The idea that Gatsby was a sinister gangster is strongly supported throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby. The author uses three main methods to portray Gatsby as a crooked businessman. First, He parallel’s Gatsby with the gangsters of that time. Second, He hints to a more sinister side through Nick’s personal accounts. Third, he shrouds Gatsby in vagueness and limits the reader’s knowledge about his business affairs. The first way that Fitzgerald shows Gatsby as a sinister gangster is by making him similar to the gangsters of that era. Instead of grimy thugs, the wealthy criminals of Gatsby time were just like him: rich, powerful, and affluent. (1) We see this when Gatsby goes to meet Meyer Wolfshiem. Wolfshiem is described as a “gambler” and “The man who fixed the 1919 World Series” but he has …show more content…
The Gatsby that the world saw was a complete contrast to the real Gatsby. Outwardly he could be perceived as open and inviting whether it be because of his friendly dialect, or the fact that his parties were open to anyone who came, yet Gatsby seemed to distance himself intentionally. At his parties, he never drank and he never seemed to fully let anyone know the real him. If Gatsby was a puzzle to solve, the reader never had all of the pieces. Furthermore, the question of how he amassed such incredible wealth was never answered. Initially, he lies to Nick and says that it was an inheritance. Later, Nick asks Gatsby what business he is in and Gatsby quickly dismisses the matter as his personal affair. Gatsby then admits to dabbling in the oil and the drug business “I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I’m not in either one now.” But he never tells what he was doing at the time. This element of mystery alludes to Gatsby’s more private secretive side that funds his elaborate