The novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scoot Fitzgerald, has many memorable characters and an interesting story which moves the novel along at an incredibly fast pace. The characters themselves would not be nearly as memorable if not for the fact that certain scenes bring out the characters values as well as making their personalities more evident to the reader. Such scenes include the numerous parties throughout the novel, Gatsby’s funeral, and many others. One scene that does a particularly good job of showing the character’s personalities and values is the first social gathering that Nick attends.
The first social gathering that Nick Carraway, the narrator, attends is one in New York. Tom Buchanan, who knows Nick because he is Daisy’s cousin twice removed, is the one who invites Nick. Nick is not the only one who is accompanying Tom though. Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, is also coming. This is one of the first real impressions that the reader gets of Tom. In this scene the reader realizes that Tom does not have very many morals. He makes no attempt to hide from Nick the fact that he is not being faithful to his wife. Tom even insults Mr. Wilson in the shot time that he and Nick were at the gas station saying that “He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive” (26). Later at the apartment even more of Tom’s character is exposed when he gets angry at Myrtle and breaks her nose without a second thought. This act of violence exposes Tom’s dislike of other people not doing what he says. Over all, these first impressions of Tom’s are not all that endearing.
Myrtle’s character is also exposed in this short scene. Tom comes to pick her up and, after she leaves her husband at home, she becomes a totally different person. She is described as a being “thick” but also as being able to carry the extra weight sensuously. Tom has no problem spending money on her and Myrtle makes it blatantly obvious that she has no problem spending his money when she suddenly wants a puppy...