Importance Of Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby

In the beginning of the Great Gatsby, we are introduced to a number of characters through the main narrator, Nick Carraway. We are given hints and suggestions about how Nick can be portrayed as a narrator and as a main character. Throughout the first two chapters, we get an impression that Nick is an effective narrator and a key character in the novel. However, our opinions of him may differ as we get deeper into the story.

Without Nick, Gatsby's true colors would not be shown and his behavior would be left not pondered.  His presence from the beginning to the

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.

The novel The Great Gatsby is an interesting tale of two cities really. Nick Carraway; the narrator, represents all that is good an wholesome in the great midwest. He is a well-educated man who aspires to be a bond broker. His character is conflicted internally and externally throughout the novel but really culminates into a loathing for all things eastern. Carraway’s farmboy charm and doe-eyed innocence is put to the test when he meets The Great Jay Gatsby. Gatsby represents all things Nick is unfamiliar with and is curious about. Nick, being from the midwest, has no real street smarts so when he meets the “wicked” east, his lack of experience is proof positive that he really does not belong

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's third book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses his narrator, Nick Carraway as a vital tool to comprehend the purposefulness of this story. Imagine having the story in some other characters point of view, a cynical and more sardonic point of view. Daisy Buchanan's point of view would simply all relate to her. If it does not it has no need to be conversed about or it has to change to something about her. Daisy's conflict is her love for Jay Gatsby is hindered because she is married to her also unfaithful husband Tom Buchanan.

In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald introduces a complex and round character, Nick Carraway, a very honest, small town man. One specific interaction that stands out, when you begin to see a change when Nick is invited to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties. Nick was the only person ever invited personally to one of these parties. Nick hears rumors about Gatsby. When they both first meet, Gatsby is very friendly. He invites him to live the high lie with him. It was all an act to get Nick to arrange a date for Gatsby and Daisy. Nick being the honest, well rounded man he is, is in a tough spot. Arranging a meeting secretly between his married cousin, and neighbor is something out of his character. But he agrees to Gatsby’s request

A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who “...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...” (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new

Fitzgerald chose Nick to narrate the text because his perspective creates a multifaceted view of the world Fitzgerald portrays. He is an outsider to the wealthy materialistic world in which he lives. His similarity to Gatsby in that respect helps us gain an appreciation for Gatsby’s character, but although Nick and Gatsby are both outsiders Nick fails to fully understand Gatsby. This appreciation but lack of full understanding gives the reader a very different perspective than a narration from Gatsby’s point of view or that of anyone else in the novel. Nick is caught between the perspective of the man “looking up and wondering” (35) and the man in the party. Gatsby is neither; he holds the party but then scarcely shows up. Far from being an outsider to the world of wealth and materialism, he seems to embody it. Gatsby and Nick both disdain the world of vacuous wealth, but they do so from different perspectives. Gatsby has everything he needs to be part of it and chooses not to; Nick is caught on the edge, unsure whether or not he wants that world, but ultimately he cannot have it. If Nick is an outsider unsure about trying to become an insider, Gatsby is an insider trying, studiously, to make himself an outsider.

Nick points out a “secret place above the trees” that Gatsby could reach if he “climbed alone”; this secret place is the high-society life Gatsby has wanted all his life, but the only way for him to attain is it by leaving Daisy behind. Gatsby knows this and chooses to kiss Daisy anyway, where he “forever wed[s] his unutterable visions to her perishable breath”. Gatsby’s dreams were so vast and could have been gained had he not signed a death certificate by involving himself with Daisy, and Nick understands this. Gatsby loses a major part of himself to Daisy at this point in the story by devoting literally everything he does to her and remains just steps away from literally worshipping her. Another example of details is when Nick tells Gatsby not to “ask too much of [Daisy]” because “you can’t repeat the past”. This is something Gatsby refuses to accept as the truth and insists that he’s “going to fix everything just the way it was before”. At this point Nick registers that Gatsby’s life has been “confused and disordered” since he met Daisy and that he is actually stuck in the past. Nick is trying his best to deter Gatsby from pursuing Daisy yet Gatsby continues to ignore his one true friend that has only his best interests at

In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway functions as both the foil and protagonist, as well as the narrator. A young man from Minnesota, Nick travels to the West Egg in New York to learn about the bond business. He lives in the district of Long Island, next door to Jay Gatsby, a wealthy young man known for throwing lavish parties every night. Nick is gradually pulled into the lives of the rich socialites of the East and West Egg. Because of his relationships with Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom, and others, along with his nonjudgmental demeanor, Nick is able to undertake the many roles of the foil, protagonist, and the narrator of The Great Gatsby.

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

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, is a story filled with love and loss. Love of people, love of things, loss of dreams, loss of innocence, loss of love… The Great Gatsby can be seen as a romance novel, or a tragedy, or possibly even a coming of age story for the narrator, Nick Carraway. His position as narrator of this novel shows how Fitzgerald wanted to keep the mythical and almost surreal nature of Mr. Gatsby. Gatsby has money, a high social ranking, extravagant parties, and a girl to dream about endlessly, whereas Nick exists almost in the shadows of Gatsby with no dream at all. Nick watches as Gatsby’s life changes and falls apart around him, and Nick’s opinion of him varies and fluctuates at times, but he was also the closest friend Gatsby had ever had. Nick illustrates loyalty, divergence, and a lack of ambition throughout his telling of the story, but he is in no way a static character. He is also human, and is flawed, and has kept his morals throughout life, making him the only character in the story who can really change at all. When Nick moved to West Egg, he probably did not expect to learn so much in the

In a coming of age story, a character must look back on his or her youth and say goodbye. Nick Carraway comes to Long Island as an almost 30 year-old man who prides himself on the fact that he is a non-judgmental person. However, after his experiences he is no longer the same person he was before his 30th birthday. Along with turning 30, Nick’s experiences allow him to see past the illusions of the upper class lifestyle. Initially, Nick was intrigued by the glitz and glamour that accompanied the lives of Tom and Daisy. Slowly but surely, he matures out of his infatuation and comes to several realizations about himself and those around him. Fitzgerald initially presents Nick as a trustworthy character who reserves judgment and is unaffected by others. This first impression provides a meaningful contrast for Nick’s final opinions. After an unforgettable summer, Nick matures into a different person and has several judgments to make towards the people of East and West Egg.

The extent of Nick's time with Gatsby -therefore our time as readers -might make Gatsby seem like Nick holds greater sympathy for Gatsby. However, by the end, Nick is growing disgust for Gatsby's obsession with Daisy, especially when it tosses morality out the window. Nick gives little report on Wilson, in fact, he seems to always report what's going on with Wilson with little interest.

He helped him reconnect with Daisy and supported him loyally till his funeral. Meanwhile, Nick is a really nice person who cares and seems like he is always there for Daisy. Although he does not do the right thing when it comes to helping her choose between Tom and Jay, he just leaves the scene, probably because he did not want to take sides, as he was a close friend with all three parties of that conflict. “At this point Jordan and [Nick] tried to go, but Tom and Gatsby insisted with competitive firmness that [they] remain” (Fitzgerald 7, 130). Carraway tries to flee the scene, instead of advising Daisy that Jay would be a much better man than Tom who is cheating on her ever was. As her cousin, it was part of his duty to guide her and tell her about the most realistic option in spontaneous and unexpected situations of such. That’s is to say, Nick is one of the characters that will express the strong bond between the illusion of appearance and reality by his kind personality that covers the mistakes and bad decisions he makes.