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Although Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, and we only see things he witnesses or is told about, Jay Gatsby is the protagonist of the novel. In addition to lending his name to the book’s title, Gatsby also serves as the novel’s focal point.
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- Nick Carraway
- Jay Gatsby
- Daisy Buchanan
- Tom Buchanan
- Jordan Baker
- Myrtle Wilson
- George Wilson
- Owl Eyes
- Klipspringer
- Meyer Wolfsheim
The novel’s narrator, Nick is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg, a fictional area of Long Island tha...
The title character and protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night, but no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. As the novel progresses, Nick learns that Gatsby was born James Gatz on...
Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. As a young woman in Louisville before the war, Daisy was courted by a number of officers, including Gatsby. She fell in love with Gatsby and promised to wait for him. However, Daisy harbors a deep need to be loved, and when a wealthy, powerful young man named Tom Buchanan asked her to marry him, Daisy deci...
Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no ...
Daisy’s friend, a woman with whom Nick becomes romantically involved during the course of the novel. A competitive golfer, Jordan represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. Jordan is beautiful, but also dishonest: she cheated in order to win her first golf tournament and continually bends the truth. Read an i...
Tom’s lover, whose lifeless husband George owns a run-down garage in the valley of ashes. Myrtle herself possesses a fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation. Unfortunately for her, she chooses Tom, who treats her as a mere object of his desire. Read an in-depth analysis of Myrtle Wilson.
Myrtle’s husband, the lifeless, exhausted owner of a run-down auto shop at the edge of the valley of ashes. George loves and idealizes Myrtle, and is devastated by her affair with Tom. George is consumed with grief when Myrtle is killed. George is comparable to Gatsby in that both are dreamers and both are ruined by their unrequited love for women ...
The eccentric, bespectacled drunk whom Nick meets at the first party he attends at Gatsby’s mansion. Nick finds Owl Eyes looking through Gatsby’s library, astonished that the books are real. Read an in-depth analysis of Owl Eyes.
The shallow freeloader who seems almost to live at Gatsby’s mansion, taking advantage of his host’s money. As soon as Gatsby dies, Klipspringer disappears—he does not attend the funeral, but he does call Nick about a pair of tennis shoes that he left at Gatsby’s mansion. Read an in-depth analysis of Klipspringer.
Gatsby’s friend, a prominent figure in organized crime. Before the events of the novel take place, Wolfsheim helped Gatsby to make his fortune bootlegging illegal liquor. His continued acquaintance with Gatsby suggests that Gatsby is still involved in illegal business. Read an in-depth analysis of Meyer Wolfsheim.
- Jay Gatsby. The titular “Great Gatsby,” a selfmade man who is desparate to be seen as part of the social elite and whose ill-gotten wealth is always on display through his lavish lifestyle.
- Nick Carraway. The first-person narrator, an observant Yale graduate who moves from the Midwest to NYC to be a bond salesman and quickly falls in with Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and Jay.
- Daisy Buchanan. A passive and increasingly unhappy woman married to Tom Buchanan. She was once in love with Gatsby, and reconnects with him as a way to escape her sense of purposelessness and hopelessnes.
- Tom Buchanan. A wealthy old classmate of Nick’s, who is married to Daisy and is cheating on her with Myrtle Wilson. He uses his physical and social power to bully those around him, but is the only one who sees through Gatsby's fake "Oxford man" persona.
Nick Carraway. Nick is the narrator of The Great Gatsby and the protagonist. He’s a young man who served in World War I, attended Yale University, and moved to New York City to work in bonds. He rents a small house next to Jay Gatsby’s in West Egg.
Jay Gatsby (originally named James Gatz) is the titular fictional character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is an enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion on Long Island where he often hosts extravagant parties and who allegedly gained his fortune by illicit bootlegging during ...
Need help on characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby? Check out our detailed character descriptions. From the creators of SparkNotes.
Who is the Protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby? We have the answers here, plus lots more.
