Chapter 4 is where Nick is introduced to Meyer Wolfsheim, whom Gatsby describes as a gambler and "the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919." So, when Wolfsheim turns the conversation to business, there is a moment of awkwardness:
“I understand you’re looking for a business gonnegtion.”
The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling. Gatsby answered for me:
“Oh, no,” he exclaimed, “this isn’t the man.”
“No?” Mr. Wolfsheim seemed disappointed.
“This...
Chapter 4 is where Nick is introduced to Meyer Wolfsheim, whom Gatsby describes as a gambler and "the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919." So, when Wolfsheim turns the conversation to business, there is a moment of awkwardness:
“I understand you’re looking for a business gonnegtion.”
The juxtaposition of these two remarks was startling. Gatsby answered for me:
“Oh, no,” he exclaimed, “this isn’t the man.”
“No?” Mr. Wolfsheim seemed disappointed.
“This is just a friend. I told you we’d talk about that some other time.”
“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Wolfsheim, “I had a wrong man.”
Nick does not make the connection until later what Wolfsheim was talking about. The reader finds out in Chapter 7 that Gatsby and Wolfsheim work together in a bootlegging business, running illegal alcohol from state to state. It is also mentioned that Gatsby owns several drugstores, which were fronts for speakeasies, hidden bars where people could drink and dance. In fact, in Chapter 4, Nick, Gatsby, and Wolfsheim meet in a speakeasy for lunch, probably a place where Gatsby has taken other potential business connections to meet Wolfsheim, hence his confusion with Nick.
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