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Chelsey Swann
Mind Map by , created more than 1 year ago

AS - Level English literature (The Great Gatsby) Mind Map on The Great Gatsby - Characters, created by Chelsey Swann on 20/04/2016.

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Chelsey Swann
Created by Chelsey Swann over 8 years ago
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The Great Gatsby - CharactersDaisy BuchananJay GaysbyTom BuchananNick CarawayNick calls himself "one ofthe few honest people thatI have ever known"(3.170), but that doesn'tmean he's very nice. Nickmay be polite and easy toget along with on theoutside, but he's not afraidto tell it like it is. Nick stillseems to see himself as agood Midwestern boy withhigh standards for everyonehe meets, including himself,and prides himself onmaintaining his standards,even in the corrupt,fast-moving world of Eastcoast high society.Nick gradually gets suckedinto the world he'sobserving, both through hisfriendships with Tom, Daisy,and Gatsby, and through hisromantic relationship withJordan. The deeper he'sdrawn into theserelationships, the less honesthe becomes – until at theend, Jordan rebukes him forbeing just as dishonest andcareless as the rest of themNick realizes he's being drawn into adishonest lifestyle, and that's what makeshim scurry back West. Right after Jordancalls him a "bad driver," he tells her, "I'mthirty … I'm five years too old to lie tomyself and call it honor" (9.135). Butwhat is Nick lying about? That he lovesher? That he belongs in this world? ThatTom and Daisy are living acceptablelives? It's not entirely clear. What is clearis that this crazy summer has jolted Nickback into real life. He's not cut out for aworld of moral ambiguity.As a rural farm boy growing up in NorthDakota without connections, money, oreducation, Jimmy Gatz had a plan: he wasgoing to escape his circumstances andmake a name for himself. And, luckily, hisdad has saved his plan.James Gatz believed in the American Dream. Hebelieved that you really could work your way upthrough hard work, resolve, and self-control—justlike another young, impoverished boy who madeschedules: Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin'sautobiography contains a suspiciously similar dailyagenda. And notice that young James—like Mr.Franklin—was interested in electricity andinventions? The problem, as Gatsby (no longerGatz) learns, is that it doesn't actually work thatway. The American Dream is just that—a dream. Allthat hard work and discipline only earned himill-gotten gains, and it set him on the path tountimely death.Jimmy Gatz died the moment he rowedup to Dan Cody's boat. A new man wasborn – Jay Gatsby. Like Nick, we'reskeptical of him at first. When we meethim, Jay Gatsby is a man with a lot ofmoney, a lot of acquaintances, and veryfew friends; the rumors that circulatearound him make him out to be somekind of mysterious superhero orsupervillain.Daisy's voice makes her sounduntouchable. Nick thinks of it as "full ofmoney," and that it sounds like it belongsto someone who lives "high in a whitepalace, the king's daughter, the golden girl[…]" (7.99). You know, the prom queen, thesorority president, the pageant winner:exactly the kind of girl that neither Gatsbynor Nick would ever have a chance with.But Tom does. And Daisy may marry himat first because she feels like she has to,but she does end up falling in love withhim. (Or at least lust.) Jordan clues us in: Ifhe left the room for a minute she'd lookaround uneasily, and say: "Where's Tomgone?" and wear the most abstractedexpression until she saw him coming in thedoor. She used to sit on the sand with hishead in her lap by the hour, rubbing herfingers over his eyes and looking at himwith unfathomable delight. (4.143)One of the things Gatsby and Daisy share isan idealized image of their relationship, arose-colored view makes everything in thepresent seem dull and flat in comparison.She longs for the innocent period of her"white girlhood," before she wasforced/forced herself into her marriage toTom.Daisy may be a married woman with a child, but she doesn'tseem like she's managed to grow up very much. She can't livewith the consequences of her actions, trying to (drunkenly)change her mind on the night before her wedding (4.120), andthen being unable to make up her mind between Tom andGatsby: "I did love him once," she says, "but I loved you too"(7.266).He's a: sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouthand a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes hadestablished dominance over his face, and gave him the appearanceof always leaning aggressively forward … you could see a great packof muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. Itwas a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body. (1) ButNick is also fascinated with Tom. He probably can't help it; likeDaisy, Tom is a fascinating kind of guy. Like Daisy, he's gotsomething that everyone else wants: he's got power.Tom's family is rich. Really rich. Not well-to-do like Nick's family, and not nouveau riche like Gatsby,but staggeringly wealthy, with money going way back. (Or as far back as any money in Americagoes, anyway.) And he does extravagant, crazy things with it, like bringing "a string of polo poniesfor Lake Forest" (1).In his own way, Tom is just as flashy asGatsby. But everyone somehow knows thatGatsby's a newcomer. Tom, on the otherhand, has something you can't buy. You mightcall it "breeding," but that sounds weird and alittle racist, or even eugenicist. So, we're goingto call it "arrogance": the absolute convictionthat, thanks to money and family, he wasborn to inhabit a certain world; to marry acertain type of woman; and to receivehomage from, well, pretty much every otherman he encounters.Jordan BakerJordan is a golfer—a professional golfer.Already, we know she's different from Daisy.Where Daisy is always fluttering and babblingand giggling and basically acting like a dumbgirl (her words, not ours), Jordan is hard,direct, and cynical. And she's bored to tears.We don't know much about her family, exceptthat she has "one aunt about a thousandyears old" (1.137), but we know that she andDaisy spent their "white girlhoods" together(1.140). Given the looks that Daisy and Tomgive each other, we suspect that she might notbe so "white" (as in, pure) anymore.George WilsonMyrtle WilsonWilson is hard-working and not cheatingon his spouse. He's in a marriage with awoman who doesn't love or respect him,who walks through him as though he's aghost; and meanwhile he just does whatshe says: "'Oh, sure,' agreed Wilsonhurriedly" (2.15)Myrtle and Gatsby have one thing in common: they'reboth trying to rise above their station. Like Gatsby,Myrtle isn't happy with the class she was born to. Sheinsists that she married beneath her, and she tries totalk about the "lower orders" as though she's not oneof them: "I told that boy about the ice." Myrtle raisedher eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of thelower orders. "These people! You have to keep afterthem all the time" (2.69). So, what makes Gatsby andMyrtle different? Gatsby is a tragic hero, while Myrtle,in Fitzgerald's portrait, is a ridiculous fool. Is it thatGatsby strives out of love, while Myrtle does it out ofgreed? Or is it simply because Gatsby is a man—andMyrtle had the tragedy of being born a womanAfter Myrtle's death, Wilson is in serious emotionalpain. He cries out "Oh, my God" over and over—butbecause his wife is dead? Because he just found outshe was having an affair? Or because he feels guiltyfor making her run out into the street? The otherthing to note about Wilson is that he's the onlycharacter who talks about God. He tells Myrtle thatshe "can't fool God," that "God sees everything"(8.105).Double click this nodeto edit the textClick and drag this buttonto create a new node