The Great Gatsby - Characters

Jay Gatsby
"For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand." (Chapter III, 49)

"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. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey." (Chapter III, 49)

"...signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand." (Chapter III, 43)

"Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes." (Chapter V, 83)

"If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay....You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock." (Chapter V, 90)

There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion. (Chapter V, 92)

The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God-a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that-and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. (Chapter VI, 95)

"Well, he told me once he was an Oxford man. A dim backround started to to take shape behind him, but at her next remark, it faded away. 'However, I don't belive it.' 'Why not?' 'I don't know,' she insisted, 'I just don't think he went there.(Chapter III, 50)

"He hurried the phrase 'educated at Oxford', or swallowed it, or choked on it, as thoughit had bothered him before"(Chapter IV, 64)

"I thought you knew, old sport. I'm afraid im not a very good host" (chapter 3, 49)

Headline text
Tom buchanan

Myrtle Wilson
Myrtle Wilson is Tom Buchanan's mistress and George Wilson's wife. Nick Caraway describes Myrtle as, "in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crêpe-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" (28). Myrtle Wilson is a significant character in The Great Gatsby because she contrasts Daisy Buchanan, Tom's wife. Myrtle is very outgoing, fun, sensual and full of life. She is also self-centered, stubborn, and does whatever she likes - similar to Tom. "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!' shouted Mrs Wilson. 'I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"(39) which is the complete opposite of Daisy. Daisy is dull, boring, lazy, fake and puts on an innocent act. Myrtle is often described wearing fun, bright dresses, paralleling her personality, where as Daisy is described wearing white, which shows her absence of colour and life. They are both childish but in different ways. Myrtle is childish in the way that she likes to have fun, and is very spirited. Daisy, however, is childish in the way that everything is like a game to her. She acts as if she is playing "house" and she does not want to accept the responsibility that being a wife and mother entails, in reality.

George Wilson
As a secondary character, George Wilson displays a sense of morality, tradition, and faith that the other characters do not. His modest nature motivates him to work hard and to earn what he has, as opposed to the blunt contrast of the West and East Egg inhabitants. He is a loving man who is willing to sacrifice anything for his wife and her happiness. In turn, this leads to him being gullible and oblivious.

Our initial introduction to George involves him being victimized by Tom Buchanan. Tom's cruelty highlights George's politeness and kindness; he does not stand up for what is right, nor does he defend himself. As the story progresses, we also see that George is belittled by his wife, who treats him as an insuperior. Moreover, he proves his timidness when he fails to take the leading role in his marriage, which crumbles after his discovery of his wife's affair.

The zenith of his character is displayed after his declaration of vengeance upon the suspected driver who murdered his wife. George, believing that the man in the car was Gatsby, decides to kill him with a gun. Immediately after, he commits suicide.

Important Quotations

" 'Oh, sure,' agreed Wilson hurriedly, and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls." (28)

"He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and faintly handsome." (28)

" 'He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive.' " (29)

" 'He borrowed somebody's best suit to get married in.' " (37)

" ' I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch,' he said. 'But I need money pretty bad, and I was wondering what you were going to do with your old car.' " (117)

"He was his wife's man and not his own." (130)

"I'm one of those trusting fellas and I don't think any harm to nobody." (151)

"He was almost sure that Wilson had no friend: there was not enough of him for his wife." (151)

" 'I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God.' " (152)

Jordan Baker
Jordan Baker is a haughty. And not in a good way. She is disdainfully proud, snobbish, scornfully arrogant, egotistic and fake. She acts as if she is superior to everyone around her. She portrays an innocent, professional, and trustworthy girl when in reality, she is a liar, a cheater, and a victim of society.

"The bored haughty face that she turned to the world concealed something - most affectations conceal something eventually, even though they don't in the beginning - and one day I found what it was" (58)

Meyer Wolfsheim
Meyer Wolfshiem is a 50 year old Jew he is a skeptical and shady man that was one of Gatsbys business partners and friends. He was the one who supposedly fixed the 1919 world series. He helped Gatsby make his fortune by bootlegging liquor. He was one of the few that felt remorse for Gatsbys death but refused to go to the funeral. He is deeply involved in organized crime and Fitzgerald intended the character to be like the 'roaring twenties'.

Quotations:

Did you start him in business' i inquired' 'start him, i made him (162)

"Up out of nothing, right up out of the gutter" (179) -Wolfshiem describing his business relations with Gatsby and how he got him started into the world of wealth.

"I cant get mixed up in it" (180) Wolfshiem refused to go to the funeral and this added to whole persona of Wolfsheim's mysterious ways.

Owl Eyes
Owl Eyes is described as a stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles. He is found by Nick and Jordan in Gatsby's library. He seems to be very nosy and enjoys getting involved in other people's business: " Absolutely real - have pages and everything. I thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they;re absolutely real. Pages and - Here! Lemme show you" (47). This quotation shows that he entered Gatsby's library without any permission and he is very judgmental because he wants to know more about Gatsby.