How Is Jay Gatsby A Reliable Narrator

When considering Nick’s reliability as a narrator, several contradictions also exist concerning the consistency and dependability of his thoughts about Gatsby. Although Nick states that “Gatsby represented everything for which I had an unaffected scorn” (2) he also describes how Gatsby is “worth the whole damn bunch put together” (154) and that “there was something gorgeous about him [Gatsby]” (2). The above quotes contrast both Nick’s unfavorable and positive opinions of Gatsby and further add to his volatility and unpredictability. The greatest inconsistency occurs when Nick conveys how “Gatsby turned out all right in the end (2)”, despite later saying that he “disapproved of him from beginning to end” (154). It seems that by frequently changing his opinions on Gatsby, Nick is unsure and hesitant on portraying Gatsby’s character.

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.

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

Nick is an unreliable narrator. He seems, from the beginning, to be level headed and wholly observant. However, he blacks out when he gets drunk, and we lose time. Also, he is deeply embedded and prejudices us against Tom and for Gatsby.

Donaldson is correct for establishing Nick as an unreliable narrator. Donaldson describes Nick as a “snob”, someone who is “not entirely honest about himself” (Donaldson), regardless of Nick’s claim of being “one of the few honest men [he] knows” (Fitzgerald 64). Nick is very arrogant, as no reliable person would run on self-proclaimed titles of “honesty”. He “dodges emotional commitments” (Donaldson), such as when he ran away from a “girl out West” (Fitzgerald 24) whom he was rumored to be engaged with as well as when he ended his relationship with Jordan “over on the telephone” (Fitzgerald 186). Nick, proves, however, to have a special connection with Gatsby who

Nick is a dynamic character. Starts to leave his values behind, temporarily and in one instance, he gets drunk for the second time in his life “… either it was terrible stuff of the whiskey distorted things, because it didn’t make any sense to me” (29). Only has gotten drunk twice in his life, and the reader can come to the conclusion that the whole scene at Myrtle's party is skewed. "Instead of being the warm center of the world, the middle west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe" (3). Gatsby's Influence The title of the story is The Great Gatsby Is Fitzgerald being ironic about how "great" Gatsby is or is it to emphasize how great Nick thinks he is? Nick thinks Gatsby is admirable and see that he is driven by love to achieve his dream. He finds that praise-worthy and thinks its an honorable dream. He believe he truly is a good person. Thinks Gatsby is an unfortunate victim to the Easts eccentric ways but is respectable. In the end he sides with Gatsby. It sets up his biases. He hears rumors that Gatsby is a "spy" and "killed a man" (48). He had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person" (48). Time vs. Opinions His outlook gradually alters towards corruption as “the events of three nights several weeks apart” took effect on his writing and he found that they ” gave the impression that… they were all that absorbed” him (55). He has been focusing on one event and giving it great importance. He was partially opinionated

Honesty is one of the most pivotal traits for a narrator to portray. Nick is a very honest man and he often, through the novel is not afraid give his opinion. As he was introducing the novel to the readers he gives and honest assessment of Gatsby, Nick says “Gatsby , who represented everything for which I have unaffected scorn.” (Fitzgerald 2) This displays that Nick is willing to bring forth his opinion on Gatsby and shows that he will be honest if it is necessary. Nick is exclaiming that his first reaction to Jay was off-putting, and he rejected his lifestyle. Nick honesty fuels him into a friendship with Gatsby and lets the story flourish. Nick also seems to be in the thick of things whenever something went wrong. He gets insider information throughout the story and

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 Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is claiming to be the most honest person he knows. Throughout the story, Nick is the person who gives the reader all the depictions of the other characters. Do we want to believe his depictions are true? Why should any reader believe Nick, who lives a life in seclusion apart from the rest of the characters? Are his statements of the others false or does his secluded life make him unbiased resulting in an honest description of the others? Nick is an honest character he stays loyal to everyone throughout the novel and the characters of the novel rely on him. He may not be honest with the characters but he is honest with the reader

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the events are narrated by a character known as Nick Carraway. Nick is a unique narrator in that he is not omniscient, meaning he does not have complete knowledge of everything going on in the novel. As a result of this, biases and opinions that the character of Nick holds show through and tend to influence the opinions of characters that the reader ends up holding. Another way that Nick tends to influence the reader is by keeping the mystery of Gatsby himself. Gatsby’s mystery is something that would have been lost had Nick Carraway turned out to be an omniscient narrator. Nick also ends up being a liar, which definitely affects his reliability when it comes to being a narrator. If a narrator in a novel is said to be reliable, they almost need to be all-knowing when it comes to the

We know that Nick is an unreliable narrator from the very first page of the book. He begins by telling us that he is the most honest person he knows, and that he does not judge anyone for any reason. However, one paragraph later, he says “Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”(1) He is saying that Gatsby is the epitome of

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

In his essay, “Nick Caraway as an Unreliable Narrator” (2005), Kent Cartwright argues that F. Scott Fitzgerald intended for Nick Carraway’s to act as an unreliable narrator to the reader with his character flaws reflected in his narration, in the novel The Great Gatsby. Reception and Reader Response Theory. Cartwright argues this by highlighting the ways the narration structure gives two impressions to the reader by the descriptions of events, settings, and people and through Nick’s reactions. The actual situations in the novel juxtaposed against Carraway’s reactions reveal his inaccuracies of retelling said events, and therefore distance the reader from Carraway’s narration. Cartwright states that Fitzgerald intentionally highlights on Nick’s

The narrator of The Great Gatsby is a man from America named Nick Caraway. He not only narrates the story but portrays himself as the book’s author. Whilst we as the reader make our way through the passage, it is effortless to forget the important fact that The Great Gatsby is first of all a book about a man writing a book; therefore we are not observering this scene first hand, although it seems on the surface as if we are; Nick Caraway is merley recreating events for us, filtering them through his own sense of connotation, and filling them with his own perception.

The relationship between Nick and Gatsby, as well as showing who Gatsby really is, forces the reader to consider the concept of judgement.