Page 11 - The Great Gatsby

PEOPLE IN THIS STORY CJIAPTfR t

MAIN CHARACTl:.RS DINNER_yVITH THE BUCHANANS
Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story
Jay Gatsby (a/so James Gatz), a young mysterious millionaire
Daisy Buchanan, distan/ cousin to Nick Carraway n my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave
Tom Buchanan, Daisy's husband, a millionaire I me some aclvice that l've been turning over in my mind ever
Jordan Bakcr, Daisy's friend, a young professional fema/e gol(er since.
Myrtlc Wilson, Tom Buchanan's mistress 'Whenever you fcel like judging anyone,' he told me, 'just
George Wilson, Myrtle's husband, a garage owner remember that ali thc people in this world haven't had the
advantages that you've had.'
OTHER CHARACTERS He didn't say any more, but I understood that he meant a
Meyer Wolfshiem, a gambler, a business connection of Gatsby great <leal more rhan that. As a result, I usually wait some time
Catherinc, Myrtle Wilson's sister before making any judgcmcnts. This habit has opencd up many
Mr & Mrs McKee, Myrtfe Wilson's New York friends strange characters to me, as people are often eager to tell me
Klipspringcr, a man who is almost always at Gatsby's house about themselvcs. When I was ar college, I was unjustly accused
Michaelis, George Wilson's neighbor of being a politician, because I knew rhe secret sadncsscs of
Henry C. Gatz, ]ay Gatsby's father
wild, unknown men. I hardly ever wanted to hear these secrets
- in fact, I have often pretended to be asleep or busy when 1
PLACE NAMES lN THIS STORY
realized by some unmistakable sign that a young man was
Some place namcs in thc story are real; orhcrs are invcnted. preparing to tell me his dccpest, most personal feelings.
The story is set on Long Island, which stretches for more than Holding back judgement is a matter of hope. There is always
100 miles east of New York City. West Egg in che story is Great the possibility that someone, in time, will turn out well. What
Neck (where Scott Fitzgerald himself lived), and East Egg is my father was suggesting was that we are ali born with a
\
Sands Point, the end of the Port Washington península, which different sense of right and wrong. And if I forget that, then 1
lies just across Manhasset Bay. am a little afraid of missing somcthing.
In the story the East refcrs to the east coast of the Unitcd However, I have to confess that l haven't always taken my
Statcs, and the West to the wcst coast. The Middle West, father's advice. Whcn I carne back from the East last autumn ,
or Mid-West, includes states like Minnesota and cities like I felt I wanted the whole world to be in moral uniform, ali
Chicago. However, anybody who was not from the east coast living a highly moral life for ever. I wanted no more wildness '
might be called a Westerner. no more secrets of the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man
who gives his name to chis book, was an excepcion - Gatsby,