Great eponymous hero keeping pistols near (6)
I believe the answer is:
gatsby
'great eponymous hero' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.
'pistols near' is the wordplay.
'pistols' becomes 'gats' (gat is a kind of pistol).
'near' becomes 'by' (near means close by).
'gats'+'by'='GATSBY'
'keeping' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gatsby that I've seen before include "Fitzgerald's Great character" , "Fitzgerald's tycoon" , "Great character in Fitzgerald novel" , "Eponymous hero in book" , "Fitzgerald's great hero" .)