Character Analysis Of Jordan Baker In The Great Gatsby

The characterization of Jordan Baker as a bored, shallow woman is introduced through the use of description, word-choice, and sentence structure, and accurately represents the rest of the people Nick meets throughout the novel who fake their lives and use the cover of wealth to distract from their inner turmoil.
Fitzgerald’s word choice when describing Jordan is seemingly repetitive, as Nick describes her mannerisms as being “motionless,” “discontented,” “unobtrusive,” “impersonal,” “devoid of meaning,” “dull,” and “languid” (Fitzgerald 8-15), painting a clear image of her tired, bland personality. She participates in the conversation between her, Nick, Tom, and Daisy during dinner, but her dialogue contains short, simple sentences such as “we ought to plan something” and “things went from bad to worse” that are concise, usually muttered or yawned, and generally don’t contain very important information. In fact, the only

time an exclamation point is used for Miss Baker is when she first speaks one word, “absolutely!”, and it “evidently surprised her as much as it did (Nick), for she yawned and with a series of rapid, deft movements stood up into the room” (Fitzgerald 10).
This fatigued characterization of Jordan continues throughout the course of the first chapter, and it is especially indicated when in comparison to Daisy.

When first introduced, Daisy is described as having “bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth...a singing compulsion...a promise that she had done, gay exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour” (Fitzgerald 9). Through her face, eyes, and mouth, she is perceived to be flowing with energy. Miss Baker, however, as previously mentioned, is described as being opposingly uninterested and spiritless. Unlike Daisy’s bright eyes, Jordan’s are “gray” and “sun-strained” and at dinner she “sits down at the table as if she were getting into bed” (Fitzgerald 11). Fitzgerald cleverly creates Jordan as a foil to Daisy. Every action of Daisy’s is bright and energetic, while all of Jordan’s statements and movements seem to be lifeless and languid, and Carraway, while uninterested in Jordan, is entranced by Daisy’s compelling voice and glowing

face.
Miss Baker, in addition to her boredom, acts self-centered with a sense of superiority. When first meeting her, Nick uses the simile that Jordan “had her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall” to indicate a sense of snobbiness, and as he walked into the room he thinks, “If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it—indeed, I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in” (Fitzgerald 8). She seems oblivious to people outside her own daily life and social realm, and as Nick is neither rich or high in standards, he is of little importance to her. What is of utmost importance, is herself. She casually mentions not being able to drink and having to go to bed early for her golf tournament without a full explanation, as if she is well-known enough that Nick should know what she is referring to. She acts, like most of the women around her, with sophistication and wealth. Nick notices her and Daisy’s elegant, white gowns and astounding beauty, yet she seems to have a shallow personality filled with little meaning, which is why she is described as being bored and uninterested. This combination of imperiosity and fatigue seems to be true for the majority of people Nick meets once he moves to West Egg, and Fitzgerald uses Jordan as yet another example of the shallow, elite upper-class who fake their appearances with spontaneity and glamour in order to hide their inner emptiness.