Character tracking

Nick

Page #

Quote

Significance

   3

“‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’”

Nick is presenting himself a wise, objective, nonjudgmental person. He characterizes himself as both highly moral and highly tolerant.

15

“You make me feel uncivilized, Daisy,’ I confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. ‘Can’t you talk about crops or something?’ “

When Nick starts to interact with Daisy, Tom and Jordan, it is obvious that he clearly isn't like them. The fact that Nick is not entirely of new or old money makes it hard for him to find common group with either sides. He is set off as being more practical and down-to-earth than other characters.

65

“Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. “

Nick says honesty is his “cardinal virtue”.  It seems Nick is continuing to convince readers that he is a neutral guy that is honest and fair. This repetitive affirmation begins to worry readers and it starts to feel like Nick is trying his best to convince us of something that isn’t true. Throughout the novel, we aren’t really sure if Nick is truly being honest with us.

Gatsby

Page #

Quote

Significance

      4

“Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction”

Nick mentions that Gatsby will be the story’s hero. He adds that Gatsby exempted from his usual judgements of others. To him, Gatsby’s personality was “amazing” or even “perfect”

4

“Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short- winded elations of men.”

Nick sums up Gatsby before the readers even meet the character. The author is giving us information that will help us, as readers, better analyze Gatsby throughout reading the novel.

7

“It was Gatsby’s mansion.”

Gatsby was rich and lived in a mansion. He was Nick’s neighbor.

14

“You must know Gatsby.”

Gatsby seems to be quite a popular name. Jordan mentions that she knows him when she hears that Nick lives in West Egg.

43

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”

Nick describes watching endless parties going on in Gatsby's house every weekend. It seems that one of the reasons Gatsby is popular was for the extravagant parties he threw.

48-49

“It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world”

At Gatsby’s party rumors are circulating about the party’s host and Nick realizes most of them have never met the guy this goes to show what a mysterious man Jay Gatsby is. There is always gossip surrounding his name.

53

“He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.”

Nick examines Gatsby’s appearance after their first encounter. The description of Gatsby’s smile captures his charisma and charm. It also explains the way Jay Gatsby appears to other people. Nick goes on explaining how when Gatsby smiles at a person it feels as if he shows that person out of “the whole external world”.

53

“I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Sometime before he introduced himself, I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.”

Those were Nick’s observations of Jay Gatsby after having their first conversation. When Nick uses the word “roughneck” which is often used to describe men that do labor work, it shows that Nick is spectacle about how Gatsby found wealthy and how maybe he was a part of the working class before being wealthy. But when Nick uses the words “elegant young” followed by “roughneck” the sentence starts to contradict itself which could also be describing Gatsby’s contradicting personality. To add when Nick describes the was Gatsby talks and the words he uses with care, it indicates that Nick realizes Gatsby tries to put on a front to fit in with the high-class society.

Daisy

Page #

Quote

Significance

  8

“Daisy was my second cousin”

Daisy and Nick are related.

  11

  11

“she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh”

“‘I’m p-paralyzed with happiness. “

Daisy seems to be playful and outgoing. She would be the talking kind when it comes to social situations.

Those were Daisy’s first words in the book. She could have simply meant to indicate that she was pleased to see Nick but I think this quote goes deeper than that and its true meaning will make sense later on in the novel.

  11

“She hinted in a mur- mur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker.”

Daisy introduces Nick to Baker. Nick explains that Daisy’s murmur was an excuse for people to lean towards her. She has a charming and flirtatious personality.

  12

“there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget”

Nick is continuously describing the quality of Daisy’s voice. He emphasizes the effects that her voice has on others, and particularly on men. It captures the listener’s attention. This adds to her flirtatious and charming qualities that would lure men to her.

   20

“Well, I’ve had a very bad time, Nick, and I’m pretty cynical about everything”

Readers start to notice Daisy isn’t very happy in her current marriage. Her only joy seems to be her child. Yet, Daisy supports her husband and demonstrates love for him in favor of public opinion.

Tom

Page #

Quote

Significance

   8

“I’d known Tom in college”

Nick and Tom have knowns each other for quite some time.

   8

“had been one of the most powerful ends that ever-played football at New Haven”

Tom is athletic, he was a former college football player

    8

“His family were enormously wealthy”

Tom was born into a wealthy family

9

“Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.”

Nick is describing Tom’s personality now as well as his physical appearance.

It is evident by the description that Nick views Tom's physicality as brutal and cruel.

9

“There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked—and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.”

Tom Buchanan values his status and his possessions.

He seemed to talk down to people and acted better than everyone else which is why most people hated his guts as Nick said.

16

“Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved. “

By his description and comments regarding a book that discriminates non-whites, shows Tom thinks that his race (whites) are the “dominant race” and all other races are “inferior”. This shows Tom is a racist white supremacist.

   18

“Tom’s got some woman in New York”

We learn Tom is not loyal to his wife. Not only is he having an affair, but he is doing it openly and his wife is aware of it. It makes us wonder if Tom even finds interest in Daisy.

20

“Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling…”

We start to get more insight on Tom’s horrible personality. Not only is he a cheater but also a bad father. He wasn’t present for his only daughter’s birth and we wonder if he was just off with his lady friend in New York that day she was born.

27

“I want you to meet my girl. “

Tom is portrayed as an arrogant, deceitful man when we see him casually carrying on his affair with his mistress in front his wife’s cousin.

30

“Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive.”

Tom treats George disrespectfully and displays his arrogance by speaking in a condescending manner. He disrespects George to his face before partying with his wife in the city and calls him “dumb” for believing his wife’s lies.

41

“Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.”

Tom is protective of Daisy despite the fact that he is cheating on her. Towards the end of the party, Myrtle mentions Daisy's name, and Tom breaks her nose by violently slapping her in the face. We understand that he has a violent temper.

Myrtle

Page #

Quote

Significance

28-29

“She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering. “

This was Nick describing his first impression of Myrtle.  Nick's description of Myrtle focuses almost entirely on her body itself.

Physically, Myrtle Wilson is not an impressive person. She is a rather plain, and not particularly considered a beautiful woman. Nick sees little in Myrtle in terms of intellect or personality.

29

“She nodded and moved away from him just as George Wilson emerged with two chairs from his office door.”

Myrtle is also cheating on her husband with Tom. She is ignorant and is okay with Tom meet with her at her husband’s workplace.

34

“Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume sometime be- fore and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream-colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room. With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was con- verted into impressive hauteur. “

Although she is a part of the working-class, Myrtle is trying to play the role of lady of the manor, to impress her guests at the party. She puts on a wealthy woman act and changes into some expensive clothing which Tom probably bought her. Myrtle desperately wants to come off as sophisticated and wealthy despite her humble roots.

38

“I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.”

Myrtle Wilson is talking about her husband, George. She claims that he pretended to be a wealthy gentleman in order for her to marry him. She insists she married him based on a misunderstanding which is why she isn’t happy with him anymore. But it is obvious the real reason behind her lost feelings is the fact that he isn’t able to give her the luxurious and high-status life she’s dreaming of.

   41

“Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai—— “

We see Myrtle pushing her limits with Tom. It is obvious she is jealous of Daisy.

George

Page #

Quote

Significance

28

“He was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome.”

Nick physically describes George. His physical description takes just a couple of sentences while Myrtle has a paragraph-long introduction. A description is almost as plain as he.

29

“Get some chairs, why don’t you, so somebody can sit down”

George is easily bossed around by his wife which shows his weak personality.

30

“Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive.”

Tom is mocking Mr. Wilson for not knowing that Myrtle isn’t going to see her sister, but instead will spend the night with Tom. The trust of Mr. Wilson to his wife is something that is funny for Tom.

Jordan Baker

Page #

Quote

Significance

   11

“The younger of the two was a stranger to me.”

This was Nick’s first-time meeting Jordan.

14

“I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small- breasted girl, with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming discontented face. It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.”

When Jordan finally gets up from the couch she had been sitting on all evening, Nick observes and starts describing her in a subtle but sexual way which makes us wonder If he is starting to find interest in her.

18

"Sh!" 

“Don’t talk. I want to hear what happens.”

Jordan is more interested in in overhearing Tom and Daisy’s conversation about his mistress and talking to Nick. She seems to enjoy gossip and has somewhat of a stand-offish quality.

47

“She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she’d take care of me in a minute and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses who stopped at the foot of the steps.”

Jordan is a very social person and seems to know a lot of people so at the party she takes Nick along with her as she strolls around talking to people. Yet Nick continues to feel drawn towards her.

63-64

“Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever shrewd men and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. “

It seems that Jordan prefers to keep away from “clever, shrewd men” because she enjoys keeping a superior position. Nick also realizes that Jordan often tells lies and is dishonest towards people to maintain that superiority and advantage over them. It is evident Jordan is a little insecure.

Meyer Wolfsheim

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Quote

Significance