(Courtesy of the United States Postal Service, Celebrate the Century).
Literary Topic
George Wilson - "He was a blonde, spiritless man, anemic and faintly handsome" (29). Wilson is the husband of Myrtle, Tom's mistress. He is the proprietor of a garage in the "valley of ashes." After Tom leads Wilson to believe that Gatsby killed Myrtle, Wilson kills both Gatsby and himself.
Michaelis - A Greek neighbor of Wilson's. Michaelis ran a coffee shop in the "valley of ashes" near Wilson's garage. The night Myrtle was killed, he had seen her and had heard her scream at Wilson as she ran towards the car in the road: "'Beat me! Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!'...A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting; before [Michaelis] could move from his door the business was over" (144). His testimony at the inquest "brought to light Wilson's suspicions of his wife"(171).
Meyer Wolfshiem - "...a small flat-nosed Jew" (73) and "a gambler...he's the man who fixed the World's Series back in 1919" (78). Wolfshiem is a friend of Gatsby's who mistakes Nick for someone who is "looking for a business gonnegtion" (75). Wolfshiem does not attend Gatsby's funeral because he "couldn't get mixed up in it" (180).
"Owl Eyes"- "Owl Eyes" is present when there is a car accident at Gatsby's party and shows up at Gatsby's funeral. "Owl Eyes" realizes the heartless nature of Gatsby's "friends" when none of them come to his funeral or to offer condolences at the house.
Dan Cody - Dan Cody is warned by Gatsby while he was out on Lake Superior on his yacht that a strong wind might catch him and sink his yacht. Out of this one experience a friendship is forged and Cody gives Gatsby his "singularly appropriate education" and sets him up to make his fortune. Cody "inhospitably died" on his yacht about a week after his mistress, Ella Kaye, came on board.
Ewing Klipspringer - Klipspringer is the "boarder" at Gatsby's house who plays the piano for Gatsby and Daisy when they are together at Gatsby's house. He is more concerned about getting his shoes back after Gatsby has been murdered than in attending Gatsby's funeral.
Mr. Sloane - Sloane is a friend of Tom's who, with Tom, stops by Gatsby's house simply to make a point of snubbing Gatsby. Gatsby acts like the generous host and invites Sloane and Tom to his next party. They decline and hardly act appreciative.
Henry C. Gatz - "...a solemn old man very helpless and dismayed" (175). Gatz is Gatsby's father who lives in Minnesota and reads about his son's murder in a Chicago newspaper. He is very proud of the accomplishments of his son and he believed that "he had a big future before him...If he'd of lived he'd of been a great man. A man like James J. Hill. He'd of helped build up the country" (176).
Pammy Buchanan - Tom and Daisy's daughter. She appears only once and is treated like a pet possession by her mother.
Catherine- "...a slender, worldly girl of about thirty with a solid sticky bob of red hair and a complexion powdered milky white" (34). Catherine is Myrtle's sister, who after Myrtle is dead, does not disclose that Tom and Myrtle were lovers. Catherine lived in New York and whenever Tom and Myrtle came into the city, they all got together.
Mr. and Mrs. McKee-Mr. McKee is "a pale feminine man" and is a photographer. Mrs. McKee, his wife, is "shrill, and languid"(34). This couple is friends with both Tom and Myrtle and lives in the flat below Tom's flat in New York.
Lucille - Lucille is a golfing companion of Jordan's. She also attends Gatsby's parties and he once sent her a "new evening gown from Croirier's" to replace one that had torn on a chair at one of his parties.
Doctor T. J. Eckleburg - "The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic--their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose" (27). Although not a physical character, the eyes of Doctor Eckleburg look out over the "valley of ashes" almost as the eyes of god would.