How Is Nick Justified In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is blatantly evident, as his view of Gatsby’s actions seems to arbitrarily shift between disapproval and approval. Nick is an unreliable and hypocritical narrator who disputes his own background information and subjectively depicts Gatsby as a benevolent and charismatic host while ignoring his flaws and immorality from illegal activities. He refuses to seriously contemplate Gatsby’s negative attributes because of their strong mutual friendship and he is blinded by an unrealized faith in Gatsby. Furthermore, his multitude of discrepancies damage his ethos appeal and contribute to his lack of dependability.

The line of attack we use in order to identify individuals around us is an intriguing thing. Our perception is forever shifting, forever building, and affected not only by the person’s actions, but by the actions of those around them. In Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby Nick Caraway’s perception of Jay Gatsby is always changing. All the way through the novel, Nick’s perception of Gatsby changes from him perceived as a rich chap, to a man that lives in the past, to a man trying to achieve his aspirations but has failed.

In the beginning of this novel everyone seems to know, or at least have heard, about Gatsby. He is talked about a lot and it is manly in a good way. Gatsby appears to be a very powerful person who also has a lot of respect from people. He has a very strange and kind of mysterious personality. For example when he has his party’s, usually on

     Gatsby’s expresses his character through his lies and rumors that were started. It also showed that he wanted the one

Since he died for taking the wrath of something he did not do. Gatsby is a man who struggled to get what he wants and who much reach a certain status before marrying the woman he is in love with. He was basically an outsider who comes from an uncertain past. Gatsby was able to win the hearts of many of the people around him with his tales of adventures and showing off his wealth. Yet, there is not a view that shows the success of Gatsby. He tries to convince Nick about his upbringings and his heroic exploits. Gatsby’s stories seemed extraordinary to the point where people questioned it but they still believe

The book begs an interesting question about morals, especially during the time where money was the end-all-be-all. Bootlegging seems innately wrong, and we are so quick to label it as such. However, a character like Gatsby is morally ambiguous and it is difficult to label him as truly good or evil.

There are different identities that Gatsby creates for himself, with all of them relating to each other in the end. The identity that he creates for himself is a wealthy man, who lies about his history to get to the top. He appears to be likeable by most New Yorkers because so many people attend his outrageous parties that he throws. The reason Gatsby throws these parties is all for one person, Daisy, as he “half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night, but she never did” (80). Because she never attended one of his parties, he sought out Jordan Baker to help him find a way to get together with his previous lover. For years, he worked hard to become successful in his “business”. With all of the money that he gained from this, he “bought a house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (79). Gatsby hoped that Daisy would notice him and his wealth, and therefore, leave Tom. He believed that if he was perceived as the “better” man, she would go back to him.

There are several instances in The Great Gatsby that support the fact that when a person is observing a relationship, it is easy to see its true dynamic. In the presented scenarios, a character on the exterior of a relationship, mainly Nick, is observing how two parties relate and seeing the reality of the situation rather than the superfluous attitudes the characters display in front of one another. Though it can be argued that in a relationship one knows the other’s sincere feelings, one can also hide their feelings in order to maintain an ideal relationship, as to avoid flaws.

Through the observations and experiences of Nick, The Great Gatsby exposes the temptations that men have towards the allure of the East and the consequences of giving into them. When Nick first attended one of Gatsby’s parties, he noted that “they [the guests] conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park” (41). Nick describing the guests of Gatsby’s party with the behavior associated with an amusement park shows that people from the East are not truly any more civilised than those from the West. Throughout the book, the East is seen as being more privileged than the West, with grander houses and prestigious families, while the West is less fashionable with wide lawns and friendly trees. With the

“Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window” (Fitzgerald 4). This quote from the timeless classic The Great Gatsby references how an individual should only have one worldview. The Great Gatsby portrays characters with varying world views, some of which will be deliberated in this paper. Some characters have a more Biblical worldview, while others are more humanistic. This book also brings up issues of morals and ethics, leading to the underlying theme: “the love of money is the root of all evil”.

Gatsby’s story, to many, is one of perseverance and determination at its finest. He devotes all his money and energy to the relatable dream of making life as fulfilling as possible. Gatsby is named “great” because of the desirable prosperity that he accumulates in a short time. Despite this material accomplishment, he should be condemned for turning into a criminal to actualize his dream. Secrets about his money are only revealed later in the book, horrifying readers who were kept in suspense about his past. “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 133) is one example of confirmation that Gatsby was involved in illegal activities. He is an immoral man. There is an absence of discretion or guilt when Gatsby spends his unlawful earnings on lavish parties and a mansion. Clearly, he is not ashamed. Readers understand the statement

     Gatsby earns his money, not through hard work, but it is hinted that he is bootlegger and deals in illegal things because of his relationship with Meyer Wolfsheim, a known gangster. During Prohibition, when the consumption of alcohol was illegal, people could make a lot of money providing alcohol illegally, and they were called bootleggers. Jay Gatsby was even going against American laws in order to achieve his American Dream of getting enough money to buy Daisy's love.

First off, Jay Gatsby comes off as a nice man who throws huge, florid parties and lets everyone come over even if he doesn’t know who they are. He seems mysterious, reticent, and rather elegant but know one knows who he once was. Gatsby was in the war as everyone knew, but no one knew his secret love. He didn’t get rich in a correct way but more so a corrupt way. He sold fake bonds and was a bootlegger and did it all for one girl. The light at the end of her dock was glowing green brightly and he would stare at it from his, reaching for

To accomplish his one main goal, Gatsby would do anything to make money, so he did it illegally. Gatsby is a very rich man, but he did not earn his money the way that most of America did. “[Gatsby] differs from the other newly rich members of society in that he did not earn his money in an honorable way.” Gatsby made his money out of illegal bonds and bootlegging. Bootlegging is when one illegally sells alcohol under-the-counter, at a time where alcohol is banned. His main goal left in life is to win back Daisy Buchanan, and to accomplish that he needed money. All that he could do was to get into illegal business, which at that time in his life, was the only easy way to get wealthy fast. Gatsby could not wait any longer to reunite with the girl he had thought about every day since he had left to fight in World War I.

During the 1920's American culture was centered around status and wealth, especially in the east, in hopes of living the true "American dream". Although most people became shallow, empty, and careless in their paths to wealth, often hurting those who have less then them, and making them pay the consequences of their immoral actions. But Jay Gatsby was unlike every other hollow person in the East, because he had something to live for, fight for, and dream for; Daisy Buchanan. His love for her gave him the strength to keep believing in the American dream and the drive to accomplish it. Gatsby restores Nicks faith in the people of the 1920's by showing him that not everyone is shallow and selfish, and that in order to live the American dream, hope and determination can not be lost.