1) What is the purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character? How does he affect the way we see Gatsby?
Meyer Wolfsheim is Gatsby's business partner who claimed to have "fixed the 1919 World's Series", hinting at Gatsby's possible illicit business dealings behind the scenes. This revelation gives the reader a more sinister outlook on Gatsby, and helps us partially shed our view of him thus far as a merely docile and slightly eccentric man.
2) What does the backstory about Jay and Daisy's past do to our impressions of Gatsby?
Gatsby's and Daisy's past relationship gives Gatsby a more human and less distant element. The reader can better relate to (and likes more easily) the Gatsby that has experience with what it feels like to be in love and pine for a relationship with another. It is not nearly as easy to relate to the more remote, businessman-type Gatsby, who presents an image of somewhat transparent sincerity and is far less "human".
3) What does the story of the rest of Gatsby past due to our impressions of him?
Gatsby's history as "James Gatz" lowers him further from the position of a distant and unknowable being to someone who is much more raw and knows the real-life struggles of accomplishing the American dream. We know Gatsby's motivations now; that 1), he wants to recreate his past with Daisy, and 2), he no longer wants to be the same poor James Gatz he was before. Knowing Gatsby's motivation for his actions gives him more purpose in the story as a whole and helps the audience feel more open with his character.
4) How does your overall impression of Gatsby change over these three chapters - do you like him more, less, and why?
I like him more. His "mysteries" are revealed to be little more than common human struggles, which made me find him more endearing and more relatable as a character.
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