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Jordan Baker has a very important function in the novel The Great Gatsby as being a pro-golfer with a boyish, cynical, and self-centered attitude. One of the purposes she serves is that she narrates the story and also helps the reader to understand the other characters by how she interacts and relates to them.
She serves as a link between the major characters, staying from house to house, living off people between East Egg (Tom and Daisy's house) and West Egg (Gatsby's and Nicks houses).
She is rich enough to be comfortable among the residents of East Egg, but also appears at Gatsby's parties in order to try to fit in. By using Jordan, many of the characters meet each other, so in a way Jordan pushes the story along giving us a better plot.
As being Nick Carraway's girlfriend during the summer of 1922, Jordan helps the reader to learn more about Nick because he lets his true self out to her.
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Although Nick still liked Jordan regardless, he describes her as incurably dishonest (Fitzgerald 63), because of Nicks remembrance that she cheated at her first big golf tournament. This creates Jordan to be a foil of Nick, because he tells himself, I am one of the very few honest people that I have ever known.
Jordan connects Nick to Gatsby by bringing him to one of Gatsby's parties with her, where Gatsby introduces himself to Nick. Jordan leads a careless life, one incident proving this is the scene where Jordan is driving Nick.
Nick tells her, You're a rotten driver, either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn't to drive at all, Jordan responds, I hate careless people.
This scene just shows us how Jordan can also be represented as a hypocrite being she's a careless person herself. Jordan ties Nick in on the latest happening to other characters, such as during dinner when the phone rings, Jordan informs Nick that Toms got some woman in New York (Fitzgerald 19). Jordan also tells him Gatsby's plan about Nick having Gatsby and Daisy over for tea, so
Gatsby can be reacquainted with her. After her explanation from Gatsby, she tells him, Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay. At the end of the novel, Jordan gets engaged to another man after not seeing Nick for a short time, leaving Nick angry, yet still half in love with her, and tremendously sorry. The Jordan-Nick relationship creates a great subplot opposed to the main plot of this novel.
Jordan is Daisy Buchanan's longtime friend from Louisville, Kentucky, with whom Jordan often stays with because her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. Jordan and Daisy inform each other on the latest gossip, and it turns out that Jordan was the one Gatsby came to first to reunite him and Daisy, because of his love for her he has had for many years. Jordan often uses her title as a pro-golfer and her link of Daisy in order to be accepted into East Egg and West Egg. Jordan once described to Nick about Daisy the first time she met her she was just eighteen, two years older than me, and by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville.
This perception from Jordan, makes the reader believe that Daisy was brought up well, and was used to being on top when she was younger. Jordan, knowing how much more superior Daisy is to her, feels as if she must try to impress her at times by bringing her with her to Gatsby's parties. The friendship between Jordan and Daisy grows throughout the story, and both of them learn much more about one another than they ever had.
As being Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan believes he knows Jordan very well. Tom, as described from Nick, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven. Also when attending one of Gatsby's parties with Daisy, Gatsby only refers to Tom as the polo player (Fitzgerald 111). So throughout Toms life, he has been recognized by his accomplishments and this makes him very conceited over time. Tom cares
too much about his image and what other people will perceive him as. Although he has many problems of his own, Tom doesn't want other people to think he does. He uncovered the history and truth about his wife's lover, Gatsby, and openly embarrassed him for it, while Jordan and Nick waited patiently to leave. While arguing about the Daisy-Gatsby relationship, Tom responds, She didn't know you were alive. Why,-- there're things between Daisy and me that you'll never know.
This is another example of how Tom tries to build his weak self-esteem up by trying to make others feel bad, and by looking for happiness in buying extravagant items. Tom uses Jordan to increase his popularity, because he believes people will look up to him even more if they knew a pro-golfer stays with him, and is good friends with his wife. Toms emotional life is so torn that he feels he needs to depend on hurting others and using others, such as Jordan, to carry on a life that others will envy.
In conclusion, Jordan Baker held a very important character because even though Nick was the narrator, Jordan helped to tell the story and keep all the characters informed in everything. She holds special relationships with almost every character, Nick being the most important. She helped to reunite Daisy and Gatsby, but also managed to have a strong relationship with Nick.
Jordan's character also brings out the arrogant, conceited Tom because he uses her for his fame. As noted for her dishonesty, Jordan gave the story character and helped connect the world of East Egg and West Egg. Overall, Jordan Baker was the character in this story who was needed to join the other characters and how they felt for one another, she was used in this sense very well and she changed the book dramatically.
The Function of Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. (2023, May 17). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-function-of-jordan-baker-in-the-great-gatsby-by-f-scott-fitzgerald-essay
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