Diary Entry by Nick

Recently, I’ve had a rendezvous for a lunch at the city with Gatsby and one of his friends, Meyer Wolfshiem. The lunch was rather interesting as parts of our conversation stuck in my mind and played with my knowledge about certain things. It made me question myself, who this ‘Gatsby’ really is… And coming from such a small place; I’d rather say New York business is wrongly fascinating.

Thinking back to when I first met Meyer Wolfshiem that day, I wasn’t expecting him to create further chaos in my head as I was already quite frustrated with Gatsby comments involving Jordan. I was already prepared to confront Gatsby and discuss about it when Wolfshiem decided to spatter around his little stories – which did interest me quite a bit. I’d like to believe I’m always interested in sincere and up-to-the-minute stories as they open my mind to new doors. Therefore, Meyer Wolfshiem stories were, I suppose, emotional. I presume old men get emotional easily as aging hits their sensitive part a little. His story about Rosen Rosenthal particularly caught my attention –besides other things. I mean, this man was shot several times on the chest and the murderers never got caught… And for over what reason did he die for? This story shocked me inside. I know Rosy Rosenthal was a business man for a fact – Wolfshiem must have mentioned it. And this made me realize how dangerous business is in the East until I found out another thing. Wolfshiem was involved in the fixing of the World Series. I never really thought how such an individual could have the power to do something likewise and not be in prison. Are policemen or the government security even at their jobs these days or are they just laying there kissing feet of the rich, wishing they were in their shoes. That could possibly be a fact. Wolfshiem and his little nose, bizarre and influential man he is; makes me think that money does mean power. I kept in mind his saying about how money shut a man right up – this just proves today’s hunger for wealth. And it is a sad thing…is it…

But for a man with so much power, Meyer Wolfshiem is ignorant. He kept blabbering on about some sort of Oggsford which I am certain he meant Oxford and I’ve noticed many grammar gaps in his English. Yes, Gatsby, I thought, smart man he truly is!

However, other things concerned me more and indeed, it is about Gatsby. He was not acting tout-a-fait normal. He seemed a little uncomfortable; possibly because he was worried I wasn’t comfortable myself. Though, I think because I was about to hear something which have made me question what really is Gatsby’s past; has he been lying to me from the start of our friendship? I know as a truth that Gatsby told me himself that he was from a very rich family and his wealth was inherited. However Meyer Wolfshiem story was far from similar. It was quite upsetting when I heard that he was actually a poor boy who created his wealth by himself. And for I to know that Gatsby and Wolfshiem had business ‘connections’, I knew at that moment Gatsby was involved in illegal business. I haven’t really thought about how I felt about Gatsby being a fraud with the giant amount of respect I have for him. But then I recalled my father’s advice, on how some people did not have the advantages that other people had and it made me reflect. If what Meyer Wolfshiem said was true, then I’d accept it. Gatsby struggled and had no choice but to go through what he did in order to reach to a good state. But are there other reasons to it? However, my acceptance of Gatsby does not reach the conclusion to my curiosity of him. If Gatsby lied about his background, what else have he lied about? Everything I know about him and the time I have spent with him could all be just fiction or an act – an appealing act though. Who is this person hiding behind his wealth and what is he living for.

The lunch became even more gauche when I had an encounter with Tom. I couldn’t help myself to be offended when he mentioned how was able to get here but I controlled my judgments quite well but that wasn’t what bothered me the most. It was Gatsby again, gone out of the blue just a little bit after I introduced him to town. It was supposedly like Gatsby couldn’t stand Tom’s presence or he has heard of Tom before. This made me think even harder about what Gatsby’s past was like and the intensity of my curiosity hasn’t yet died till this day.