The Great Gatsby: Characters and Context
This page delves into the main characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and provides essential context about the novel and its setting. The character descriptions offer insight into their roles and significance within the narrative.
Nick Carraway
Nick Carraway serves as the first-person narrator of the novel. He is a 30-year-old World War I veteran who moves to West Egg on Long Island to work as a bond salesman. As Daisy Buchanan's distant cousin, Nick becomes the perfect observer and confidant for the unfolding drama.
Highlight: Nick's position as an outsider who becomes an insider makes him an ideal narrator, providing both proximity to and distance from the events he describes.
Jay Gatsby / James Gatz
The titular character, Jay Gatsby, is a wealthy young man with a mysterious past. A World War I veteran like Nick, Gatsby has amassed his fortune through questionable means, likely bootlegging. His defining characteristic is his unwavering love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he's trying to win back after their separation during the war.
Vocabulary: Bootlegger - A person who made, transported, or sold alcohol illegally during the Prohibition era.
Gatsby is surrounded by rumors and speculation about his past, including claims that he killed a man, was a German spy during the war, or grew up in Germany. This air of mystery contributes to his allure and the novel's intrigue.
Quote: "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us."
Daisy (Fay) Buchanan
Daisy is Tom's wife and the mother of a young girl. She is described as a beautiful but superficial young woman who lives her life according to others' expectations. Daisy strives to maintain the appearance of a perfect life, hiding her depression and the reality of her tense, broken relationship with Tom.
Example: Despite Tom's infidelity and mistreatment, Daisy chooses to stay with him, illustrating the societal pressures and limitations faced by women of her time.
Tom Buchanan
Tom is Daisy's husband, characterized as an aggressively self-confident man from "old money." A former football star at Yale, Tom is physically imposing and morally corrupt, engaging in an affair with Myrtle Wilson. His racist views and belief in his own superiority exemplify the worst aspects of the privileged class.
Definition: "Old money" refers to inherited wealth that has been in a family for several generations, often associated with established social status and influence.
The Roaring Twenties
The novel is set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, a period of significant social and economic change in the United States. This era was characterized by:
- Increased national wealth
- The rise of the automobile industry
- The popularity of Jazz music
- Prohibition and the subsequent rise of organized crime
- Women's suffrage and changing social norms
Highlight: The Roaring Twenties deutsch (Roaring Twenties in German context) also saw significant cultural and social changes in Germany, though with different political and economic circumstances than in the US.
Fitzgerald uses this setting to explore themes of excess, ambition, and the corruption of the American Dream, making "The Great Gatsby" a timeless critique of society and human nature.
