Jay Gatsby: Five years before moving to West Egg in pursuit of Daisy whom he has never stopped loving, Gatsby was sent off to Europe for the war, after which he claimed he had gone to Oxford University. Raised by a farm family in the Midwest like Nick, and also in his late twenties, he has earned his wealth from shady business dealings hoping that Daisy will take him back. He throws wild weekend parties throughout the summer for people whom he hardly knows although these end after Daisy expresses her distaste of them. His illusion of being a distinguished gentleman is shattered by a very jealous Tom Buchanan. Daisy is appalled although Gatsby refuses to give up the chase, waiting for her to call him until the very moment he dies.
Daisy Buchanan: A relative of Nick Carraway, this 'golden girl' was also from the West before moving to Long Island's East Egg with her husband Tom. She has always enjoyed luxury and had rejected Gatsby five years earlier due to his lack of wealth and shows a renewed interest only when he shows her the riches that he has come to earn. An unhappy person at heart due to her regrets about being married to Tom, it is she who kills Myrtle while driving Gatsby's station wagon. Afterwards she disappears from Long Island with Buchanan, failing to appear at the funeral. She has a baby daughter, Pammy, although she seems to spend little time with her.
Tom Buchanan: A big football star at Yale University, he had since continued to live off his Chicago-based family's wealth and married Daisy before travelling to France and then returning to the US and settling down in East Egg. He thinks himself to be an intelligent man, constantly babbling random facts he has read or heard, although he has few opinions of his own aside from the possessiveness he feels towards Daisy. At the same time, however, he sees no wrongdoing in having an affair with Myrtle Wilson; it is Tom who tells George Wilson that the car that ran into his wife had belonged to Gatsby, unaware perhaps that his own wife had been the driver.
Jordan Baker: A sportswoman, Baker is somewhat of a celebrity. Nick recalls how she had lied about moving a golf ball at a tournament years before but doesn't let this stop his pursuit of her. In the midst of Daisy, Tom, Myrtle, and Gatsby with their twisted love relationships, Jordan seems to be indifferent and set apart as does Nick. She offers comfort to him later although after Myrtle's death he becomes cold to her, completely disgusted with everyone in the East. Baker has been friends with Daisy for many years and remembers Gatsby from when he and Daisy first met.
George Wilson: A 'sick man' as Nick describes him, he operates a ramshackle gas station in the ash heap. Oblivious to his wife's affair until discovering the dog collar Tom had bought for her, he goes mad with rage and locks her inside, declaring that he is going to take her away to the Midwest. After his wife's death he goes crazy and embarks on a shooting rampage, killing Gatsby and then himself.
Myrtle Wilson: Desirous of wealth, she was heartbroken after learning that George had borrowed his wedding suit. Tom Buchanan offers her presents and fancy clothes when the two begin having an affair and she is hopeful that he will leave Daisy to be with her despite his excuses for not doing it already. Running into the street in front of the gas station to escape her maniacal husband, Myrtle is run over and killed by Daisy driving Gatsby's station wagon. Her battered body is laid upon a workbench inside the garage.
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