shown by his lavish parties, but this is only achieved by his dealings with
Wolfsheim's organized crime syndicate and bootlegging.
APPEARENCES:
1. Carraway + Wolfsheim at a speakeasy invited by Gatsby, fall into
discussion over highballs.
2. Carraway + Wolfsheim in Wolfsheim’s office near the end. Has come
to invite Wolfsheim to Gatsby’s funeral. It’s revealed that they were
close friends as well as business partners.
INTERPRETATION:
1. Judging Nick, scavenging for money + scandal, blessed with security
and luck despite being surrounded by misfortune, disgrace, illegal
activity and suspicion. Reference Nick’s potential anti-Semitic
judgement (repetition of “nose” caricaturizing his presence –
reflecting the time + not Fitzgerald’s views, he was more of a
reporter – US accepting it’s melting pot persona)
2. Strangely reminiscent, nostalgic, has feelings he’d never revealed,
but is this because he feels secure now that Gatsby is gone, has he
been granted money, self-interested?
VOCAB: Shrewd, streetwise, opportunistic, ambiguous, worldly,
detached, enigmatic, unsettling. Reference to wolf (name + molar
bracelet). “exotic” + “sinister”, bigotry, anti-Jewish conspiracies
An underworld Mogul, illicit financier, Gatsby’s bankroller.