Jordan Baker: Immoral vs. Balanced Anonymous 11th Grade

In every story, there are characters which serve to give the text purpose and drive the plot. Whether the character is dynamic, complex, round or flat, successful pieces of literature must include well-developed characters to propel the story. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway’s love interest, Jordan Baker, has very distinct characteristics which make her a confusing character to understand. Fitzgerald depicts her as a lying and deceitful professional golfer who is not only a cheater in her sport, but also cheats in her life. However, throughout the novel, Nick Carraway describes her as a balanced human being; this duality makes her development hard to comprehend. The reader begins to question why Fitzgerald contradicts his depiction of Jordan, since he describes her as immoral, yet stabilized at the same time. Jordan Baker is not actually balanced. On the contrary, throughout the book she struggles to stabilize her life as professional golfer and socialite, and uses this duality to mask her immorality. Jordan Baker initially appears as maintaining her moral balance, yet with some effort.

At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway meets Jordan Baker for the first time at Tom and Daisy Buchanan's...