The Great Gatsby characters

Jay Gatsby

Also known as Gatsby, Mr. Gatsby

Nick's enigmatic next-door neighbour in West Egg, a fabulously wealthy young man who throws dazzling summer parties for hundreds of strangers. Gracious, watchful, and faintly mysterious, he is the subject of endless rumour, addressing everyone as 'old sport' while revealing little of himself.

As drawn: A handsome, athletically built young man in his early thirties with a lightly tanned, fair complexion, close-cut blond hair swept neatly back, and alert blue eyes. He has an elegant, self-possessed bearing and a rare, reassuring smile. He wears a soft rose-pink summer suit over a crisp white shirt with a patterned pale-silver bow tie and a white pocket square.

Bonds:TomStrained acquaintancesNickNew acquaintancesMeyerBest friendsDanBest friends

Nick Carraway

Also known as Nick, Mr. Carraway

The novel's narrator, a young Midwesterner from a comfortable family who has come East to learn the bond business and rents a modest cottage in West Egg beside Gatsby's mansion. Tolerant, observant, and inclined to reserve judgement, he becomes the quiet confidant of nearly everyone he meets.

As drawn: A clean-cut young man in his late twenties with a fair complexion, warm brown eyes, and softly waved brown hair combed to one side. He has an even, approachable face and a reserved, attentive expression. He wears a well-tailored navy three-piece suit with a white shirt, a brown-and-navy striped tie, and a white pocket square.

Bonds:TomSocial acquaintancesJayNew acquaintancesDaisyCordial acquaintancesJordanNew acquaintances

Daisy Buchanan

Also known as Daisy, Mrs. Buchanan

Nick's charming, well-born cousin and the wife of the wealthy Tom Buchanan, living in fashionable East Egg. Beautiful and light-hearted on the surface, her musical voice captivates everyone, though a restless boredom and quiet unhappiness flicker beneath her gaiety.

As drawn: A slender, graceful young woman in her early twenties with a fair, lightly freckled complexion and warm brown eyes. Her honey-blonde hair is set in soft finger-waves cut to a chin-length bob. Her face is sad and lovely, with a bright, passionate mouth. She wears a pale cream-and-gold beaded flapper dress with fringed, off-the-shoulder detailing and a long rope of white pearls.

Bonds:TomSpousesJordanSocial companionsNickCordial acquaintances

Tom Buchanan

Also known as Tom, Mr. Buchanan

Daisy's immensely wealthy, imposing husband, a former football star from a rich old family now settled in East Egg. Domineering, restless, and casually cruel, he carries himself with the swagger of a man used to getting his way and makes little secret of his contempt for those beneath him.

As drawn: A powerfully built, burly man in his early thirties with a hard, muscular frame and a broad, aggressive stance. He has a tanned, olive complexion, dark eyes, and dark hair slicked back from a heavy, arrogant face. His body suggests enormous physical strength. He wears a cream cricket-style sweater with a navy V-stripe over an open-collared white shirt.

Bonds:DaisySpousesJayStrained acquaintancesNickSocial acquaintancesMyrtleParamours

Jordan Baker

Also known as Jordan, Miss Baker

A cool, self-assured professional golfer and Daisy's longtime friend, moving in the same rich, leisured world. Wry, incurably casual, and a little dishonest, she becomes Nick's companion through the summer and a knowing observer of everyone around her.

As drawn: A slender, small-breasted young woman with an erect, athletic carriage, which she accentuates by throwing her shoulders back like a young cadet. She has warm light-brown skin, dark brown eyes, and glossy black hair set in short finger-waves. Her face is charming and faintly discontented, with a cool, contemptuous poise. She wears a crisp white sleeveless tennis dress and a single strand of pearls.

Bonds:DaisySocial companionsNickNew acquaintancesMeyerBusiness intermediary

Myrtle Wilson

Also known as Myrtle, Mrs. Wilson

George Wilson's restless, vital wife, who lives above her husband's garage in the desolate valley of ashes. Hungry for the glamour and wealth she feels cheated of, she is Tom Buchanan's mistress and comes alive with feverish, self-important energy whenever she escapes to the city.

As drawn: A thickly built woman in her mid-thirties, faintly stout, who carries her surplus flesh sensuously, with an immediate, smouldering vitality about her. She has a fair, slightly flushed complexion, dark eyes, and dark hair. Her face holds no conventional beauty, but a warm, blooming energy. She wears a snug dark-blue crepe dress, later an elaborate cream chiffon gown when playing hostess.

Bonds:TomParamoursCatherineSistersGeorgeMarried couple

George Wilson

Also known as Wilson, George, George B. Wilson

The worn-down owner of a run-down auto garage in the valley of ashes and Myrtle's husband. Handsome in a faded, exhausted way, he is honest, dull, and worshipfully devoted to his wife, dreaming vaguely of scraping together enough money to move West.

As drawn: A blond, spiritless man in his mid-thirties, anaemic and faintly handsome, with pale hair, tired light-blue eyes, and a slack, defeated posture. A film of grey ash seems to veil his hair and clothing. He wears a grease-stained work shirt and trousers, wiping his hands on a rag amid the gloom of his bare garage.

Bonds:MyrtleMarried couple

Meyer Wolfsheim

Also known as Wolfshiem, Mr. Wolfshiem, Meyer

A shrewd New York gambler and Gatsby's business associate, reputed to be the man who fixed the 1919 World's Series. Sentimental and dangerous by turns, he dines in shadowy restaurants, talks of old 'gonnegtions,' and keeps a wary eye on every room he enters.

As drawn: A small, elderly man with a flat, expressive nose, a large head, and tiny, restless eyes. Tufts of fine hair sprout from his nostrils, and his fingers are stubby. He dresses in a well-worn suit and, as a grotesque flourish, wears cufflinks carved from human molars.

Bonds:JayBest friendsNickIntroduced acquaintancesJordanBusiness intermediary

Owl Eyes

Also known as Owl Eyes

A bespectacled, half-drunk guest discovered marvelling in Gatsby's library, astonished to find that the books lining the shelves are real rather than cardboard props. Owlish, garrulous, and oddly perceptive beneath his tipsiness, he drifts through Gatsby's parties as a bemused observer.

As drawn: A stout, middle-aged man with a round, pale face and rumpled features, peering owlishly through enormous round spectacles that give him a startled, magnified stare. His hair is dishevelled and his rumpled suit hangs loosely, giving him a comically bookish, unsteady appearance.

Dan Cody

Also known as Cody

A grizzled, self-made mining millionaire who made his fortune in the silver and copper rushes of the West and then roamed the coasts aboard his yacht. Robust but softening with age and drink, he was a hard-living relic of the frontier from Gatsby's younger days.

As drawn: A grey, hard-faced man of about fifty with a weathered, ruddy complexion, close-cropped iron-grey hair, and cold, empty eyes set in a broad, physically robust frame. He wears the attire of a wealthy yachtsman: a white peaked cap, a brass-buttoned navy yachting jacket, and crisp white trousers.

Bonds:JayBest friends

Catherine

Also known as Catherine

Myrtle Wilson's worldly younger sister, who lives with a girlfriend at a hotel and moves easily through the city's fashionable, gossipy party set. Chatty and self-possessed, she trades in rumours about Gatsby and eagerly encourages her sister's affair.

As drawn: A slender, worldly young woman of about thirty with a solid, sticky bob of red hair and a complexion powdered milky white. Her eyebrows have been plucked and redrawn at a rakish angle, giving her face a slightly blurred look. Countless pottery bracelets jingle up and down her arms, and she dresses in bright, cheap city finery.

Bonds:MyrtleSisters