Chapter 4

The picture of the 1919 “Black Sox”, winners of the 1919 World Series, is relevant to the fourth chapter of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, because in the fourth chapter they reveal that Jay Gatsby’s shady associate, Meyor Wolfshiem, is directly responsible to the fixing of the 1919 World Series games. In reality, it was the players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox who were responsible for throwing the series of games to the Cincinnati Reds. They bet on the games before hand and intentionally lost them so that they could attain large sums of money. This is important to the novel because it is an example of corruption within the 1920s.

Quotes

"San Francisco" (70).- Gatsby on what part of the mid-west he grew up in

"With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter" (70).- Nick on Gatsby's "history"

"It never occured to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people" (78).- Nick on Wolfshiem's fixing of the World Series

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired"(85).- Daisy on the Buchanans

Analysis

In the fourth chapter of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, many themes are presented throughout. One theme is the theme of corruption. There are many rumors circulating about the mysterious Jay Gatsby at one of his lush parties filled with only the highest profiled men and women of the time. Alcohol was outlawed during the setting in which The Great Gatsby takes place in but usually the wealthy and/ or powerful were able to attain such commodities. Thus, a rumor is started that Jay Gatsby is a bootlegger. Bootleggers were smugglers of alcohol affiliated with organized crime syndicates during the American Prohibition which banned alcohol from being served. Another example of corruption in the novel is the character of Meyor Wolfshiem. Wolfshiem is a friend of Jay Gatsby who is directly responsible for the 1919 World Series “Black Sox” scandal. Nick says that, “It never occured to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people” (78). Another theme that is presented in the fourth chapter is the theme of integrity. The character of Jay Gatsby, presumably, has little to no integrity. He claims many epic feats that are riddled with holes. One of these mentioned feats was that he earned his riches through the inheritance from his deceased family from the mid-west. When asked by Nick which part of the mid-west Gatsby grew up in he responds, “San Francisco” (70). The never ending pursuit of happiness is another theme which is explored by Jordan Baker. When talking about the Buchanans she says, “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired” (85). This quote states that nobody is truly happy and that happiness is something that can never be attained no matter how wealthy and powerful you are.