Great Gatsby Reading Blog #1

In the first three chapters of The Great Gatsby, a wide variety of characters are introduced to the readers. The protagonist of the story is Nick Carraway, who narrates the story from his point of view. Nick is the obvious hero of the story, being a very polite, friendly, and honest man. Nick says, "Indeed, I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in" (p. 8). He writes this when he is visiting his old friend Tom and his cousin Daisy at their home. He is surprised to find Jordan Baker, a friend of Tom and Daisy's, sitting on the couch, concentrating on something unknown, and he feels bad for interrupting her concentration. Even when he is a guest in someone's home, he worries about the feelings of others before his own. Also, Nick writes, "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (p. 59). Nick Carraway is identifying himself as an honest man, which makes him seem even more heroic to the readers.
Jordan Baker is an antihero in the story. When Nick went to Tom and Daisy's home for dinner, Miss Baker was a little bit rude and acted without good manners, which should make her someone that the audience does not identify with. Nick writes, "I was about to speak when she sat up alertly and said "Sh!" in a warning voice" (p. 14). Nick was trying to make conversation with her, but she was only worried about eavesdropping on Tom and Daisy and ended up being rude to him. However, even though she acts differently than someone with hero-like qualitites does, she becomes a character that the audience supports and likes later in this section. She forms a close relationship with the hero of the story, Nick, so the readers come to support her as well. This makes her an antihero in the story.
Finally, Jay Gatsby is a character that can not yet be placed into one of the three categories of characters. Though Gatsby is mentioned multiple times throughout this section, it is not until the very end of the third chapter when Nick and Jordan Baker actually come into contact with him. He seems like a very nice and honest man, politely conversating with both Nick and Jordan for a very long time on the first night he ever met them. Gatsby could possible be a hero in the story, but we have not learned much at all about his character, so he could just as easily be an antihero or a villain.