While the title The Great Gatsby might suggest that the central puzzle of this novel is “The Great Gatsby,” we disagree. Gatsby himself is, after all, almost shockingly simple once you...
Origins: Jimmy GatzLong before Gatsby was “great,” he was a small town kid with big dreams. We learn Gatsby’s real back story fairly late in the game, but when we finally do, it a...
Gatsby’s entire fortune, and his entire life, really, are built upon the hope that someday he might rekindle his old love with Daisy. This, we have to admit, is an amazing, perhaps unbelievab...
Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s husband, an extremely wealthy man, a brute, and an athlete. He’s selfish and does what he needs to get what he wants. Most of all, he seeks control of his life a...
Nick might end up "halfway in love" with Jordan, but he consistently describes her as cynical, having seen too much and heard too much to be fooled by anybody. And perhaps because of her dishonesty...
Poor George. He really gets the short end of the stick in this one. And, seeing as he’s one of the few characters without staggering flaws, it seems he doesn’t really deserve it. From w...
We get the feeling that Myrtle Wilson is not an especially smart woman. Strung along by Tom, Myrtle is convinced that he loves her and would leave his wife for her if he could. The whole bit about...
We don’t know a lot about Meyer Wolfsheim – and we’re not supposed to. Beyond the fact that he’s a business associate and a friend of Gatsby’s, and that he’s int...
These two odd characters sum up two extremes of the kinds of ludicrous, hilarious, bizarre people that populate Gatsby’s parties, drinking his liquor and gossiping about him. On one hand, you...
