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 ________Understanding__________ Throughout the book it seems as if Nick is always very understands of people’s problems. He is always faced with them and always keeps an open mind about them. He is a young man from the mid-west who came to west egg to work in the bond business. His physical appearance is not discussed in the book but Nick can characterized as being polite, quite, and reserved. Tom Buchanan Adjective _______Arrogant_________ Tom is a very well built muscular, athletic man who is obviously very into himself in the book. He is seen as racist and judgmental of those who are not as successful as him. He is arrogant in that he has a side lover other than his wife and even leaves dinner to speak with her. Nick makes it very clear throughout the book that Tom is overly into himself and stuck up. Daisy Buchanan Adjective ______Charming_________ Daisy is the kind of woman who has the whole room hanging onto to her every word. She is charming in every way possible. She is described as, “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.” She is blonde and fair-skinned. She talks loud and seems to be in love with wealth. Jordan Baker Adjective _______Independent________ Jordan Baker seems to me as someone who is easily on her own. She doesn’t need someone else to depend and has enough confidence in herself not to need another figure in her life. She is described as being slender, small chested, and the opposite of Daisy. She comes off as polite but distant never truly giving anything away about herself. Jay Gatsby Adjective ____Determined/Mysterious_____________ Gatsby is a very mysterious character in the first chapter who is very misunderstood. He is seen in the first chapter on the dock looking at the green light across the river. He is determined to be exactly what Daisy wants and that was the result of him having a large amount of money. It seems that he is determined to win Daisy.