The Great Gatsby Chapter 4: Gatsby's Mystery

In Chapter 4, Nick begins to learn intimate details about Gatsby which makes Gatsby’s mysterious façade fade. Through Mr. Wolfsheim, Nick learns about Gatsby’s continence, but he learns even more through Jordan Baker (Fitzgerald 72). Gatsby arranges that Jordan and Nick have tea so Jordan can inform Nick of a private story that only she can recount. Once hearing about Gatsby’s love for Daisy, Nick feels that now Gatsby had come alive to him, and that he had been “delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor” (Fitzgerald 78). Nick only now believes Gatsby to be “alive” because he finally sees through Gatsby’s mysterious countenance by gaining an intimate understanding of Gatsby and his past. Nick illustrates that Gatsby arises “from the womb,” which reveals that Gatsby’s birth into the human world once coming alive engenders Nick’s awakening. Nick associates Gatsby’s splendor with a purpose now, which is to make himself known among society to gain contact with Daisy. However, when Jordan asks Nick to arrange a date with Daisy so that Gatsby can see her, Nick remarks, “The modesty of the demand shook me” (Fitzgerald 78). Nick recognizes Jordan’s modesty, and therefore abruptness, which shakes him. One questions whether Nick is shaken because he now recognizes that Gatsby had alternative purposes for becoming friendly with him.