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Judgment In The Great Gatsby

Decent Essays

This section of the paper will provide and discuss examples of Nick Carraway’s failure to reserve judgment of others upon meaning them. Through exploring Nick’s judgments of others, his personal bias becomes apparent. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Nick ignores his own philosophy and casts judgment upon characters. It could be argued that Nick knows these characters well enough to cast judgment upon them, but in truth, Nick also casts judgment upon minor characters. The introduction of Mr. McCree and George Wilson are two prime examples of Nick not withholding judgments of a minor character upon meeting them. Upon meeting both the characters Mr. McCree and George Wilson, he describes McCree as a “feminine” man and George as “spiritless man” (30, 25). When Nick is narrating about the nature of Jordan Baker, a woman who Nick builds a small relationship with, she states that “she was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness, I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hand, jaunty body” (58). Even if Nick’s depiction of these minor character is accurate, it still provides proof that Nick is not a man who is inclined to withhold all judgment upon a person. Nick does not the reserve judgment of major character either throughout the novel. Up until the end of the novel, Nick has positive judgments of

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