The Great Gatsby: Characters, Summary, Major Symbols

Character’s name:	Role (what role does this person have in the story?)	Significance (why is this character significant to the story)?	Character traits (what sort of person is this?)
1. Jay Gatsby	Protagonist- he plays the role of a gentleman and is a symbol of optimism. He illustrates the power of love, specifically the ability for love to blind reason. He is fully aware of the consequences that deal with stealing the wife of another, but he is willing to take the risk for Daisy in hopes of reliving the past love they once shared.	The central plot of the story revolves around the life of Jay Gatsby. He introduces the readers to a feeling of optimism in the complicated world that is love. He gives life to the theme “the power of love,” by expressing his love for Daisy in inexplicable and highly irrational ways, like taking the blame for her having killed Myrtle.	He was a gentleman that was ambitious and desired to be loved by Daisy Buchanan. He was unselfish, well respected and proved to succeed in the worst case scenario.
2. Nick Carraway	Narrator- He tells the story of Gatsby in his own words and thoughts and describes the immense devotion Gatsby shared towards Daisy and his lack of ability to see his dream come true; his dream of having Daisy as his own.	Is the outside perspective into Gatsby’s life and is able to give an unbiased opinion on what Gatsby’s life was like and what kind of person he was. Was the primary reason Daisy and Gatsby were able to rekindle their love.	He is an intelligent writer that was intrigued with Gatsby’s passion for love and found sympathy in his situation.
3. Tom Buchanan	Antagonist-dislikes Gatsby from the start and become highly suspicious of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship. He has a mistress named Myrtle of which he is open about, Daisy knows.	Tells George Wilson that the owner of the car that killed Myrtle was Gatsby’s, so he was the primary reason for Gatsby’s death. He was the obstacle that kept apart Gatsby and Daisy, considering she had decided that her devotion was held upon Tom Buchanan.	A misogynist that believes he has the given right to cheat in his relationship and feels the desire to assert himself as a man in any way possible.
4.  Daisy Buchanan	She is the woman Gatsby loves. Her indecisiveness pains the heart of Gatsby, as her is unwilling to give up the idea of Daisy as his, this become apparent when Gatsby is even willing to take the blame for Daisy of killing someone and forgiving her for having married Tom.	Gatsby’s biggest dream in life is to have Daisy as his own. She preys upon Gatsby’s emotions by remembering the love they shared and willing to experience it all over, but then changes her mind as she proclaims her allegiance to Tom Buchanan at the end of the novel and does not go to Gatsby’s funeral or sends her condolences.	A confused woman who is unable to decide between Tom and Gatsby. She has a very persuasive nature about her personality in which she uses to manipulate any man or person.
5.  Jordan Baker	The woman that Nick loves, she is highly devoted to Daisy as a friend and is very sympathetic to Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love affair. She is a professional golfer and is highly respected in her sport.	Falls in love with Nick and they create a relationship together. One of the reasons why Daisy and Gatsby are able to reconnect and at the end of the novel, she becomes engaged to another man and leaves Nick heartbroken.	A friend of Daisy who is sympathetic to the love between Daisy and Gatsby because she is well aware of Tom’s infidelities. She is a just and caring person.
6.      Myrtle Wilson	The mistress of Tom Buchanan is highly raunchy and treats her husband with disregard. She gets killed by Daisy Buchanan. Tom Buchanan breaks her nose after having taunted him with Daisy.	Myrtle ran out into the middle of the street in hopes of it being Tom Buchanan and Daisy, but she was mistaken and it lead to an accident which resulted in her death and ultimately in the death of Gatsby.	A raunchy and unscrupulous woman who dared to share an affair with Tom and had the audacity to preside some sense of right in Tom’s life.
7.  George Wilson	The killer of Jay Gatsby, his hatred for Gatsby stems for the misconception of thinking Gatsby was in a love affair with his wife. He is a hardworking man and is ill informed by Tom.	Was the man to take Gatsby’s life away and symbolized the ignorance of society. He was tricked by Tom into believing that Gatsby was the man Myrtle cheated with, when in reality it was Tom himself.	A hardworking man who was in continuous stress over the whereabouts of his wife. He became mad with hatred when he found out Myrtle had an affair.

Major symbols, motifs, images:

Social hierarchy: The importance of ranking was displayed throughout the entire novel. The West Egg was a place where people of all social ranking were able to live in, but the East Egg district consisted only of wealthy and highly respected citizens of the state. Not only did social ranking have a specific importance in the work of literature, but so did races. Tom Buchanan illustrated the inferiority of any other race beside whites. He spoke of a book titled The Rise of Coloured Empires and how “inferior” races had gained the confidence to try to equalize themselves into the white man society and how the white must suppress that confidence and set them straight in terms of ranking. Another example is when Tom Buchanan attacks Gatsby for the way he earned his money. He states that Gatsby is nothing but a bootlegger and even though that were true, he still had the same amount of money as Tom did; however because Gatsby has gained it through work, as opposed to innately, he was considered as a fake.

Weather: Weather played a key role in exemplifying the emotions of the characters. Especially when Daisy and Gatsby finally reconnected after five years. The introduction of the scene was a heavy rainfall which illustrated a sense of stress and uncertainness, but as Daisy and Gatsby rekindled their love, the sun came in and brightened not only the setting but the characters themselves. As the sun shone, the glowing feature of both Daisy and Gatsby shone as well. Another example was the scorching hot day in which the climax occurred. The heat foreshadowed an intense moment to come, and that intense moment was the realization that Daisy chose Tom over Gatsby.

The Green Light: The green light resembled the desires of Gatsby. The green light was like a star to Gatsby, the ability to see what he wanted, but the inability to grasp it. It played a key role in explaining the dreams of people and the limitless possibilities one is able to achieve. Daisy was Gatsby’s star and when he had her, he finally realized she was at his reach and settled back into the idea that his desires are all able to be achieved. This green light depicts the American dream, the inexplicable want and desire to freedom, but in Gatsby’s case, for love. After having been able to have Daisy, this green light becomes the future Gatsby so desperately craved, within reach, but with hardwork and devotion it could be done.  

Plot Summary: Nick Carraway moves to New York in hopes of learning the bond business and making money, he rents a home in West Egg district, which is located in Long Island. It becomes easily apparent that Carraway does not fit into this society, considering his home is between two mansions and his home could be illustrated as a humble shack. Upon arrival, Carraway realizes that his neighbor, of which he only knows by name, Jay Gatsby is a real character and has caught his attention. One day Carraway decides to go to the East Egg district to visit his second cousin twice removed, Daisy Buchanan. During his visitation he learns of the relationship between his cousin and her husband, Tom Buchanan. He is also introduced to Jordan Baker, a highly notable and respected golf player, of which he falls in love with. It is apparent that Tom Buchanan is having an affair with another women; he was called by her in the middle of dinner. Daisy shares with Nick her problems. The next day, Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle, a raunchy woman. Tom ends ups persuading Nick to spend time with him in Myrtle’s house, where Nick gets drunk and Myrtle taunts Tom with Daisy and he evidently becomes angered and breaks Myrtle’s nose because of it. Nick arrives home to receive as note formally inviting him to Gatsby’s home on that Saturday. At Gatsby’s party, Nick wastes all his night looking for Gatsby upon which he finally stubble onto. However, he is more interested in Jordan than Nick, which makes Nick high suspiciously and curious of Gatsby’s origin. Jordan finally tells Nick that Gatsby was here in hopes of regaining connection with Daisy so she asks Nick to set up a tea date, by favor of Gatsby. For the first time since Nick has met Gatsby, Nick realized that Gatsby’s weakness is Daisy. His insurmountable love for her become apparent with his clumsy attitude amongst her presence. It becomes clear that Daisy and Gatsby love each other and they begin seeing each other in secrecy. Tm Buchanan become aware of their love for each other, the day of a luncheon at the Buchanan’s home, in which Daisy confesses her love to Gatsby in front of Tom. Tom becoming enraged with the scene decides to go to the town with Nick, Daisy, Gatsby and Jordan. Upon arrival at the town and in a hotel, there comes a disagreement amongst Gatsby and Tom for Daisy’s love. Daisy reluctantly decides that her loyalty is to Tom. Tom feeling powerful as ever decides to allow Gatsby to drive Daisy home to prove his point that Daisy is his. Daisy drives back home with Gatsby and she is dealing with a great amount of stress from her decision and she ends up killing Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Tom blames Gatsby for having killed Myrtle which creates a suppressed hatred from George Wilson, husband of Myrtle, for Gatsby. A few days after the Myrtle incident, Gatsby dies at the hands of George. His death is unjustified, seeing as he did not kill Myrtle, rather simply took the blame for the situation o hopes of protecting her. What Nick finds absolutely cruel in the end of the novel is that people who considered themselves friends of Gatsby never showed up to his funeral. He realized for the first time ever, with the help of Gatz’ words on Gatsby that he was good man who had hard ambitions, but a great desire and will power to achieve anything he set his mind to. In the end, Nick came to the conclusion that Gatsby was a man of value and although his lfe was abruptly taken away, he, Nick Carraway, will remember the Great Gatsby with admiration and reverence.