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Sunday, May 30, 2010

The Women of Gatsby


Daisy Buchanan: Daisy is Nick's second cousin twice removed. She hails from Louisville and married Tom Buchanan there. She possesses a charming personality that led to her winning the hearts of nearly everyone she dated (which was a lot of people). Her behavior and mannerisms are rather eccentric, unlike those of any other character, though this may be explained by her speaking in a Chicago-dialect of the 1920's vernacular, as all other characters in the story are from other parts of America. She is Gatsby's object of almost obsessive love and his primary motivation for accruing so much wealth.







Jordan Baker: Jordan is a professional golf player with a slightly tarnished reputation following a scandal in which she was accused of cheating in a tournament. She is Nick's love interest in the story and a long time friend of Daisy's. Toward the end of the story she claims to be engaged to another man in order to break off her relationship with Nick. Nick goes along with her story, but believes her to be lying.


Myrtle Wilson: Myrtle is the wife of George Wilson, the owner of the gas station and Tom Buchanan's mistress. She is killed in chapter 7 when daisy runs her over with Gatsby's car. She may have come form a rich family, as she is described as having an illustrious presence in contrast to the other inhabitants of the valley of ashes region, and her (over)reaction to her husbands borrowing of a suit to get married in. She appears to have lost any affection for her husband long ago.

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