Gatsby tells Nick an origin story: he's the son of wealthy now-dead Midwesterners, he went to Oxford, and then he fought bravely in WWI. Not only that, but he has a medal and a photograph to prove it!
Nick remembers a story Gatsby told him about when he first kissed Daisy. Nick finds Gatsby's sentimentality about the past off-putting. He speculates that, in the moment of their first kiss, Daisy must have become the focus of Gatsby's aspirations and the main purpose of his life.
What does Gatsby tell Nick about his past? Is it true? He tells about the relationship he and Daisy had, the actual time spent together and how he had to go off to war, and Daisy was supposed to wait for him to return.
Detailed answer: While on the road to New York, Gatsby tells Nick about his past; he comes from a Midwestern wealthy family from San Francisco in which he inherited 'a good deal of money' after his family died.
Gatsby, melancholy, tells Nick about courting Daisy in Louisville in 1917. He says that he loved her for her youth and vitality, and idolized her social position, wealth, and popularity.
What does Gatsby tell Nick about his past? is it true? He says he met Daisy and fell in love with her. He pretended to be able to take care of her, but he couldn't. She loved him, too, at that time.
Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby reveals much about Gatsby's past and his true wishes. Nick believes Gatsby's account of his past, which endears Gatsby to Nick and makes Nick trust the man more.
Gatsby's past is mysterious. In the car ride with Nick, he appears to mix fact with fiction. His war medal proves the authenticity of his stories about his military service in World War I. But his inaccurate statement about San Francisco being in the Midwest suggests that he is lying about where he grew up.
Nick tells Gatsby that "you can't repeat the past," but he insists at the end that we're constantly "borne back" into it.
Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy never came outside the previous night, but rejects Nick's advice to forget Daisy and leave Long Island. He tells Nick about the early days of his relationship with Daisy. He remembers how taken he was by her wealth, her enormous house, and even by the fact that other men had loved her.
In The Great Gatsby, on the night of the accident, Gatsby tells Nick "the strange story of his youth with Dan Cody" because Gatsby's persona "had broken up like glass against Tom's hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out." Nick says that Gatsby wants to talk about Daisy, and he relates the story of ...
Nick decides to tell us the truth about Gatsby's past, since apparently, the man lied about everything. Even his name. So here's the real deal: Gatsby was born "James Gatz." (It is kind of cute how he just played around with the "y" sound.)
So Gatsby's obsession with the past is about control—over his own life, over Daisy—as much as it is about love. This search for control could be a larger symptom of being born into a poor/working class family in America, without much control over the direction of his own life.
Nick warns, 'You can't repeat the past'. Gatsby replies, 'Why of course you can! ' (p. 106).
“Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can!” Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, said this to his friend Nick Carraway in order to convince both himself and Nick that he could recapture Daisy Buchanan, his former love.
But here's what we think is going on: Nick realizes that chasing a future dream just ends up miring us in the past. All of our dreams are based on visions of our past self, like Gatsby who in the past believed that he would end up with Daisy and who believed in the American myth of the self-made man.
In the first chapter, Nick reveals that he was born in a wealthy Midwest family. After graduating from Yale, he gains the title of a World War I veteran. He presents himself as a tolerant person who keeps his opinions to himself. It is a trait he inherited from his father, who was against criticizing people.
Soon after their marriage, Daisy became pregnant, and Tom became an adulterer. Nick comes to an understanding of the nature of his neighbour's desire and his obsessive love. Jordan conveys Gatsby's request to be invited to Nick's house when Daisy is present. The chapter ends with Nick embracing and kissing Jordan.
What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself? Gatsby wants Nick to hear from Jordan about Daisy and Gatsby's past relationship. Gatsby would like Nick to invite Daisy to tea so that Gatsby can stop by.
He lies about the origin of his wealth, he lies about his love life, he even lies about reading the great books in his library. Gatsby lies so much, and so frequently, that he could no more find the truth than discover humility.
He is simply ashamed of his past and to be who he wants to be that past must remain a secret. Daisy however is shamed by what she has done recently, which is committing adultery. Daisy lying is much more complex as a young woman she seems quite lost and her lying is not as deliberate as Gatsby's.
As Nick is walking away, he sees Gatsby lurking in the bushes. Nick suddenly sees him as a criminal. As they discuss what happened, Nick realizes that it was actually Daisy who was driving the car, meaning that it was Daisy who killed Myrtle.
Tom requests to speak privately with her, at which point Gatsby and Daisy tell Tom that Daisy is leaving him. Tom refuses to believe it, and tells everyone he has done some investigating. He reveals how Gatsby and his business partners bought drug stores as a front for bootlegging alcohol.
Nick recalls a memory that Gatsby once shared with him about the first time Gatsby kissed Daisy. Nick calls Gatsby's sentimentality about history "appalling" and reflects that in that kiss Gatsby's dreams of success focused solely on Daisy. She became an idealized dream for Gatsby and the center of his life.
Gatsby is ashamed of the fact that he is born to a lower-class home in small-town North Dakoda. His parents are unsuccessful farmers. When Gatsby first meets Daisy, he doesn't believe that he will make enough of a living support her. One important thing to note is the difference between guilt and shame.