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The Great Gatsby Analysis

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Many view, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald as an American Classic, and that is rightfully so. The Great Gatsby is depicted in the roaring 1920’s of New York, and highlights the themes of decadence and idealism as it follows a cast of characters that are surrounded by immaculate wealth. Within Fitzgerald’s story, the reader comes to love Nick Carraway, the narrator and background character of the ultimate story he weaves. However, why does Fitzgerald use an objectively unnecessary background character to narrate as opposed to Gatsby, whom the story is mainly about. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses Nick Carraway as a narrator, although unreliable, because of his neutrality of being an outsider. Nick is depicted as an average American citizen by his own word, and is therefore relatable to the reader, making for an ideal likeable narrator. Nick comes from an upper middle-class background, his ancestors immigrating to the US by 1851. After World War I, he heads east, in order to make his fortune: a dream held by the majority throughout western history. After World War I, consumer culture and mass entertainment rose in popularity, and therefore, there was a race to everyone’s fortune within the immediate middle class. Nick is depicted as a relatable character with his idealism of Gatsby and fortune. Nick refuses to see Gatsby for who he is; a criminal. He easily states: “I could see nothing sinister about [Gatsby]” (54). Early on within The Great Gatsby, Nick

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