A Jewish shadow of Meyer Wolfsheim

Nikita Mosidze
19th of February, 2016


«At lunch today, I'm going to introduce you with one of New York's most distinguished businessmen, in Mr. Meyer Wolfsheim» - the first mentioning of Mr. Wolfsheim by Mr. Gatsby. A small flat-nosed Jew they called him. Meyer Wolfsheim still remains a mystic, shadowed figure of the movie. He is not talked about neither before nor after the scene in the underground complex, where most of the wealthy gathered. Mr. Gatsby, being one of the wealthy, showed his new friend Nick the surrounding, where most of the corrupt figures could be seen. The place was full of high-positioned, well-paid individuals that had a great impact in the area of their influence, including the Jewish Meyer Wolfsheim.

Criminal underworld is the dark side of the wealthy community in The Great Gatsby. Most of the wealthy are infamous for the evil actions, which had put them into the place they are in. With human molars on his tie, Meyer Wolfsheim is surrounded by mysterious rumors and unfinished tales, which made him a man to be feared of. Surprisingly enough, in the movie Meyer has an Indian look, which makes it confusing for the viewer about his Jewish identity. Mr. Wolfshein has some illegal business ideas, that are linked with alcohol distribution in the Prohibition era. However, running into illegal problems would not be an issue for our Jewish character – he has enough money to bribe the whole police department of New York; though it might be unnecessary because of the police connections he has in the criminal underworld.

If a viewer observes Meyer from a stereotypical viewpoint couple of factors could be outlined – he is rich. Jewish people were always known for their business ideas that were well-thought and highly successful. The biggest stereotype regarding Jewish people states that they never share material and value money very much. One could assume that Meyer used his “skills of being a Jew” to put him on that high point without having a great attention from the surrounding.

He was described as a “business associate”, “a gambler”,” the man who fixed the 1919 World Series” and there is much more, but the more descriptions the viewer gets – the harder it is to gather a pure image of the Meyer Wolfsheim. A certainly mysterious figure will remain in shadow, while accomplishing all the black transactions he had planned.