Jay Gatsby
Out of all of the characters, Jay Gatsby is perhaps the most complicated. He is portrayed throughout New York as a kind of celebrity; everyone knows about him, however no one actually knows him. He is the subject of millions of conversations and gossip. He is thought to me a young man who has it all; luxury, wealth, women. However, the truth is much sadder. As a young man Gatsby fell in love with Daisy Buchanan, then Daisy Fay, who was unmarried and willing to pursue him as a romantic interest. After the war, however, he returned to find Daisy married. To impress Daisy, Gatsby partook in illegal activities as a bootlegger to become wealthy and impress her, though he lied to her from the beginning, saying that he comes from a very wealthy background. He would throw giant parties in his ridiculously lavish mansion in an attempt to enamor Daisy. Over the years, however, Gatsby has built Daisy up in his mind, putting her on a pedestal that she simply cannot live up to, given her actual nature. Because of this, Gatsby becomes obsessed with the past. What he and Daisy once shared dances in front of him; within reach, yet only to taint it.
"[Gatsby] talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what the thing was..." (Fitzgerald 110)
Jay is still deeply in love with her, not realizing his foolishness, even when Daisy willingly had him blamed for her crime; the murder of Myrtle Wilson. Gatsby cared only for her, looking out for her, convinced that when push came to shove, Daisy would leave Tom for him. However, even in the event of his death, Daisy does not care enough to make an appearance at his funeral, instead fleeing from the scene with her husband.