Indirect Characterization In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald has a way of applying indirect characterization into his novels in order to enhance how he would like a character to be interpreted, especially in his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. Take for example, two major characters in the story, Nick Carraway of Minnesota who moved to New York in order to get into the bond business and Tom Buchanan a wealthy man living in East Egg with his wife Daisy. It is evident that Fitzgerald would want readers to look at Nick as an honest man and a bystander or observer of the world going on around him. On the other hand, Fitzgerald wants readers to see Tom as an arrogant, hypocritical brute with no morals whatsoever. Through dialogue and the actions of characters these traits of Nick Carraway

Tom is a racist, sexist, man and Fitzgerald does not hide it. In the beginning of the novel when Nick is over at Tom and Daisy’s home Tom begins to speak to Nick of a book he is reading called ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ Tom believes that, “ Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be--will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proven.” ( Fitzgerald 13). Tom is seen to be a very racist person, and that is just from what he said about one book. Tom does not care about women either, he is a sexist person who only cares about himself. He broke Myrtle’s nose just because she kept saying Daisy’s name even though he told her to stop. More proof of Tom’s sexism comes from his affair with Myrtle. If Tom cared about Daisy he would not be seeing other women, it was also revealed that Myrtle was not the first person Tom had an affair with, which just proves this even further. The actions Tom takes near the end of the story show how hypocritical Tom really is. For some reason, Tom is irritated that Gatsby and Daisy seem to have feelings for each other, but his affair with Myrtle is completely fine with him. To Tom, there is nothing wrong with him cheating on Daisy, but Daisy wanting to be with Gatsby is a horrid thing, even

Scott Fitzgerald. How Fitzgerald wants readers to view a character, such as Tom or Nick, is accomplished greatly through the use of dialogue and the actions of characters. As the story progresses, readers feel what Fitzgerald wanted them to feel about a certain character more and more. Indirect characterization is a major component of writing which Fitzgerald shows can be used to a great extent in order to achieve a specific feeling for a character, from a