Gatsby is much like other people where they want to hide the more intimate details about themselves. One way Gatsby does this is by the self that he lets the people around him see his talked-of self. this is used to hide the hidden identities that he has or his unexpressed self. The mask represents the persona that he shows the world such as that he is an oxford man. Also that his family was wealthy and that he got his money from them. The things behind the mask or the unexpressed self is his identity as a gangster. Tom helps show that he wants to hide it when he says, “I found out what your ‘drugstores’ were.” He turned to us and spoke rapidly. “He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drugstores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts. I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong” (Fitzgerald 7). When he says this you can Gatsby get a little nervous and shoot back at Tom by bringing up his friend Walter. When Gatsby talks about Walter he says, “He came to us dead broke. He was very glad to pick up some money, old sport” (Fitzgerald 7). He doesn’t want people to know how he got this wealth. His identity is divided though, with his identity as someone who came from a poor family being the most hidden. This is what he doesn’t want anyone to know and it’s the most true version of him and what he tries to hide with everything else. When Tom says, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife…” (Fitzgerald 7). This helps show the connection that Tom knows Gatsby is a underlclass person. Gatsby tries to hide his poor upbringing when he tells Nick where he got his money from, he says, “I’ll tell you God’s truth.” His right hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West—all dead now” (Fitzgerald 4).
