Character Analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1018 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Writing style of great gatsby

1. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... and was cheating on him with Tom. Although, Myrtle did state her reasoning for being with George: "I married him because I thought he was a gentleman" (34). That was her main reason for being with George and also that she assumed he would be good at breeding. Whenever Myrtle saw Tom she grew jealous if any other woman was with him. “Her expression was curiously familiar…until I realized that her eyes…were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife.” (125). The way Myrtle looked at Jordan was obviously a display of jealousy. They both worked very hard to persuade their lovers to desert their spouses and go to them. However, neither of their plans worked because they both were killed by the spouses that were being betrayed. Gatsby and Myrtle were both determined to sway their lovers away from their spouses but in the end they didn’t succeed.

Show More
Related

  • Chapter Analysis: The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes the power of love does not always lead to a happy ending. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the story of a tragic love story on American life. Two lovers are joined together after five years knowing that one of them is married and has a child. As uncontrollable conflicts occur, these lovers are separated and forced to leave behind their past and accept failure.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Great Literary Characters In The Great Gatsby

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    Great literary characters are immortalized and perpetually discussed not because they are individually so grand and majestic, but because they exist as more than themselves. A great literary character truly exists in the external and symbolic associations that the author and audience apply. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals social and emotional elements of his character Daisy Buchanan through the symbols of white dresses and a pearl necklaces in order to convey a message concerning detrimental class values, a theme that can be better understood by comparing Daisy to a diamond.

    Read More

  • Daisy And Myrtle In The Great Gatsby

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Daisy knows very well that tom is cheating on her, but doesn’t care because it's more convenient to stay in her unhappy marriage. Even though she wants to be with Gatsby, she wants to keep her social status and being with Tom makes this all the easier. Now, this is quite the opposite of Myrtle. She has a loving husband who would do anything for her, but her social status is all she cares about. Myrtle is willing to hurt George and ruin their marriage in order to climb up the social ladder. Neither of these women have respect for themselves. Both Daisy and Myrtle allow Tom to treat them

    Read More

  • Essay On Same Goal, Different Route In The Great Gatsby

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    Myrtle eventually had similar goals as Gatsby, but her life did not begin the same way.  She was of the lower class of society and married a simple man.  The two pursued a poor life, but Myrtle’s husband George was a decent man.  Nevertheless, Myrtle became unsatisfied, and when the opportunity arose to better the quality of her life, she took it.  Daisy’s husband Tom, an unfaithful, rough man not very committed to his marriage, began an affair with Myrtle.

    Read More

  • The Nature of Man in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the nature of man, and that, though characters may live complete opposite lives and be from different upbringings, even the most contrasting of people can have similarities. In the novel, the readers are introduced to two characters named Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Tom Buchanan is introduced as an arrogant, wealthy east egg man who has never had to work for his money. George Wilson is introduced as a poor man, living in the Valley of Ashes, who owns an auto shop as a living. Although these men are in different social classes, if you were to strip these men of their wealth, they would have more similarities than differences. Fitzgerald shows through his writing that the nature of man is aggressive, contentious, and cowardly.

    Read More

  • The Human Conditions in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1974 Words  | 4 Pages

    For most people, a certain colour may represent something meaningful to them. While in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the colours used in the novel are meant to represent something. The novel’s setting is in East and West Egg, two places in New York. Our narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg. Along with living in West Egg is a friend of Nick’s, Jay Gatsby; a character that is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, Daisy is married to Tom. As the plot unravels, the reader notices the connection between certain colours and their importance to the novel. The use of colours within The Great Gatsby symbolizes actual themes, as grey symbolizes corruption, blue symbolizes reality, and green symbolizes jealousy and envy.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes and Stereotyping of Characters of The Great Gatsby

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nts of conversation with Nick, the characters remain on the levels of small talk and public knowledge.  The only insight given to their lives is that they can easily be defined by a stereotype.  Daisy is the Southern Belle/Easterner: rich, proper, and reckless.  Gatsby is a Western Pioneer: continuously working toward his dreams.  Tom is the Rich Easterner Jock: large, hypocritical, and ignorant.  Fitzgerald used these common 1920's stereotypes to create the one-dimensional characters in this very multi-dimensional story, The Great Gatsby.

    Read More

  • Dominant Characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    Authors in all stretches of literature develop characters in order to give the reader greater depth into the plot and into the nature of conflict that is occurring. Often times, there are characters that are viewed as dominant within the novel, and seem to feed off of those around them. These very characters are essential to the development of the plot line, as they generally serve as a foil to the main character, although often times, this foil is hidden until the end of the book. Francis Scott Fitzgerald does this exceptionally well, as he does a wonderful job of developing characters into this foil role throughout the book. This is seen most obviously in the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanon, and Fitzgerald describes the extent of their thoughtlessness at the end of the book by writing, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (Fitzgerald 179). In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he describes Tom and Daisy Buchanon as careless due to their manipulation and use of other characters, including Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and even each other, to result in negative outcomes for those affected.

    Read More

  • The Complex Themes Hidden in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1703 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The great Gatsby” is an inspiring novel written by the famous American author Scott Fitzgerald. The novel was published in 1925. It is regarded as Scott’s supreme achievement and also as a masterwork in American literature, and it’s entirely justified.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Minor Character Analysis

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a motif of “unrequited desire” runs deep through the novel, and while the main characters exemplify this theme, the fact that the minor characters also demonstrates this unreturned respect suggests that the motif runs deep in the novel. These minor characters include the girls in yellow at Gatsby’s parties, who fail to gain the recognition they desire from the wealthy. Also through the different minor characters and especially the McKees, Fitzgerald illustrates different methods that the minor characters attempt, yet fail, to gain acknowledgment. Besides the behaviours of the characters, the time of appearance for the characters also becomes significant, as Catherine, who fails to achieve recognition

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Wealth, Power, and Pleasure in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

    Read More

  • Jay Gatsby Character Analysis

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    What would you do if you were one of the richest people in the world, and you could do anything that you wanted? Jay Gatsby is in the fortunate position of being one of these people. Gatsby uses his wealth and resources to throw extravagant parties and to own every top of the line product imaginable. Even though all of these luxuries appear to be for himself, in reality he does all of this for the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. This dynamic creates a change in Gatsby’s character from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. Jay Gatsby is a character who evolved from an elegant, conservative, and mysterious person in the beginning of the story to a corrupt, obsessed, and irrational person by the end of the story.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby: Unfaithfulness And Greed

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    Tom wanted the "possession" of Myrtle, Myrtle wanted Tom's "luxuries and wealth," and Daisy wanted Gatsby simply for his wealth. Both Tom and Daisy know each other's affairs, but neither one truly cares. As the story progresses, it seems as though each of them is trying to make the other jealous.      Honesty and Love, two words known only by the faithful, George Wilson. George certainly had his flaws, but he loved his wife dearly and couldn't live without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of Tom and Myrtle's affair, he was "really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over." He locked her up in fear that she would run away with Tom forever.

    Read More

  • Emergence of Women in the Great Gatsby

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1920’s, the role women had under men was making a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920’s. The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and the society. Things like this upset people, especially the men. The men were upset because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over the female society.

    Read More

  • The Results of Keeping Secrets in the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a novel set in The Roaring Twenties, portraying a flamboyant and immortal society of the ‘20s where the economy booms, and prohibition leads to organized crimes. Readers follow the journey about a young man named Jay Gatsby, an extravagant mysterious neighbor of the narrator, Nick Carraway. As the novel evolves, Nick narrates his discoveries of Gatsby’s past and his love for Daisy, Nick’s married cousin to readers. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald develops the theme of the conflict which results from keeping secrets instead of telling the truth using the three characters – Tom Buchanan, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby (James Gats).

    Read More

More about Character Analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Open Document