Meyer Wolfsheim's sole purpose, it seems, is to show a sort of "dark side" to Gatsby. Wolfsheim is representative of all of Gatsby's illegitimate dealings. In fact, it almost seems as if Wolfsheim is supposed to directly be Gatsby's shadier half, what Gatsby might have been or one day will be. It certainly gives Gatsby depth, and makes the reader begin to question whether Gatsby is a hero or, in fact, an anti-hero.
But to counter this, you learn of Gatsby's history with Daisy, and you begin to sympathize with him again. There isn't much more deserving of sympathy than a man whose lover leaves him while he is fighting overseas. When a man has lost that much, it is understandable that he would turn to dealings with people like Wolfsheim.
The rest of Gatsby's past is pretty neutral. Sure, it makes a feel-good story when a poor-born main character rises in wealth and status, but it's kind of negated when you realize exactly how he attained this. So the two early pieces of information are the most important to the reader's impression of Gatsby.
My impression of Gatsby in this section went up. Obviously, his tragic history with Daisy brings me a great deal of sympathy for him. Normally, for most people, this would be balanced by the discovery of his elicit dealings, but not me. This is mainly because I suspected this from the start, so it was already factored into my opinion of him. Therefore, verification of his activities didn't do much to lower my opinion of him. I still think Gatsby is an excellent person, despite having some flaws.
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