Monday, February 20, 2012

The Great Gatsby 1

After reading the first three chapters of the book, it seems to me that Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby are important characters.
Nick is a hero. He states that he is "one of the few honest people [he] has ever known" (p. 59). This trait of honesty makes him seem like the "good" guy to the audience. Honesty is (hopefully) a valued trait by the audience, which would then make Nick the favorable hero.
Jordan is an antihero. She seems very kind and is popular but is "incurably dishonest" (p. 58). This contradicts with the audience's values and what is "acceptable", therefore making her an antihero.
So far, I have not been able to identify a villain in this book. What Gatsby is at this point is unclear. According to what other people say about him, he seems to be a hero. "He doesn't want any trouble with anybody" (p. 43). "He smiled understandingly -- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced - or seemed to face - the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey." (pg. 48). This pure kindness that he possesses leads one to believe that he may also be a hero.

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