The Great Gatsby Character Analysis

Nick is a truthful man within a bunch of liars. Nick moves to New York to make his own money selling bonds. Tom and Daisy are both cheating on each other with different people along with Myrtle. Gatsby lies about his life to fit in with other people. Nick is the only one who does not lie to himself. Fitzgerald was truthful to himself, when he published books he did not say he was famous to fit in with other people. Nick heads east seeking his own fortune and not to be given one. Nicks moral sense is also like Fitzgerald’s, at the beginning Nick starts to interact with the others and is not like them at all. He is set off to be more practical, down to earth person. This is evident in chapter two when he does not know how to respond to Tom and Myrtle’s secret life. Fitzgerald was also a down to earth person who was realistic. He told his wife that she should stay with him because of an educated guess that he was going to make money off of his books. His wife did not go and cheat on him because he did not have money, she waited for him and eventually married

Secondly, Gatsby is a very mysterious character. Nick has been Gatsby’s neighbor, or so he thinks, and has never met him. Nick says “It was Gatsby’s mansion, or, rather, as I didn’t know Mr. Gatsby, it was a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name” (5). This shows you that even Gatsby’s own neighbor does not even know who he is; which shows that Gatsby is mysterious. Later on, once he actually meets Gatsby, Nick goes on to say “I don’t like mysteries, and I don’t understand why you won’t come out frankly and tell me what you want. Why does it all have to come through Miss Baker?” (71). As expected, this frustrates Nick and gives him more reason to believe that Gatsby is mysterious and not trustworthy. Nick doesn’t understand why someone who seems to be his friend is hiding so much

In the beginning of the chapter, he tries to win Nick’s favor, offering him a trip to Covey Island and, when he declines, to “take a plunge in the swimming-pool” together (82). During Daisy and Gatsby’s reunion, Nick acts as a third wheel toward the pair. He’s cast aside, but Gatsby refuses to let him leave because “[his] presence made them feel more satisfactorily alone” (94). Though Gatsby does show some genuine affection towards Nick, it’s mostly to earn his kindness and better use him for his own purposes. From Nick’s perspective, he and Gatsby are great friends - and to a certain extent, that is true. But in the end, it wasn’t necessarily Gatsby himself that attracted Nick, it was his incandescence, his dreams and aspirations; he was an enigma - a bright, sparkling enigma in Nick’s eyes. Throughout the book, Nick unconsciously denies this fact, allowing himself to believe that he and Gatsby are close friends. As a result, he continues hanging out with Gatsby, doing whatever he asks, and taking his side in conflicts - not always outright, but in subtle ways.

Lastly, Nick most important confidant role is toward Jay Gatsby. Nick meets Gatsby after he moves next door to him. They formally meet when Nick is invited to a party of Gatsby. It was not a coincidence that Gatsby lived next door to the love of his life’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy dated when he was James Gatz. They were in love, but when Gatsby left for the war they drifted apart. Although, Gatsby had an elaborate plan to win back Daisy, and it worked, almost. Gatsby moved directly across the bay from Daisy. He also arranged for them to reunite. It almost worked because by the end of the day that they spent together at

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 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

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.

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.

On chapter 5, after Nick hearing a backstory on Gatsby, Nick arrives home and Gatsby waits for him to arrive and waits for Nick to give Gatsby an approval for help on being reunited with Daisy. After Nick agrees to Gatsby plans, Gatsby get excited and then in return for Nicks consideration. Later in the chapter, once Daisy and Gatsby are once reunited they get into their own world and forget about Nick. Once Gatsby get what he wants, he forgets all about Nick. Another example would be on page 120, Gatsby asks Nick a favor once again to come have tea with Daisy upon her request, but for what? When Gatsby needed Nick it usually had to do with something serious. Of course it was the day Daisy planned to confess to Tom that Daisy was planning to leave Tom. Later in the book, Gatsby get excited to tell Tom how Daisy never loved Tom. Although Nick have always been third wheel, Gatsby is seen as a very determined man to be reunited with his only love; Daisy. Gatsby figures out ways to be together with his love no matter what.

conflict in the story is Gatsby’s long lost love who is Nick’s cousin, Daisy, reunite

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

Regarding Gatsby, Nick "had enough of all of them [referring to Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan]"(Fitzgerald 79) and he thought Gatsby was "despicable."(Fitzgerald 79) This is all just after the accident. By the end of the whole story though, Nick's sympathy toward Gatsby improved. He felt terrible that no one paid honor to this man or cared that he was dead.

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.

Towards the end of the novel, Nick describes Gatsby and his friendship as: “We were close friends” (Fitzgerald 179). Their friendship is a strong one that could be compared to no other. Nick agrees to help Gatsby arrange a meeting with Daisy. Gatsby trusts Nick enough that he is privileged to hear the entire story of their relationship. It is also Nick who organizes Gatsby’s funeral when everybody is unconcerned. This shows that he has a true friendship with Gatsby. His parties are always crowded because Gatsby is a person that thinks of others first. Gatsby mentions: “’Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’…’just remember that not everyone was born with the same advantages that you’ve had’” (Fitzgerald 5). This proves that Gatsby has been brought up to be open minded and empathizing. For example, Gatsby lets anyone into his parties because he wants