George Wilson and his wife Myrtle, whom Tom is having and affair with, are arguing as well. Myrtle runs out of the house and she is hit by the Gatsby’s car that is driven by Daisy. She is killed instantly. Tom arrives to the place of the accident immediately after it and he sees the yellow car of Gatsby leaving and his love Myrtle being killed. Later on, Tom tells Wilson that Gatsby is responsible for his wife’s death. Wilson then goes to the Gatsby’s house, he kills Gatsby and he shoots himself. Nick, being Gatsby’s friend, makes the funeral arrangements. He realizes that although there were crowds of people visiting Gatsby’s parties, there are only three of them that go to the funeral. Saddened by Gatsby’s death, changed forever because of the human’s behavior, Nick moves back to the Midwest to start a new life.
From my point of view, the plot of this book is built on the similarities and differences between the characters. According to this fact, I would like to focus on the characters.
Nick Carraway: Nick is thought to be very honest and harmless person by everybody. This is the reason why he is confided in and trusted by everyone. However, he feels himself to be superior. In the first chapter he says that he does not want and he does not judge people, but throughout the story he judges everybody.
Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel. He is the narrator of the story. It is through his eyes and his ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. However, question is if he is the voice of the author. The “yes” answer is supported by the fact that the fictional world resembles a lot the world that Fitzgerald experienced himself. It is interesting that Nick Carraway is not only the narrator, but the active participant of the story as well. Actually, we do not learn a lot about Nick at all. Nick shows the only affection towards Gatsby. Nick admires his optimism. He likes his capacity of dream and ability to live as if the dream should come true.
Jay Gatsby: He is the protagonist of the novel. Gatsby is a very determined character. He feels such a strong love to Daisy! When he finds out that Daisy is married to someone else, his efforts to win her back become very strong. This is what gives him the motivation to earn all his money and he finds the easiest and the quickest way, although it is illegal. Gatsby decides to devote his whole life to achieving the material goods with which he wants to satisfy Daisy. He lives in the past, in the moment of the absolute happiness.
F.S.Fitzgerald published this book in1925 and he used the actual time in it - the Roaring Twenties. It helps to create Gatsby’s character. Gatsby’s participation in the bootlegging business, the extravagant parties he throws, and the careless lifestyle of the Buchanans, this all helps to create the characters. Not only Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s sense of what is true and real is of entirely other order than Nick’s. If he were motivated by truth, Gatsby would still be poor Jay Gatz with a hopeless dream.
Daisy Buchanan: Daisy is a very material person. She absolutely needs to have money and to spend them. Daisy focuses on the outward rather than the inward. She did not marry Gatsby in the past because of the money, but now, when he is very rich, she seems to be enchanted. However, it is due to the money. Throughout the whole book, there is not even a sentence which would tell us about her hobbies or about what she does all the time. Daisy is described only as an attractive, frivolous woman who does not do anything at all (expect of visiting parties).
Tom Buchanan: He is a very immoral character. He does not worry about anything but himself. In his spitefulness he ruins people’s lives. The Daisy’s life, Gatsby’s one, the life of Myrtle and her husband George Wilson. Tom Buchanan cares only about getting what he wants. He is not interested in those people whom he takes down.
Jordan Baker: Jordan is a smaller character in the story, but she makes a big impact. She introduces Nick to Gatsby. There is an unclear relationship between Jordan and Nick shown in the story.
Jordan goes through the life very carelessly. She seems not to be worried of anything. However, she becomes a hypocrite when saying: “I hate careless people.”
Myrtle Wilson: Myrtle is married to George, but she has the relationship with Tom. She, as Daisy, loves money. Myrtle lets Tom push her around and treat her horribly. Myrtle has no self-respect. She does not mind being used, or if she does, she is too caught up in the situation to realize it.
George Wilson: George is a poor man who runs a gas station and lives in the poorest part of New York. When his wife is killed, he becomes very depressed and he takes it out by killing Gatsby and himself. George is the character with a very unfortunate situation. He was a very hard working and devoted husband. George does not show us any of his emotions through the whole story and at the end his feelings explode.
Now I would like to continue with just a brief mentioning of several aspects that seem to be interesting to me.
The first one is the symbol of heat. As the plot moves to the end, the heat grows up. It seems to me that the behavior of the characters is influenced by the weather in the book. In one of the most important scenes, when Gatsby and Daisy reveal their love, all the characters that are presented in this scene mention the weather somehow.
Another important role is played by a coincidence. Nick Carraway moves to the house that is next to the Gatsby’s. Gatsby is in love with Nick’s cousin. Tom’s lover Myrtle is, by coincidence of course, killed by Tom’s wife. And for the plot it is necessary to let Daisy drive the Gatsby’s car. So by the coincidence, Gatsby seems to be the killer of Myrtle to George Wilson.
This book also shows us how people can be disloyal. It shows us how they can take advantage of someone just only because he or she (Gatsby in this case) is rich. It shows us how they can forget about everything by the moment when the person is no more interesting for them. On the other hand, Gatsby’s character is not only positive. What was his reason for inviting so many unknown people to his parties? A friendship? Of course not! Gatsby hoped to see Daisy there. He hoped to meet her there by chance. The visitors of the parties pretended to be friends of Gatsby as well as he pretended the same. And in the moment of his death, there was no need to pretend anymore. The real human nature started to be seen.
I would like to finish with the question. Is Gatsby great? It is not easy to find the answer. In some ways he is. You must admire a man who lives his whole life devoting it to his passion. However, some things in his life are foolish. Did Gatsby like his life? Was he happy when doing everything just because of Daisy? From my point of view, these things are not the aspects that make our lives fulfilled.
