Though he only comes in during that last third of the reading, I imagine that Gatsby is a hero of this story, not alone part of the fact that the book is called "The Great Gatsby". Another reason is that, while nobody that Nick talks to seems to know much about him, the indirect characterization you get while talking to him and from the guests show that he actually is a pretty nice guy. In one instance, a girl is talking about how she ripped her dress at the last one of his parties, and that "inside of the week [she] got a package from Croirier's with a new evening gown in it." (43) She goes on to say how expensive it was and how odd of a man he was for doing something of the sort. Then, later, once Nick has actually met him, Gatsby seems quite friendly towards him, if a bit distant any time someone else approaches him or tries to talk to him.
Jordan Baker strikes me as a sort of antihero, in that she is obviously meant to be portrayed in a friendly and nice light, or at least to be identified with as a sort, but at the same time she has a sort of hauty nature and a tendency towards lying that most would more so associate with a villain. When first introduced, her description of holding her chin in the air "as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall" gave me the impression that she had an air about her like she thought she was better than everyone else. The last few pages in the reading then go on to detail how she had a penchant for lying, which Nick quickly forgives because she is a woman and that is something one can easily forgive a woman for. However, while she does have these very obviously bad traits, she is quite friendly and helpful with Nick during the party at Gatsby's, keeping Nick company and trying to help him find Gatsby.
One character who immediately rubbed me the wrong way was Tom Buchanan. His first description of stubborn and hard and all together too strong for himself, carrying himself as though he was so much better than everyone else gives one the idea that he might be the villain, all that he is supposedly a sort of friend to Nick. His insistence during that dinner that the white people should rise up and put other races in their place would be looked upon in a bad light, at least by modern audiences. And the later fact that he has a mistress (a fact that his wife knows and yet can do nothing about) and that he cares not if people know it puts him at odds with most peoples' ideas of morality in general, and his treatment of said mistress is also one to be looked down upon. Though neither he nor Myrtle are the best of people, and their relationship seems plainly based on the fact that neither likes their spouse, many will feel sorry for Myrtle when Tom strikes her and causes her to have a bloody nose, all based on an argument over whether Myrtle may talk about Daisy or not. I personally cannot find any good traits about Tom, and only bad traits or ones that are neutral at best.
This is a fantastic blog entry with good character analysis and excellent textual proof for your claims. It is funny to go back and look at your first impression and see which ones hold up once you have finished the book.
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