Nick Carraway Character Analysis

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.

When Gatsby reveals to about his relationship with Daisy, Nick’s relationship with Gatsby takes a full u-turn as it rapidly advances their association from simple acquaintances to close friends. Nick’s outlook of Gatsby undergoes a similar transformation. When Nick learns of the previous relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby’s actions make sense to Nick. The mansion, the extravagant parties, and the green light were all in the efforts for making Daisy notice him. Gatsby lives his life for the past life that he lived. He spends his life seeking the attention of his love, Daisy, and as Nick explains, “He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby sought out the American dream in order to win over the love of Daisy which creates a different perception of himself to Nick. Nick, now knowing Gatsby’s intentions worries about Gatsby’s possible rejection, and then warns him that, “[he] wouldn’t ask too much of her, you can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald 110) But Gatsby, blinded by love, strives to win Nick’s married cousin’s heart. Nick perceives Gatsby as a man dwelling on the past

Nick Carraway is a prime example of how an unbiased and trustworthy narrator can change a book. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told in first person point of view, through the eyes of Nick Carraway, a 30-year-old man living in West Egg, New York. Carraway tells the story as it is happening and lets the reader know what is to come. Nick seems to be an “invisible character” because he is involved in the story but not in the major conflict. Nick Carraway is the perfect choice of narrator because he is reliable, connected to the main characters, and has an amicable personality.

“the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired”(Fitzgerald). From this Nick puts Gatsby as a pursuer and Daisy as the pursued. Nick is essentially stereotyping people with four niche stereotypes that are accurate for very few people. Nick tells gatsby “You’re acting like a little boy” and that Gatsby was being rude. Nick rarely tells people what he thinks of them and their actions. It was a rather condescending statement towards Gatsby, who was already embarrassed.(Fitzgerald 88). One of the few times Nick tells people how he feels about something it’s negative. Throughout the story Nick never tells Daisy about Tom’s affair and Never tells Tom about Daisy’s. Nick also could have told Mr.Wilson from being surprised. If either Tom or Daisy knew they would have divorced ending horribly dishonest relationship. This would have benefited everyone. Mr.Wilson knew that if he did not go west his wife would leave him, but if he knew before he could have either ended the affair or his marriage. If he had told anyone instead of standing by and doing

These characters live in the age of the “Hollow Men,” and are portrayed as empty and absent-minded people. In fact, Nick voices his grievances with this at the end of the story; after Nick meets Tom Buchanan a couple months following Gatsby’s death, he takes time to reflect, pondering, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness” (179). Shaking Tom’s hand, he states that he feels like he “were talking to a child” (179). Nick feels a personal disdain for the carelessness of the characters in the book. Gatsby, however, acts with real thoughtfulness, as he exhibits his authenticity multiple times in the novel. Reflecting on Gatsby’s life, Nick proclaims that Gatsby’s heart “was in a constant, turbulent riot” (99). He then tells that “the most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted [Gatsby] in his bed at night” (99). These examples help validate that Gatsby, unlike the other characters, was genuine enough to feel passionate and convey emotion. While the readers dislike Tom and Daisy’s emptiness, they favor Gatsby’s compassionate and sincere personality, as they can relate to his

In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway gradually grows annoyance with Daisy and Tom Buchanan and their selfish and luxurious life. Daisy, on the other hand finds Nick to be her “trustworthy genuine cousin”. Tom thinks of Nick as his old friend from college who is always there for him; however fraudulence lies between all of them. Thus, representing how each of the characters perceived their friendship differently. To begin, throughout the book Nick grows to become more and more disgusted with the actions Daisy and Tom fulfill; especially towards people. Nick represents this when he says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them

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

He disapproves of Tom Buchannan’s affair and is disgusted with Jordan Baker’s lies and lack of consideration for other people. He alone shows disgust for the phony nature of the socialites and he alone has what they lack-personal integrity and a sense of right and wrong. However, Nick finds the fast-paced and fun-driven lifestyle of New York to be exciting. Nick’s conflict is repeatedly shown throughout The Great Gatsby and even though Nick struggles with it, by the end of the novel, Nick realizes that the sophistication and wealth of the East Egg is just a cover for the alarming moral decadence.

Every individual has a person in mind that they look up to. They consider them as their role model and they strive and work hard to be as good as them. Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, considers Jay Gatsby as his role model and hero. Nick Carraway unlike others is not looking to become rich and wealthy as Gatsby, or have gigantic mansion, fortune, and have large parties every other week. Nick looks up to Gatsby, because he has a heart and personality that nobody else has.

Nick Carraway describes himself in the first chapter as reserved in judgement and tolerant of other people, even when subjected to their unwanted and boring secret confessions. He is indeed more tolerant than most, and holds judgement even when faced with huge and unmistakable character flaws. For instance, he makes no solid judgement on Tom Buchanan when he sees him openly displaying his extramarital affair with Myrtle and holding no shame or guilt about cheating on Daisy. His unwillingness to criticize leads to his having double feelings about several characters, because he see their faults but wants to keep an open mind. He is especially reserved in holding judgement against Gatsby, which causes him to go so far as to create a sort of blind spot towards him. He criticizes Gatsby’s obsession with wealth and luxury, and is very aware of his criminal behavior, yet he sees more in Gatsby the man who would do anything for his love and worked towards his dreams all his life.

Scott Fitzgerald chose to tell the story of The Great Gatsby in a somewhat unconventional way by using a narrator that is a main character himself. Fitzgerald presents Nick in a specific way to serve a particular purpose. Fitzgerald uses Nick to demonstrate that people naturally judge others and that it is impossible for someone to remain completely unbiased when making these judgments. Usually, the sole purpose of the narrator is to give a medium in which to tell the story, but Nick tells the story and is involved in it at the same time. He has his own thoughts and feels different emotions throughout the novel and some of these emotions and feelings creep into his recollection of what happened. Because of this, the reader feels a stronger connection to him but at the same time, can be easily persuaded to have the same opinions as him about other characters. This also may be why Nick changed the most throughout the novel. He started out as a young man who is looking to make his fortune in the bond business out east but ends up moving back west because he is fed up with the corruption and greed that comes with the wealthy lifestyle of the east coast. At the close of the novel Nick says this about the eastern lifestyle, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy⎼they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald proves that Nick Carraway is an honest and reliable narrator. The author uses writers effect to portray how Nick is within and without, how he reserves all judgments and how he is honest.

Nick is in awe and marvels at the wildness of the city.He is enthralled and loves the ‘racy adventurous feel’.Along the way, he goes to have dinner with his cousin Daisy.Daisy is seen as innocent and pure in the novel and Fitzgerald associates her with a multitude of pure colors (white).Her voice also plays a major key in how she is portrayed, seeing as Gatsby describes it as ‘a voice of money’.When Nick speaks to Daisy on the porch about her daughter, she says”All right,' I said, I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool – that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’ Daisy says this in reference to how-how women were portrayed in the 20s because it was better to be dumb and a ditz.Also, within his perceptions and notions about the people around him, Nick has a quite revelation about her husband, Tom Buchanan.Fitzgerald's symbolization of Tom Buchanan stands out within the whole novel because with a novel so centered on the American Dream, Tom Buchanan is everything but that.He was born into wealth, and is an arrogant bully of a man, with a godlike complex, harboring white supremacy beliefs.He symbolizes that breed of rich white Americans that take everything for granted, yet feel entitled to

Nick Carraway is the narrator of the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout the novel, Nick constantly says and does things that contradict himself. Through characterization, plot details, and symbolism, Fitzgerald shows us that Nick Carraway is clearly an unreliable narrator.

Nick Carraway constantly contradicts himself as he narrates F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. He could be seen as a liar or a hypocrite in the way that he says one thing and does another, and it is rather confusing for the reader to follow the events of the story. However, when he is not biased, he is quite observant and factual. He is likely the narrator for this story because he is the least involved, but often the reader questions his reliability. The book is really a way for Nick to come to terms with the events of the story, and the contradictions come from his own inward struggle. His inward perspective, nevertheless, makes it no less difficult for the reader to follow. Nick’s skewed perspective allows the