Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Great Gatsby Test Question 1

  Does this novel have villains and heroes? Why, why not? If yes, who fits into these categories and why?


20 comments:

Derek Stemmler said...

In most stories or novels, there is a character that easily stands out as a villain. This characters' actions are classified as evil, terrible, or cruel. In the Great Gatsby, there is no definite villain that stands out to me. In the novel, though, there are actions that could classified as actions a villain would do. These include cheating and murder. To me, these actions are evil. Characters such as Tom or Wilson could stand out as villains for these actions, for Tom was the arrogant husband who cheated on his wife, and Wilson was the vengeful husband who took out their anger on an innocent person, murdering Gatsby. To me, there is not only one person who would fit into the “villain category” for the Great Gatsby. This is because it was not the actions of only one person that affected the outcome of the story negatively. It was the actions of several people that could be classified as villainous actions.

denisgingras said...

In this novel you can claim that there are villains and heroes in this story. The villains would have to be Tom and Myrtle in my opinion. They are the main reasons that all these bad events take place. First Tom cheats on DAisy and when she suspects this she and then starts an affair with Gatsby. Then Myrtle has an affair with Tom and when WIlson finds out he kills Gatsby along with himself. I would have to say that there is no hero in this story. This is one of those stories when no one seems to step up and fight for what is right. Nick would have to be the closest thing to a hero because at the end of the book he seems to turn it around when he is calling people to come to Gatsbys funeral and then again when he sees Tom but tells him how he feels.

Dan McCarthy said...

The novel, The Great Gatsby, possibly has numerous villians but you must look had to find a hero. So called villains of the story are, in my mind, people who have done wrong which is nearly everyone. There is no one that contributes to the story that has done everything right or has not started any trouble. Tom cheated on his wife. Myrtle cheated on her husband. Daisy cheated on her husband and even accidently killed Myrtle. Jordan is as unmoral as anyone. Gatsby can be said to be the one to initiate all the conflict, he started the trouble and who knows what he did in his "business". Wilson murdered Gatsby. And Nick, the one who could be said to contain the least evil of the whole lot, sat back and witnessed all of this without an action. No one is innocent in this story but also no one was fought against for a rampage of evil deeds. This book is filled with people who did bad things but i would not characterize them as villains. This story is simply one of immoral action with no significant villain who owns them all and no hero to put a stop to them.

Anonymous said...

Although many stories have a clear villian and hero, In the Great Gatsby however there was no clear single villian and hero but there is hero and villian traits inside the personality's of the characters. Villiany is aparent in characters like ton who was cheating on his wife and wilson the man who killed Gatsby. A hero to me in the Great Gatsby was Nick. Nick was the only one who seemed a little bit moral but even he had his flaws.

Kayla Reynolds said...

I do feel that in The Great Gatsby there were villians,and heros. An examples of villians in this novel would be Tom, and Mr. Wilson. Tom commited the act of cheating on his wife. This is a very horrible thing to do because he was not loyal to her and by doing this he hurt her and also other people around him.Tom was also part of the reason why Gatsby was murdered because he did not own up to what he had done. Tom was a very self-centered person and i feel that he is a clear example of a villian in this novel. Mr. Wilson murdered Gatsby because he thought that his wife was cheating with him. Wilson commited this act without any proof that this was even true. Although he was angry about his wife, Wilson should never have done this because he took an innocent life.

A hero in this novel would be Nick. Nick cared greatly for the people around him and just wanted everyone to be happy. For example Nick brought Daisy and Gatsby back together again. If it wasnt for him, they never would have seen eachother again. He also took care of Gatsby's funeral when there was no one there to help him. Gatsby was Nicks good friend and nick would do anything for him, which was a great example of heroism in this story.

Vanessa Domond said...

In this novel, i felt only villainy was expressed, not directly but some actions of characters can describe the characteristics of a villain. For example, as Derek said, the people that epressed villain qualities can include tom, mr. wilson, and mertile. Tom and mertile's affair can be considered a villian quality because they were hurting others. Mr. wilson's murder of Gatsby is the closest of villainy. In conclusion no body in the novel standed out as a main villain in the book.

Carolina Veloso said...

I believe that in the Great Gatsby there is no one that follows the definition of a villain. Everyone makes mistakes because they choose to be with someone else instead of the one they are married to. Also when Gatsby was killed, he was an innocent person, so Wilson could be viewed as a villain in the novel. As for everyone else that took part in the ending of The Great Gatsby, not one person can be blamed, because everyone took part in something.

larry said...

I don't think there are villains and heroes in the novel. I think that each character has both a hero and a villain in them. Now which side is shown more is what you would define them by. Such as Gatsby is more of a hero in a way since everything he does is for something good and he is not trying to hurt anyone. The villain side of him though is willing to do anything to be with Daisy. Tom has more of a villain side in him since he is out to get Gatsby in a way and eventually he helps lead to the events of Gatsby's death. At the same time though he is just trying to protect the women he loves.

Alyssa Sullivan said...

I do think that there are heroes and villains in this novel. Some villain actions would be Tom because he was cheating on his wife, and Wilson because he locked his wife in a room when he found out that Myrtle was cheating on him. Also Wilson would be a villain because he murdered Gatsby. Some heroes would be Nick for putting together Gatsby's funeral and being there for everyone. Also Gatsby could be considered a hero to Daisy because he showed her how she should be treated, unlike how Tom was treating her.

Ian Conway said...

The novel had one villain but no heroes. The Great Gatsby's characters were all flawed, some more than others. Nick was so obsessed with becoming friends with and unearthing the mystery of Gatsby that he totally disrespected his job and integrity. Gatsby too, was obsessed with someone. His love for Daisy fueled his hate for Tom and made him partake in illegal activities to accumulate his fortune to impress Daisy. Daisy was disloyal to Gatsby by marrying Tom while he was off in the war. Tom is the only truly villainous person in the novel. His hatred for Gatsby led him to manipulate Wilson to commit murder. None of the characters in the novel were villains.

Olivia Fuller said...

This novel does not have stereotypical villians abd heros. In order to find the villians and heros in this novel you have to look really hard at the actions and thoughts of the characters. Tom Buchanan is the character everyone loves to hate. That to me makes him a villan, as does the quality of indefinate shelfishness and greediness. He hurts others just to please himself. If there were to be a hero it would be Nick. He is a decent friend throughout the entire novel and in the end he really pulls through for Gatsby.

Arianna Miranda said...

In The Great Gatsby there are a lot of villains due to adultery and murder. Tom was an cheater and gave no respect to his wife Daisy. Wilson is a murderer who kills Gatsby. There is not one villain in this book there are many and they play out off each other.

Lisa Russell said...

I don't believe that there are really any villains or heroes in the Great Gatsby. I think that many of the characters in this book made mistakes, but i wouldn't think of them as villians. There are really no heroes in this book either becauase no one really did anything throughout the whole that stood out to me as herioc.

Unknown said...

I believe that the Great Gatsby has many key examples of villians and heroes. They are not obvious in their ways of committing good acts or evil acts, but instead, the way they act or their personality. I believe that Tom is one of the biggest villians in the book. He is the one who committed adultry first and then was getting mad at Daisy when she was with Gatsby. That to me made Tom a villian for sure. In my eyes, I believe that Nick is a hero. Throughout the whole novel, he never once made a terrible mistake other than being drunk for one night. He was always the man who just sat there and did nothing. Gatsby is a character that I cannot make a judgement about. I am unsure to whether he is a villian or hero. The same goes with Daisy. There is not enough information for me to make a fair judgement.

Cam Shepard said...

i believe that there wasnt a clear cut villain or hero. But there are many villainous acts. Tom cheats on Daisy, and Daisy cheats, Myrtle cheats. Wilson kills Gatsby and i agree with Dan in that no one is "innocent" because even during this whole lot of chaos Nick just sits back, he takes no action. There were multiple villainous acts and no clear cut hero.

Jared Ravagni said...

I believe The Great Gatsby has villains and heroes. They do not stick out but there are subtle actions through which you can deem characters good or bad. A shining example is Tom. He immediately looked suspicious when first greeting Nick and treated his wife poorly. His actions throughout the novel only showed me he was a villain of this book. I also think Nick is a hero. Although he is not wealthy he always will give to people and is caring of others. He seems to be the only one to Show faith in this novel which i believe makes him the hero of The Great Gatsby.

Chuck Barbaro said...

I do no believe there is a single hero in this novel. This book is filled with villians instead. No character in this book is loyal or trustworthy. Daisy cheats on Tom with Gatsby. Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle. Myrtle cheats on Mr. Wilson with Tom. Jordan cheats in her golf games. Nick doesnt tell his own cousin about Tom's affair. There is no character in this book who deserves to be called a hero.

Josh said...

This novel certainly does have villans and heroes. Gatsby for instance would be considered a hero in my eyes beacause he pursues his love Daisy and triesd to save her from a man she doesn't love. He wants to love her again and she wants the same. Tom would be the villan in this novel because he goes behind his lovely wife's back and cheatsd on her all the time. This book is a definite villan hero story.

Sean Keane said...

In this novel, there are villains and heroes. I think that there are more villains though. Tom is a villain because he hits Myrtle and he cheats on Daisy. He is also just a mean guy. I would also consider Daisy and Myrtle villains. Myrtle is a villain becasue she cheats on Wilson. She also just seems like a woman who thinks that she is better than everyone else. Daisy is a villain because she uses Gatsby who only has love for her. She plays Gatsby like a game and it works. The heroes i nthe story are Gatsby and Nick. Both of these characters are likable and friendly. Gatsby helps others with his wealth. All he wants to do is impress people and show them a good time. Nick doesnt to anything wrong in the novel. He is also just a nice guy who tries to help people.

bobby teoli said...

In my opinion, there is no heros or villains in the Great Gatsby. Mostly because alot of the people in the book are both heros and villains, but are also neither at the same time. For example, Gatsby is taking Daisy away from Tom, but is also hurting Tom in the process because Daisy is his wife and he supposidly loves her. He is being a hero by saving Daisy from Tom, but at the same time he is being a villain by taking her away from Tom.