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What does this quote from The Great Gatsby mean? " Yes...Well, can't talk now...I can't talk now, old sport...I said a small town ...He must know...

When Gatsby brings Nick and Daisy to his house for a tour just after he and Daisy have reunited in chapter five, a phone call interrupts them. Gatsby takes the call and tries to end the conversation quickly. Just prior to this scene, Gatsby had been evasive with Nick while explaining the source of his astonishing wealth. What the reader is able to infer from the call is that Gatsby is involved in business that he wants to conduct "under the radar" of the law. "I said a small town" implies that Gatsby does not want a lot of public attention paid to whatever he is doing, and that he does not want to attract the attention of sophisticated metropolitan police, federal authorities, or perhaps competitors. He is speaking to an associate about a third associate who he clearly thinks needs to be cut out of their business dealings.

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