In the novel The Great Gatsby by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker portrays a professional golfer who is both Daisy Buchanan’s friend and a woman with whom Nick Carraway, the narrator, becomes romantically involved with. She is poised, blonde, very athletic, and physically appealing. Throughout the story, Baker represents a typical privileged upper class woman of the 1920’s Jazz Age with her cynical, glamorous, and self-centered nature. Despite the fact that she is not the main character, Jordan Baker plays an important role in portraying one of Fitzgerald's themes, the decay of morality, in the novel. When the audience is first introduced to Jordan Baker, it is during a warm evening when Nick Carraway drives to the East This is conveyed to the reader when Baker is recognized by two girls at one of Gatsby’s parties that she attends with Nick Carraway and they proclaim “You don’t know who we are, but we met you here about a month ago” (Fitzgerald 43). Baker also declares her love for parties as she comments “And I like large parties, They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy” (Fitzgerald 49). As the Gatsby era was during the time of Prohibition, the period of time that alcohol was made illegal, the alcohol at these parties was bootleg liquor. Therefore, Baker was presumably drinking Gatsby’s bootleg liquor and frequently breaking the law, only adding to her depleting morals throughout the novel and leading to the ultimate corruption of her This behavior is shown multiple times throughout the novel, including the evening that Nick joins the Buchanan’s and Baker for dinner and she explains to him that “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald 15). This statement showed Baker’s willingness to not only gossip, but even more, to gossip about her own best friend. Baker is seen gossiping about Daisy again later in the novel when she explains Daisy’s past with Gatsby to Nick, and then describes how Daisy got drunk before her wedding to Tom and told Jordan “Tell ‘em all Daisy’s change’ her mine” (Fitzgerald 76). The act of Baker’s frequent gossiping demonstrates that she is willing to talk about others, even those closest to her, regardless of the validity of the statements. Therefore, Baker has no concept of being loyal to individuals other than herself, which leads to the self-absorbed behavior resulting from the moral decay of the 1920s. On the outside, Jordan Baker appears to be just another beautiful socialite portrayed in the novel The Great Gatsby. However, after close examination it is clear that she serves a deeper purpose in the plot of the story- to represent the decaying morals that were prevalent throughout the 1920s era. Baker achieves this purpose through consistently lying, attending wild parties where she drinks bootleg liquor, and gossiping about others. With the incorporation of Jordan Baker in the novel, Fitzgerald
Nick enjoyed going out in public with Jordan since she was a famous athlete. Yet Nick finally realizes she is not in love with her due to her dishonesty. Jordan is egocentric of her reputation as seen in her cheating scandal when she used her superiority to display her win as a fait accompli, even though she evidently cheated. Thus, Jordan lies to get away from her problems and keep her reputation spotless. Fitzgerald juxtaposes Nick with Jordan, “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and...in order to keep that cool smile, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body...Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply--I was casually sorry, and then I forgot...I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 58-59). Even if Nick is fastidious about Jordan and her imperfections, he is still fond of her due to her physical attributes. Nick was intrigued about her physical appearance, being with her due to her reputation, and hedonistically attracted towards her. On the other hand, Nick has evidently proven he has moral values such as honesty. Nick has been honest throughout the novel and evidently he has a sense of self-worth since he has never doubted himself for his opinions or his actions. Throughout the novel, Nick has evidently displayed personal integrity and a sense of right or wrong unlike the
Nick Carroway was a great narrator for The Great Gatsby because he was so unbiased and open-minded to the world. He was tolerant and an attentive listener to whoever was speaking. He represented a quiet, tolerant, and reflective man from the Midwest during the 1920’s. "I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one, and yet to avoid all eyes." (15), this quote expresses Tom’s quiet feature and how he wants to avoid all unnecessary attention. Jordan Baker is a prime example for the changes that women are going through during the 1920’s. She embraces a carefree lifestyle and expresses herself as a young woman that is just trying to have fun. Daisy represented complete perfection in a woman and constant success that she strived for. She was charming, sophisticated, and graceful. “Her face was sad and lovely…bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth” (9). She was completely beautiful and lovely in so many ways. All she ever dreamed of was wealth and that is what Jay Gatsby had. Gatsby even made the comment about her that “her voice was full of money” (120). George represents a hard-working, God fearing man that doesn’t have many flaws. He seems to be very loyal to his wife and undeserving of her actions with Tom. Gatsby represents wealth, success, and the American Dream. He had a huge house, many servants that helped him, and an abundance of money. Nick compared his house to Gatsby’s, “My own house was an eyesore…so I had the view of the water…and the consoling proximity of millionaires” (5). Tom displayed power and had money to back up his opinions and mistakes. He had very much authority in the way he talked to people. Myrtle was a good example for showing the unhappiness in many women during this time. It portrayed u...
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). The Great Gatsby, a novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s creation, tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a poor midwestern farm boy turned rich entrepreneur through the illegal bootlegging business. He attempts to recapture the long-lost love of his life, Daisy Faye (now Buchanan through marriage), by throwing marvelous parties every weekend. Nick Carraway, Daisy’s second cousin, Gatsby’s neighbor, and the narrator of the novel, gives the reader a mostly accurate depiction of Gatsby and Daisy’s love affair that ends in the tragic murders of Myrtle Wilson and Gatsby, as well as the suicide of George Wilson, the garage owner and Myrtle’s husband. Gatsby’s mansion attracts socialites and is full of emotional infatuation with no conscience or presence of God; while Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes follow Wilson’s garage, full of dirt, love, and lies.
Jordan Baker tells Nick the heartbreaking story of Daisy and Gatsby 's young love that was forbidden by her parents due to the difference of their social classes. Daisy was not allowed to be with him because he was not wealthy enough to properly provide nor was being a soldier a suitable career title; however, Gatsby would not let this stop him from having the one girl that he truly loved. Later in the chapter, Jordan explains all of Gatsby 's bold yet vain attempts to win back his loved one. Jordan tells Nick that he "half expected her to wander into one of the parties, some night" (79). He aimed to use his fortune as a way to win back Daisy by throwing the most extravagant of all parties to get her attention. She also tells Nick that Gatsby does not want Jordan to arrange a meeting between both him and Daisy because "he wants her to see his house" (79). Even though his love for Daisy is unbearable, at the end of the day, he focuses more on his wealth to win her over. Gatsby "had waited five years and bought a mansion" (78) across the bay from her and her husband in hope that she would recognize his endeavor and all of the money he had obtained and come back to be with him for that sole purpose. In his mind, if Daisy knows how much he is worth, she will have no reason to reject him a second
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald analyzes three main characters, Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Nick Carraway. The Great Gatsby is a story about finding out who people really are and how far they will go to protect their secrets from spilling to everyone. The Great Gatsby is like a story of our time, we have the rich and the poor towns, we have people who cheat on their spouses, and lastly, we have racism towards different cultures and races (Schreier). Many ironic events take place throughout the book. For example, Gatsby and Nick become friends, Tom and Myrtle being secret lovers, also, Daisy and Gatsby carrying on an affair, and lastly Daisy running over Myrtle in Gatsby’s car (Coleman). Fitzgerald purposely wrote the book to tell about lovers that were not supposed to be together and how they overcame that and fell in love with one another (Shain). He also wrote the book to relate to American society (Tolmatchoff).
Jordan Baker also alludes to these contrasting properties between Carraway and Gatsby. Baker in comparison to Daisy Buchanan is boyish and athletic in a sense, at least much more so than Mrs. Buchanan. While Daisy was considered rich by societal standards, she was essentially being paired with Tom Buchanan’s money, whereas Jordan Baker was wealthy through her own hard work and professional golfing career.
The lavish parties in Gatsby are perfect illustrations of our social lives that have become overzealous and desperate in light of the controversial prohibition laws. Fitzgerald describes the “floating rounds of cocktails permeat[ing] the garden” and “amusement park” behavior of typical partygoers with unmatchable insight (40). The debonair host, Gatsby, is a man we have all met at some point—significantly wealthy and relentlessly mysterious.
According to Baker, “After settling comfortably into his new surroundings, Nick drives to East Egg to have dinner with Tom and Daisy Buchanan and thereby becomes innocently yet inextricably involved in events that culminate in tragedy” (Baker). Nick had moved into his new house, then meets with Daisy and Tom and gets drug into their mess.
In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the role of the female characters Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle find themselves in conflict with society’s expectations of them. However, they each negotiate the conflict and resolve it. By examining Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle’s roles, one can contemplate how they went about resolving the issue.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses tone, diction, syntax and imagery to voice Nick's perception of the world around him. In this passage his use of language is used repetitively to convey Jordan Baker, Daisy and Tom Buchanan's lives. On the outside it may look like they all are living a perfect and ideal life, however Fitzgerald's illuminating use of language highlights how far from perfect their lives truly are.
In The Great Gatsby, the author uses the role of reckless driving to show carelessness and destructiveness of Jordan Baker’s character. Professional golfer, Jordan Baker
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is his statement of lifestyle in America in the 20’s. The author develops unlikable characters like Tom Buchanan an Old Money racist and Daisy a vapid spoilt individual to show the greediness and wealth in the 20’s. Overall, the worst character in this novel is Daisy Buchanan because she is careless, insensitive, and disloyal.
The first individual that Fitzgerald utilizes as an example of being deceitful is Tom Buchanan. Readers see an indication of his untruthfulness from the beginning of the narration when Nick is spoken to by Jordan Baker about Tom having an affair with another woman, “Why–…Tom’s got another woman in New York” (Fitzgerald, 19). This information is later established as Nick and Tom journey to New York but stop by the Valley of Ashes due to Tom’s insistence, “We’re getting off here...I want you to meet my girl” (Fitzgerald, 28). During the party in New York readers learn that to keep Myrtle as his mistress Tom elaborates a lie about Daisy’s religion from Catherine, “It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic and they don’t believe in divorce” (Fitzgerald, 38). Even though Daisy may suspect or has been informed by others, Tom does not tell Daisy about his affair or the reason behind it. When Gatsby confronts him about his affair with Daisy however, he says, “The trouble is sometimes she gets foolish ideas in her head and doesn’t kno...
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.
Daisy was Nick’s second cousin once removed, and Tom Buchanan was Daisy’s hulking brute of a husband and classmate of Nick’s from college. Jordan Baker, a prominent tennis player of the time, was staying with Daisy and Tom. As they sat down and chatted, it was Jordan who mentioned Gatsby, saying that she had been to one of his extravagant parties that he held every weekend. The four sat down to dinner when Tom received a phone call, which Daisy suspected to be from Tom’s mistress. Afterwards, Daisy and Nick talked and Jordan and Tom went out to walk about the grounds. Daisy talked about her little daughter and how when she was born Tom was not even there and she had wished out loud that she would be a fool, for that was the only way she could ever be happy. The four met again at the house and then Jordan went to bed and Nick went home.