Preview

How Does Jordan Baker Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
390 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Jordan Baker Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Jordan Baker can be looked at as a symbol much in relation to what Gatsby is like. She “cheated” to be who she was, and so did Gatsby himself. Believe it or not, this demonstrates a lot about Nick as well, and that may come off to readers as one of her purposes. Beginning early on, Nick comes off as a considerably likable character. However, if you analyze his desire to befriend Gatsby, and to be involved with Jordan Baker, who is also dishonest, you start getting a sense that his interior character is flawed—he is attracted to generally unreliable characters, people who contain traits similar to those of his own. Viewing it this way may make the audience perceive her as there to serve simply as a love interest.
She is also there, though, to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In chapter 3, Nick was invited to party at Gatsby’s place. There, Nick meets up with Jordan Baker and Gatsby. Nick was surprised to meet Gatsby because he had been looking for him at the party all night. Gatsby spoke with Jordan alone and talked for hours, but Jordan was not allowed to tell anyone about their conversation. When everyone was trying to leave the party there was a car accident. Nick discovers that he is not in love with Jordan and finds out that she is a liar.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The characters in The Great Gatsby are round, especially Jordan Baker. Jordan Baker, a major influence on the novel was not only well described and complex, but also unwavering when it came to what she liked the most: golf, she would go to sleep early so that she could properly rest the night before the tournament. “’Ten O’clock,’ she remarked apparently finding the time on the ceiling. ‘Time for this good girl to go to bed’. ‘Jordan is going to play in the tournament to-morrow,’ explained Daisy, ‘over at Westchester’” (Fitzgerald 18) . However, the fact that she was determined in a world full of unfriendliness towards female athletes did not mean that she had interest in living a safe life. “’You’re a rotten driver’, I protested ‘Either you…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jordan is used to represent change and the new and independent ‘modern woman’ of the time. Although she adopts the common flapper physique of American women in the 20s, “slender, small breasted girl” she is somewhat different to the other women in the book. While Daisy personifies the superficial and materialistic woman of the time and Myrtle portrays a working class woman seeking a higher position in society, Jordan depicts a more rebellious modern woman.…

    • 598 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree with this statement as in the book, Nick states that he is a reliable and nonjudgmental person however, later on in the book, we can see that he is very judgmental in terms of describing people and other details in the story. I think that we cannot really blame him for this as this story written in first person and there will be some bias from the character’s perspective. In the first chapter, page 14, “She was extended to her full length, completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall.”. In this quote, Nick was describing Jordan Baker and examining from the language he used to describe her, it seems very judgmental especially in the part when he said…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    <br>The chain of events that occur in the story begin with Nick meeting Jordan Baker at Gatsby's party. It was this meeting that causes Nick to mention the topic of honesty. Nick learns about Jordan's cheating in a golf tournament, and he realizes how dishonest Jordan really is. "She was incredibly dishonest," (Page 58) Nick said, adding, "Dishonesty in a woman is a thing that you can never blame deeply." (Page 59) Jordan seemed to contrast her own dishonesty with Nick's honesty. On the night of the party, Jordan leads Nick to say,…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leading you to believe that this is why Nick and Gatsby’s relationship develops throughout the book, as he is the only one who can truly live in Gatsby’s fantasy world from a bystanders perspective. Through doing this Fitzgerald is indicating that in life everyone presents of the slightly altered version of themselves, so when does an illusion truly become reality? And that Gatsby is simply an embellished, elaborate version of this. Making Nick this all knowing and almost unbiased character who sees the other characters for who they really are. Gatsby fake personality could also be argued was a negative influence on Nick, who says at the start that he is ‘inclined to reserve all judgement’ however throughout the books he becomes more acceptable to the other characters ways, starting to judge not only Gatsby but Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle and even the guests at Gatsby’s party. In fact, his character…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    n addition to providing information about Gatsby, his parties, and his party guests, Chapter 3 also chronicles a return to the issues of morality and equity introduced in Chapter 1. Toward the chapter's end, Nick shifts his focus away from Gatsby and toward Jordan. He reveals his interest in her, but tempers it by discussing her apparent penchant for lying. While he is initially "flattered to go places with her," largely because of her fame, he isn't "actually in love" but feels "a sort of tender curiosity." Nick's opinion of Jordan changes, however, when he finds that she makes a habit of lying her way out of bad situations, thus revealing two contrary facets of his nature. Unlike many of the novel's characters who delight in basking in the…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Nick was in the car with Jordan, she was driving so recklessly she side-swiped the button of a man's coat. Nick brought this to her attention when he said "You're a rotten driver." Jordan made the absurd remark of saying she was careful, which was clearly not true. When Nick said "Suppose you meet someone as careless as yourself?", she made it known that she hates careless people, and hope she never meets one. This was very contradictory because she is not careful, and just wants everyone else to be because she can't have the burden of taking responsibility for her actions. Jordan is the most shallow cahracter in the book, and according to Nick "incurably dishonest".…

    • 597 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book it seemed very much so that Jordan Baker and Nick were a thing, after their tea date it describes Nick and Jordan having a moment where they kiss. The fact that nick doesn’t get home until two in the morning it seems that it worked out pretty good for him. In the film you can see that there may be some feelings between the two but never shows the interaction of nick drawing her closer and then eventually as he describes “this time I drew here even closer this time to my face”. Although in the movie he still doesn’t get home until very late at night. They could have left this part out because of time restrictions or because the director could have felt it wasn’t an important part that he had to show…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The impact can be positive or negative depending on whether the people in the relationship get along. The impact can also be large or small depending on the intimacy of those in the relationship. Male-female love relationships tend to have a large impact in the lives of each other. Therefore, it is essential for people to take extreme care when engaging and disengaging themselves in such relationships. In The Great Gatsby, Jordan admits her love to Nick. Meanwhile, Nick has is ambivalent towards Jordan. While Nick detests her dishonesty in everything she does, Nick likes her for her liveliness. This is because a relationship with Jordan would get rid of the loneliness he faces when he is at home. Nick’s attraction to Jordan’s energy represents his quick adaptation to the vigorous style of New York. The fact that Nick views Jordan as a dishonest person shows that he does not trust her word. This is not a good thing to have in a relationship because in a love relationship both of the male and female must be able to trust each other. Nick’s statement that he is the most honest person he knows is false because Nick is not being honest to his girlfriend (who he writes love letters to) by engaging in a relationship with Jordan. It is not good to be in a relationship where both the male and female are known to be dishonest. Therefore, Nick’s decision to be in a relationship with Jordan exposes his poor ability to visualize the consequences of being involved in an unhealthy relationship. The act of leaving a relationship or breaking up from a relationship must be done carefully and tactfully. Nick’s lack of thought in breaking his relationship with his girlfriend (he writes letters to) shows that he is not very considerate of the feelings of the ones who are in a relationship with him. Hence, one can conclude that Nick is mediocre in dealing with…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jordan baker instantly seemed like a cynical dishonest person when Nick laid eyes on her. She…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the story “The Great Gatsby” there are countless symbols that pop out to the reader. Symbols are so apparent that there is not a chapter missing at least one. F. Scott Fitzgerald does an exceptional job at situating symbols in the text. However, there are a select few that stand out over the others for being most controversial…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses symbolism in such detailed way. Fitzgerald integrates symbolism into the book so well that it is necessary to read it several times to fully understand it. Maureen Corrigan quotes “Many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.” Even a critic on the book itself had to read the story many times to fully understand all that the book has to offer. Fitzgerald focuses on three main themes in “The Great Gatsby” they are time, loss of appearance, and perspective. Most of the book’s structure is in one of these categories. In order to fully understand the book, we must better understand these three themes.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon. He told her those things in a way that frightened her – that made it look as if I was some kind of cheap sharper. And the result was she hardly knew what she was saying." (Fitzgerald 159) is a quote made by Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel The Great Gatsby. This character is best described as being infatuated.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the party, Nick and Jordan meet again and he grows to be curious with her. Eventually he comes to realize all of the events in which Jordan Baker has been overly dishonest and careless. He states, “When we were on a house-party together up in Warwick, she left a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down, and then lied about it” (Fitzgerald ). Jordan was careless when borrowing a car and after damaging it she proved herself to be dishonest and careless by lying about leaving the top down while in the rain. After this, Nick has the realization that she had cheated at her first big golf tournament and then bribed the witnesses. Here, she is unreliable because she lies about cheating and uses her money to get out of being caught. Later, she acts carelessly with her driving: “It started because she passed so close to some workmen that our fender flicked a button on one man’s coat.” (Fitzgerald ).…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays