User talk:Masterotenko

         Under the Red, White, and Blue

Throughout The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is exposed to the true and often contrasting nature of those who live in East and West Egg, from strange behavior regarding use of wealth, their involvement in illegal activity, scandalous love affairs, to getting away with murder and being victim of the same fate. Nick is simply a spectator to the larger-than-life antics of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, in his attempts to woo his former sweetheart, Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s cousin who happens to be married to Tom Buchanan, a man Nick met in college. The first chapter effectively establishes the Buchanans through key personality traits that eventually resurface later in the novel, as Nick comes to visit after being invited to dinner. Though Nick makes no such statement to this effect, Tom Buchanan serves as the story’s primary antagonist, hindering Gatsby’s progress simply by having married Daisy. Tom and Nick’s relationship goes back to their college days, and Tom was an acquaintance, but not nearly close enough to be called his friend. Tom had been “one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven”, though Nick felt he was “one of those men who reach such an acute, limited excellence at twenty-one that everything after savors of anti-climax.” Nick felt that based on his achievements, Tom’s real-world success following his graduation from college barely stood up to his college football success. While having Nick over, Tom seems constantly attempting to impress him with his money, his mansion, or his general success in life. Each time Tom appears within the story, his general aura of selfishness is made more and more apparent, what with his affair with Myrtle Wilson, and his almost justified slandering of Jay’s “business connections” and suspicion of bootlegging, in an attempt to be sure Daisy does not leave him for this incredulous criminal of a man, this usurper of his marriage, be it one he did not wholly appreciate. Daisy Buchanan,

DAY I WORD COUNT: 119 DAY II WORD COUNT: 232 DAY III WORD COUNT: