Jordan Baker is a character in The Great Gatsby. She is a professional golfer and the girlfriend of Nick Carraway, the novel’s narrator. Jordan is beautiful and talented, but also dishonest and superficial.
Though Jordan is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, she has spent most of her life in the Northeast. She attended an exclusive girls’ school in New York City before going to college. Jordan is very much a product of her upper-class upbringing; she is spoiled, careless, and used to getting her own way.
Despite her flaws, Jordan is an appealing character. She is charming and stylish, and her easy confidence makes her seem like someone who knows what she wants out of life. Jordan is also a skilled athlete, and her success in golf is a source of pride for her.
Jordan’s relationship with Nick is complicated. She is attracted to him, but she also uses him for personal gain. Jordan is not interested in a committed relationship; she is more concerned with status and appearances. This ultimately leads to the downfall of their relationship.
She says, “I don’t like her, and I’m sorry I kissed her” (Fitzgerald). The fact that she is even talking to Nick in the first place shows a certain amount of arrogance in Jordan. She obviously feels that since they are living in the same social level, they should be able to talk with each other easily, which she thinks she can do because of how she was raised. The rest of Jordan’s arrogance comes from her belief that she can get away with dishonesty in everyday life. The most obvious example was when she lied about being friends with Daisy, who we later find out is actually her cousin.
In addition to being arrogant and dishonest, Jordan also has many characteristics found in modern-day women: independence, quickness, and competitiveness. Jordan shows these characteristics when she tells Nick how she lives and how to get around the city by herself, even though she has only arrived in New York that day. She also shows this competitive side of her personality while they are playing golf.
The last thing I would like to mention is Jordan’s drive for achievement, which not many people have heard about before. The way Jordan achieved her goals was with hard work for long hours at a job as a car hop. This is shown later on when Nick begins talking about her again after meeting Gatsby. The key points here are arrogance, dishonesty, independence, competitiveness, and achievement through hard work. All of these aspects give us insight into the character of Jordan Baker and her role in The Great Gatsby.
The next time Daisy visits Nick, she inquires of him if he is single. “I haven’t heard a word,” Jordan says when questioned about her relationship with Nick (19). When Daisy said that Jordan and Nick get together, Jordan gave this remark to Daisy. Although many people in the East Egg considered themselves to be more elegant and distinguished than the West Egers, they also believed themselves to be superior to them.
Jordan, being a professional golfer, was one of the first women to gain publicity and success in this previously male-dominated sport. She was known for her beauty as well as her skill in golf. Jordan is also known to be dishonest, which is shown by her cheating in golf tournaments. The reader can see that Jordan is not an honest person when Nick says “I found out afterward she’d received anonymous phone calls instructions to meet me” (22).
Nick is talking about how he instructed Jordan, through an anonymous phone call, to meet him at Nick’s house so that they could go to one of Gatsby’s parties together. From this readers can see that Jordan is not an honest person because she is willing to lie and cheat in order to seem more important than she really is.
Overall, Jordan Baker is a complex and intriguing character that plays an important role in The Great Gatsby. Despite her faults, she is a fascinating and engaging personality that adds much to the story. Whether you love or hate Jordan, there’s no denying that she’s one of the most memorable characters in The Great Gatsby.
Jordan Baker serves as a symbol for the reckless behavior of many people during the Jazz Age. She is frequently indolent, unscrupulous, and direct. Tom Buchanan has remarked to Jordan on numerous occasions that he was curious how she managed to accomplish anything (11). Miss Baker is also a highly unethical individual. There was talk among the crowd that she moved her golf ball during a competition in order to win (58).
The fact that she is dishonest makes it more believable that she would cheat in a golf tournament, even though there was no evidence to prove that she did. Jordan Baker is also very blunt and has little patience for people who are not as interested or knowledgeable about sport. The first time Jordan meets Nick, he tries to talk with her about his love of books and writing (36). She quickly dismisses the idea, telling him that once he starts working he will have no interest in reading anymore.
This shows us that Jordan cares more about competition than anything else, which further demonstrates the recklessness of people during the Jazz Age. Overall, Jordan Baker’s character represents many aspects of The Great Gatsby’s portrayal of the recklessness and excess of the Jazz Age, and is an important character to study in order to better understand this theme.
Jordan Baker was plagued by a number of bogus characteristics, but she did have her own set of virtues. Jordan Baker was one component of the American Dream. She was a quintessential example of today’s women. She was self-sufficient and quite autonomous. Women who lived many years ago were regarded as weak beings that required men to help them, but Jordan Baker demonstrates that this is not the case. She is a woman who made herself from nothing. To begin with, Jordan is a very masculine name, indicating that she is undoubtedly very independent and self-reliant.
The name Jordan is also a biblical reference which shows that she can stand up for herself, especially when The Great Gatsby’s narrator refers to her as “the most intriguing girl I had ever met.”
Jordan Baker was a woman who always did what she wanted to do. She didn’t care what other people thought of her and was always very driven and determined. The men in The Great Gatsby seem to be infatuated with her because of these traits, but they don’t really know the real Jordan Baker. In fact, many of them are quite surprised by who she truly is. For example, just before the party at Daisy’s house, Nick Carraway confides in Jay Gatsby about his suspicions that Jordan Baker is cheating on him. Although she denies it, Nick’s instincts prove to be true when Jordan admits to cheating at golf the very next day.
Despite her many flaws and controversial traits, Jordan Baker was a successful woman who achieved what she set out do in life. She was an example of the American dream and showed women that they didn’t need men to support them or take care of them. In fact, she helped show society that women can achieve anything with determination and hard work. Overall, Jordan Baker was a complex character who defied expectations and lived life on her own terms.
Jordan Baker was a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights. Jordan Baker was an important figure in The Great Gatsby’s plot. She illustrated many people from the East End’s recklessness, dishonesty, and arrogance, while also conveying women’s independence and self-sufficiency. Fitzgerald established Jordan as a prominent character in his masterpiece The Great Gatsby since to her qualities of darkness were brought into light during the Jazz Age and good that emerged from it.
Jordan’s role in The Great Gatsby was to show how people were during the Jazz Age. The things that she did and the way she acted showed the recklessness, dishonesty, and arrogance of people such as Daisy Buchanan and Tom Buchanan. Jordan was also known for being dishonest. She was caught cheating in a golf game which led to her losing her professional status as a golfer.
Despite all of this, Jordan Baker represented the independence and self-sufficience of women. This is because she was one of the few characters in The Great Gatsby who was not completely dependant on a man. Jordan Baker also showed how women were starting to break out of their traditional roles and become more independent during the Jazz Age.