Great Gatsby Reading Blog #1

Hero - Nick Carraway
Antihero - Jay Gatsby
Villain - Tom Buchanan


Nick is the hero of the story because his values reflect those that society finds acceptable. Shown by the quote on page 1, he describes himself as being "inclined to reserve all judgments". Being nonjudgmental is seen as a positive quality in society. He is also shown to be a generally nice guy, such as when he is talking with Daisy on page 16. ""Oh, yes." She looked at me absently. "Listen, Nick; let me tell you what I said when she was born. Would you like to hear?" "Very much."" This shows that despite his overall discomfort with the situation (since his cousin is obviously distressed), he still manages to display interest in what she has to say, showing he has a good heart. By having these characteristics of kindness and a lack of judgment against people, Nick is painted as being a man that society would approve of.


Jay Gatsby would be the antihero. While he also has qualities society approves of like Nick does (he is also polite and kind), he is also somewhat morally reprehensible in that he throws raucous, overindulgent parties practically every week. The description from page 39 to page 41 proves this. It goes into detail about all the lavish items and events going on at Gatsby's place, such as his aquaplanes, Rolls-Royce, numerous servants, and extravagant fruit purchases (solely for the purpose of juicing them with a fancy machine), just to name a few. While having lots of money is approved of by our society, the sheer amount of it that Gatsby spends and the indulgence he takes part it is seen as negative by society. This makes him an antihero, because his values (concerning extravagant parties and spending tons of money) conflict with what society finds acceptable.


Lastly, I think Tom Buchanan is the villain. This is obvious in the scene on page 37 where "[m]aking a short deft movement, [he] broke [Myrtle's] nose with his open hand". This outward display of violence and aggression is obviously a bad thing in our society. This isn't the only scene where Tom displays a cruel nature. When talking about the lower class Wilson on page 26, he states that "[h]e's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive." This shows that he has a disdain towards those without money. More evidence of his dislike towards lower class people is shown on page 25, where he threatens Wilson by saying "... if you feel that way about it, maybe I'd better sell it somewhere else after all." His cruel and violent tendencies make him the villain, because society disapproves of mean and aggressive people.