Main Character Analysis of "The Great Gatsby"
Uploaded by alaskadude2001 on Jun 26, 2006 |
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Main Character Analysis of "The Great Gatsby"
Nick Carraway
The book’s narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a close friend for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg, a place home to the newly rich, Nick quickly becomes friends his next-door neighbor, the mysterious Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick's eyes; his thoughts and observations shape and color the story.
Jay Gatsby
The title character of the book, Gatsby is a wealthy young man living in a West Egg mansion. He is famous for the parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he got his money. As the book continues, Nick learns that Gatsby made his fortune through criminal activity, as he was willing to do anything to gain the social position that he thought was needed to win back Daisy. When he met Daisy while training to be an officer in Louisville, he fell in love with her. Nick also learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz on a farm in North Dakota.
Daisy Buchanan
Daisy is Nick's cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. On the other hand, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy decided not to wait for Gatsby after all. Now a beautiful socialite, Daisy lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the East Egg district of Long Island. |
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