Character Analysis in The Great Gatsby

 

Nick

Nick is the character who connects all of the main characters in The Great Gatsby. In his own words, he is both ‘within and without’. He is the narrator but also a participant. Nick will always be an outsider and never fit in with the ‘elite’. This is because he has never had their lifestyle and, like Gatsby, wasn’t born into it so can never be. Nick first introduces himself as someone who is “Inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me, and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores”. However, it soon becomes apparent that he possesses no such quality and is very quick to judge.

Gatsby

At the beginning of the novel, we first hear about Gatsby from Jordan, who talks about his extravagant parties which attract anyone who is anybody. Although he is well known throughout New York, and the surrounding area no-one seems to know him on a personal level. His real motives are shrouded in secrecy with rumours flying that “he killed a man once” or “he was a German spy during the war”. However, by the end of the novel, we have found out that his spectacular life is completely fabricated and we see that he is extremely single-minded and that everything he has done in the past 5 years has been for Daisy- whether she knew it or not.

Daisy

At the start of the book Daisy is introduced as sophisticated but bubbly, and belonging to one of the most wealthy marriages in America. She often is connected to the colour white- signifying purity and innocence. An example of this is when she first meets Nick at her house for lunch and says “I’m p−paralyzed with happiness.” She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see.” But by the end of the book, we see that she is not the innocent character we first assumed her to be. Instead, she is a bored, shallow girl with a secret. She doesn’t seem to care about the fact that she killed Myrtle, nor the fact that she is letting Gatsby take the blame for all of this. Or the fact that she doesn’t attend Gatsby’s funeral- even though he died for her.

Illusions:

Nick:

Nick presents the illusion that he is non-judgemental even though of his main roles in the book is to reflect on/judge the actions and lives of others.

Gatsby:

Gatsby creates his illusion by letting everyone he meets know about his apparent past. To him, telling everyone he meets his story makes it more believable to him. As we delve deeper into the novel, we realise that Gatsby’s whole illusion he has created for himself has one purpose- to attract Daisy.

Daisy:

Daisy outwardly portrays an innocent lady living the perfect lifestyle, however, this is all just an illusion. She tries to pretend that Tom isn’t having an affair and is only open with Gatsby and Nick. It becomes apparent that she only cares about her status, wealth and lifestyle which she realises Gatsby can’t give her.

Relationships:

Daisy and Gatsby:

Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship was ultimately false due to the fact that Gatsby is stuck in the past. He can’t accept that Daisy did and still does love Tom and no-one can erase the 5 years since Gatsby last saw Daisy. Their relationship is also impossible because Daisy is only interested in Gatsby because she thinks he can also provide the life that she is used to with Tom. As soon as it is revealed that he got his money through shady business and that he came from nothing, Daisy is uninterested and realises that her life with Tom is what she wants.

Daisy and Nick:

Daisy and Nick’s relationship is false because although they seem to enjoy spending time together, Nick is just another person who Daisy has dragged into her life of first world problems. Nick will always be there for Dais however she belongs to the ‘elite’ a group that Nick will never be apart of so he will never truly be worthy of her time.

Nick and Gatsby:

Nick and Gatsby’s relationship is also false because Gatsby is just using Nick to get to Daisy. Although Gatsby’s advances seem friendly, he is just trying to get closer to Daisy even though he has no friends except Nick -who is forced to second guess the value of their friendship when he discovers Gatsby’s real motives.