The Great Gatsby: Pages 49-60

The Dishonest Jordan Baker

After reading these pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the story of the Miss Jordan Baker begins to develop. Nick Carraway, the main character, forms an interest in the professional golfer, eventually realizing that he likes her a little more than he thought. However, just as scandal surrounds Mr. Gatsby, Jordan Baker also falls prey to it. Accused of cheating in a golf match, Carraway discloses that she also has lied while he was with her. I had previously liked Jordan and thought she seemed like an intelligent, clever girl, yet the scandals beginning to appear about her make me question my previous assessment of character. Carraway even goes as far to claim that “she was incurably dishonest,” (Fitzgerald, 58). Although I know that possibly, I am getting a little too caught up in the story, I really do like Carraway, and I do not want to see him fall in love with Jordan if her dishonesty is going to continue. If she lies in her profession, who knows what else she might lie about, and I do not want Nick to fall into a predicament because of her dishonesty. Furthermore, the Carraway concludes that “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men,” (Fitzgerald, 57) which could possibly be because they discover her indiscretions too quickly, maybe even calling her out on them. Yet, Jordan does seem to like Nick Carraway, and he does not seem to be the pushover type. Although Carraway does not seem to mind her dishonesty, I would be wary of anyone who does not seem to care about misleading others. Jordan Baker proves to be another mysteriously developing round character in this novel, and I would not be surprised if the scandals regarding her life and that of her friend Gatsby continue to shape the novel and the characters that interact with them.