Foil

Character Role Analysis

Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan

Jordan and Daisy may both be golden girls, but Daisy is traditional where Jordan is modern. Tom and Gatsby see Daisy as an angel, something to be protected and put on a pedestal; Jordan Baker would cut off her "golden arm" (3.19) before she'd let anyone do that to her. And who makes off better at the end of the novel—the hard, single girl; or the miserable married one who's just run a woman down? It's a tough choice.

Tom Buchanan and George Wilson

While George is weak and passive, Tom is physically strong and controlling. Tom is a wealthy member of the upper echelon and Wilson is working class. Is this Fitzgerald's way of suggesting that the working class is feminized? Are upper class men the only ones who get to be real men?