Character Analysis : The Great Gatsby

Secondly, Gatsby is a very mysterious character. Nick has been Gatsby’s neighbor, or so he thinks, and has never met him. Nick says “It was Gatsby’s mansion, or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name” (5). This shows you that even Gatsby’s own neighbor does not even know who he is; which shows that Gatsby is mysterious. Later on, once he actually meets Gatsby, Nick goes on to say “I don’t like mysteries, and I don’t understand why you won’t come out frankly and tell me what you want. Why does it all have to come through Miss Baker?” (71). As expected, this frustrates Nick and gives him more reason to believe that Gatsby is mysterious and not trustworthy. Nick doesn’t understand why someone who seems to be his friend is hiding so much

In the beginning of the chapter, he tries to win Nick’s favor, offering him a trip to Covey Island and, when he declines, to “take a plunge in the swimming-pool” together (82). During Daisy and Gatsby’s reunion, Nick acts as a third wheel toward the pair. He’s cast aside, but Gatsby refuses to let him leave because “[his] presence made them feel more satisfactorily alone” (94). Though Gatsby does show some genuine affection towards Nick, it’s mostly to earn his kindness and better use him for his own purposes. From Nick’s perspective, he and Gatsby are great friends - and to a certain extent, that is true. But in the end, it wasn’t necessarily Gatsby himself that attracted Nick, it was his incandescence, his dreams and aspirations; he was an enigma - a bright, sparkling enigma in Nick’s eyes. Throughout the book, Nick unconsciously denies this fact, allowing himself to believe that he and Gatsby are close friends. As a result, he continues hanging out with Gatsby, doing whatever he asks, and taking his side in conflicts - not always outright, but in subtle ways.

The sight Nick is greeted with is certainly nothing like he has seen before. Describing the party as with “the rules of an amusement park,” (41), such a statement is clearly proven by the eccentric happenings around him. Despite the fact that Nick received an actual invitation from Gatsby, being stared at in “such an amazed way” after asking about his host discourages him, and he relinquishes with “sheer embarrassment”, the idea of meeting Gatsby in all his glory, (42).

At the beginning of the book Nick sees Gatsby as a mysterious shady man. In the beginning of the chapter Nick somewhat resents Gatsby. In Nick’s opinion Gatsby was the representation of “…everything for

Jordan says, “He wants to know, if you’ll invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over” (78). Gatsby uses Nick to reconnect with Daisy, because he is a mutual friend between the two. Nick is not only connected to the main characters but also has an amicable personality.

In the summer of 1922 Nick moves to New York City in hopes of pursuing a carrier in Wall Street. He moves in next to the mansion of Gatsby a mysterious billionaire that often threw extravagant parties. One day he decides to visit his cousin’s house, while he is there he has dinner with his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom. He gets introduce to Jordan Baker by Daisy who hopes they take a liking to each other. During the dinner a woman

At the same party, Jordan remarks that Gatsby claims to be an Oxford man, though she does not seem convinced to his claim (53). As a result of all the various rumors, Nick creates an image of Gatsby in his mind as “a florid and corpulent person in his middle years (53).” Contrastingly, Gatsby appears to be around the same age as Nick, which leads to Nick’s failure to recognize Gatsby at the party. The rumors and stories influence the idea of Gatsby that Nick creates in his mind which differs from who Gatsby appears to be.

Nick is very secluded from the group and tends to be an outcast. He leaves everything bottled up within himself and does not discuss it with the others. (Fitzgerald 1)”I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened many curious natures to me”. This quote discusses how Nick keeps everything to himself and how it has opened all gossip he hears. Throughout the novel uses Gatsby uses nick for support, reassurance, and to be able to see Daisy. (Fitzgerald 79)“Why didn't he ask you to arrange a meeting? He wants her to see his house and your house is right next door”. Nick here is being used by Gatsby to be able to daisy again. Everyone comes to nick and tells him all these things all he can really do is listen. For example, Tom telling Nick about his mistress knowingly that he is Daisy's cousin. Overall Nick is a character that sees everything but does not discuss it with the others he keeps to himself. This makes him an honest and loyal person.

As the summer goes on, Nick gets an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. When he gets to the party, he finds that Jordan Baker is also there. Later in the party Jordan and Gatsby talk and Gatsby tells Jordan that he is deeply

Nick throughout the story Nick tries to understand what causes people to be lured by his cousin Daisy, but never truly understands until Gatsby, who has held Daisy so high throughout the novel, says that “Her voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 120). Nick, through these words, has a revelation he can’t believe he was so naïve to have been fooled by Daisy’s lure of money. Daisy is driven by greed and Nick finally, sees that the secret Daisy voice has always hidden was the secret of her greed. Daisy lured those around her to feel comfort in her vast wealth but she could never have enough of it, never enough wealth, never enough people surrounding her because she herself feels weak and feels like a fool. She believes that “…the best thing a girl can be in this world a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald 21) Nick and Daisy share a weaker side and hide it from the world and Nick can see that in even listening to Daisy he has shown weakness “It made me uneasy, as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to exact a contributory emotion from me” (Fitzgerald 21) He believes that he is so weak as to allow Daisy to make him feel sympathy for her. Nick believes that Daisy has tricked him all throughout the evening but in reality, Nick has been fooled by Daisy throughout the novel and Nick would have been trapped in his naïve and weak state had it not been for Gatsby giving Nick hope

Nick is far from the neutral bystander that he appears to be at first glance and his decisions and presence absolutely impact the other characters. The most notable impact that he has deals with him being the connection between Gatsby and Daisy. Gatsby lived in his mansion across the bay from Tom and Daisy’s house for several years, planning about how and when he was going to talk to Daisy but never actually doing it. That is until Nick moved in as his next door neighbor. Nick became the link that Gatsby needed to work up the courage to talk to his long lost lover. They even went so far as to meet for the first time at Nick’s house. Without Nick, Gatsby may have never confronted Daisy and none of the events that followed in the novel would have happened. Myrtle Wilson would not have been killed, Tom and Daisy would have just gone on with their lives, and Gatsby would not end up getting murdered by Wilson. Another impact that Nick has is simply his presence. The other characters always seem to want Nick with them. Gatsby insists that he come with Daisy and him for a tour of his mansion, Tom takes him to New York when he meets with Myrtle, and Nick accompanies the whole group to New York when things start to get heated between Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy. Even if Nick does not speak aloud in these scenes, he does affect the atmosphere of the

With the help of Nick and Jordan Baker, who is Gatsby and Daisy’s friend and Nick’s ex-girlfriend, Gatsby tries to set up a gathering for everyone including Tom who is Daisy’s current husband. He wants to prove to everyone that Daisy still loves him like he still loves her, and makes her decide who she wants to be with in front of everyone. In a position like this, Daisy becomes very indecisive and makes her statements and decisions very unclear. Out of the uncomfortable atmosphere and pressure she’s in, she quickly storms off and drives away and Gatsby follows. On the way back as Daisy is driving, she hit a woman named Myrtle Wilson. Scared, Daisy tells Gatsby that she wants to be alone. Out of love, Gatsby tells Nick last minute that he is willing to take the blame for Daisy and wishes that Nick delivers the message that Gatsby will come by again to pick up Daisy so that they can runaway together and disappear from society. Before that happens, George Wilson appears behind Gatsby with a gun in his hand only to avenge his wife’s death. Shot in the back, Gatsby falls into his pool and the death of Gatsby forever scars Nick as he realizes much of his society. As Nick sets up Gatsby’s funeral, he witnesses that only few showed up to see Gatsby even though he has hundreds of guests who attends his party. Nick desperately tries to reach out to Daisy so that she can see Gatsby one last time,

The first night Nick goes to Gatsby’s for a party, he’s one of a very few actually invited guests. Everyone else just crashes. At the party, Nick is

One thing that surprises me about Nick is that he was loyal to Gatsby who seemed likeable enough but empty inside. He seemed like the picture was more important than the real person. Nick was interested in person and would put himself in a bad light to help a friend. “I didn’t want to go to the city. I wasn’t worth a decent stroke

It all started with an invitation from Gatsby himself inviting Nick to one of his extravagant parties. Nick ended up attending but felt very out of place as he described in the book “.....I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table-the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone”(pg 42). This shows that he wasn’t familiar with anyone at the party he had seen so far. He had been asking around where Mr. Gatsby was but it seemed that no one had met him or knew much but only what they have heard about him. It was Nicks mission to met Gatsby and thank him for the invite. Finally Nick ran into a man and started to discuss how he seemed to be the only person invited to the party, and that he wishes that he could find the host because nobody seemed to know him. A few seconds later Nick felt the