Gatsby One

Based on the first 60 pages of the book, Nick, Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby are the most important.

Nick is a hero. He seems to be a kind, intelligent individual, albeit perhaps awkward and easily confused. Although by no means perfect, he is characterized as being, “inclined to reserve all judgments” (1). When speaking with Daisy, she exclaims that, “I love to see you at my table, Nick. You remind me of a- of a rose, an absolute rose” (14). Thus, both Nick’s characterization of himself and Daisy’s characterization of him suggest that Nick is a fundamentally good individual, and so at this point in the book, I would predict that he is a hero.

Tom, on the other hand, seems a cruel, unpleasant figure. From his physique- classified by Daisy as “hulking” (12) - to his demeanor, he seems to be arrogant and mean. His demeanor is perhaps best characterized as exploitative, as he cheats on Daisy with no pretense of shame and his interactions repeatedly are tinged with a sense of bullying. When discussing cars with George Wilson, for example, Tom switches quickly from joviality to abusiveness as he responds, “…if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it someplace else after all.”All of his interactions seem to abuse a power disparity, leaving the audience unfavorably impressed.

Frankly, Daisy cannot be easily characterized in any of these three categories. But were I to do so, I would place her within the category of antihero. She seems fundamentally good, but is jaded and cynical, even going so far as to tell Nick that she is, “pretty cynical about everything” (16).

Gatsby is discussed less in this section than the three characters mentioned above, but his importance to the story is foreshadowed. At this point, Gatsby seems a hero. Despite rumors about him having “killed a man once” or that “he was a German spy during the war,” the man seems fundamentally good, and there seems no basis for these rumors (44). However, it is conceivable that he will have some sort of baggage revealed later.