Why I Hide My Past

I don’t like people knowing my real past. If people knew the real past, they probably would look down on me and think that I am a criminal or make fun of me. My real name is James Gatz and I grew up in North Dakota. When I went to college at St. Olaf’s, I had to pay my own tuition. There was only one way to do it, I did janitiorial work at the school. That was extremely humiliating! I absolutely hated it! It was so embarrassing that I decided to stop and drop out of school. I never want anyone to figure out that I worked as a janitor in school so that is why I hide it. One day I met Dan Cody and warned him about a storm. He was greatful and took me on board as an assistant on his yacht and gave me the name Jay Gatsby. Cody was a drinker and he was drunk a lot of the time. I was working for a drunk and often had to take care of him. That would be embarrassing if anyone found out so I just keep it to myself. I made my money by bootlegging and other illegal activities. I don’t want people to know because they will accuse me of being a criminal. Because people don’t know my real past, it creates a mystery for other people and that makes them want to find out more about me. If I lie about my past, hopefully Daisy will buy it and be interested in me.