Journal 19

Journal 19 - Characterization in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby

Write a description for each of the following characters based on his/her first appearance in Chapter 1.  Your description should include:

-the character’s physical appearance;

-the character’s actions/words;

-an adjective that best describes the character based on his/her initial    

 appearance

Nick Carraway        Adjective ___Introverted_____________

Nick is a reserved man that is described as looking like his great-uncle. There is no real description of his physical appearance but Nick admits that he is a reserved person on the first page of the novel. He said, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” In the movie Nick is depicted as a smaller man that is quiet, and timid. Nick’s reserved nature will play a significant part in the later stages of the novel. His quiet nature lends him to be the outlet for the other characters secrets, regardless of if he wants to hear them or not.  

Tom Buchanan        Adjective _____arrogant___________

Tom is the husband of Daisy, who is Nick’s second cousin once removed. Tom is depicted as a strong arrogant man. Nick comments about Tom and says that in college he was a very wealthy man that was not afraid to show it. Physically Tom describes him when he says; “Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner, Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward… It was a body capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body.” In describing Tom, Nick makes is clear that Tom has a very stuck up and full of himself.

Daisy Buchanan     Adjective ____delicate________

Daisy is Tom’s wife and Nick’s second cousin once removed. In the novel she is described as having a “her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget.” Daisy’s character is reminiscent of a stereotypical blond haired woman. In the movie, she is depicted as a bond haired, fair skinned, dainty woman.

Jordan Baker           Adjective ______strong willed_________

 Jordan is the opposite of Daisy in many ways. She is described as very poised and elegant. “She was extended full length at her end of the divan, completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall.” Her physical appearance is described on page 11; “She was a slender, small breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face.”

Jay Gatsby               Adjective ___mysterious_______

Throughout the novel Jay has a mysterious side. Jay confides in Nick, but for the most part Jay keeps an air of secrecy about him. In the first couple of pages Nick talks about Jay in an astounded way; “If personality was an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if her were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes then thousand miles away.” The first physical description of Gatsby in chapter one occurs during the scene where Nick sees Gatsby staring across the water at the green light. This scene only furthers adds mystery to Jay and his character.