Direct characterization of
the character, Jay Gatsby, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, would
consist of anything that the narrator, Nick,
says directly about Gatsby. Direct methods of characterization include
description and/or commentary,
by the narrator, of or about a
character.
Indirect
characterization would be dialogue or
actions that characterize or reveal what Gatsby is like.
Direct characterization is Nick telling the reader what Gatsby is
like.
An example of direct characterization by Nick, the
narrator, occurs on page 101 of my edition:
As I went over to say goodbye I saw that the
expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsby's face, as though a faint doubt had
occurred to him as to the quality of his present happiness. Almost five years! There
must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not
through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his
illusion.
Nick tells the
reader that Gatsby's illusion of Daisy and their past relationship is "colossal," that
it contains "colossal vitality." This is direct characterization. He also tells the
reader that Gatsby is bewildered--that, too is direct
characterization.
Of course, since Nick is a first-person
narrator and is somewhat unreliable, you should be aware that this is a conclusion Nick
is drawing about Gatsby--and it's possible he's wrong.
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