The Role Of Nick The Perfect Narrator In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is blatantly evident, as his view of Gatsby’s actions seems to arbitrarily shift between disapproval and approval. Nick is an unreliable and hypocritical narrator who disputes his own background information and subjectively depicts Gatsby as a benevolent and charismatic host while ignoring his flaws and immorality from illegal activities. He refuses to seriously contemplate Gatsby’s negative attributes because of their strong mutual friendship and he is blinded by an unrealized faith in Gatsby. Furthermore, his multitude of discrepancies damage his ethos appeal and contribute to his lack of dependability.

As a main character we may get a different impression of Nick since we are now analysing his personality and how he interacts with the other characters in the story. We read numerous pronouns in the first chapter, ‘I’, suggesting that he is self-indulgent and pompous. For instance, once at Gatsby’s party, Nick only kisses Jordan Baker because he ‘had no girl’, conveying he only kissed her because there was no one else there. This makes Nick seem selfish and arrogant as he is only thinking of himself. To the reader, we

Nick Carraway is the primary voice in chapter 5 of Fitzgerald’s 20th century tragedy. This means that all opinions and points of view are portrayed through Carraway’s first person, retrospective and fallible narration. Carraway is presented as fallible in this chapter, as the gaps in the narrative reveals Nick as a fallible narrator. He states that ‘I don’t know whether or not Gatsby went to Coney island’ yet he speculates what Wilson is thinking at the end of Chapter 8 exposing his narration to be fallible as it shows that a lot of the narrative could be speculative and therefore unreliable. Nick also speculates at the end of the chapter, ‘there must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams’, however

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by a renowned American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The magnificent tale is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway and it is through his perceptions of characters that influence our thoughts of the entire story. Fitzgerald allows Nick to see both worlds and sides of conflict, as he is the moral center of the book. Even though the protagonist can be considered as an unreliable author, readers tend to agree with his sincere perceptions distinguishing between right and wrong, good people and bad people, truths and lies and reality. However, this quality does not interrupt the fact that he is an unreliable author. Revolving around the criticism of the ‘American dream’, Fitzgerald clearly uses Nick Carraway

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.

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

The real contradiction to Nick is The Great Gatsby himself, Jay. Jay and Nick share a similar small town upbringing but Jay was able to parle his stolen trades into the corrupted version of the American Dream. Most of what Nick knows about Jay is based on his reputation and it’s not until they actually meet and Nick sees the “quality of distortion” in Jay’s New York lifestyle that Nick sees for himself the illusion that Jay created. Nick is attracted to the high life that Gatsby has created in the valley of ashes. Who can blame him with all the lavish parties, cars, mansions, women and other temptations. It’s like Fitzgerald has placed Nick in the Garden of Eden and the two characters; Nick and Jay, represent the good

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

With the first few paragraphs of the novel, Fitzgerald starts to build a narrator that readers feel they can really trust. For example, Nick begins the book quoting the advice he received from his father “remember that all the people in this world haven’t had all the advantages that you’ve had”(Fitzgerald 1). Then he goes on to state that he usually tries to reserve his judgements. One after another, he stresses that he is not judgemental. Nick also has a secondary role, which means that he is the one observing most situations rather than taking part in them. Fitzgerald makes him

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.”

The irony is clear to the reader in the piece of advice Nick’s father gave him, and so right away he is deemed an unreliable narrator even though these words “Just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you've had”, could be interpreted as an initial plea for us, the reader, to reserve our judgement of him and thus trust his word. Nick’s unjudgemental nature also ends up being the reason as to why the novel is able to progress - without his curiosity about Gatsby the story would not evolve. Although Nick Carraway is an intradiegetic, he is quickly and consistently presented as an outsider, observing Gatsby’s, amongst other character’s stories, without being instrumental in any of the action. He plays a larger part in the smaller subplot; his romance with Jordan Baker, however his memories of events between the two LOVERS lack detail and seem unimportant when compared to the ostentatious doings of Gatsby. Although it seems that the reader is only able to view the characters and identities

Nick is a reliable narrator because he is within and without of the story. Towards the middle of the book thats when Nick and the readers realize that he is “within and without”. “..., simultaneously enchanted by repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” Here, the author portrays Nick as if he was present in mind but absent in heart, he has an overview of everything which means that through him we will see the truth and that he is someone to trust throughout the book.“Human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too looking up and wondering”. Here, the author wants us to know what nick is doing, he is in the scene getting along with them, knows their secrets, but he observes it all and knows what is really going on. Clearly, Nick is reliable because he is within and without, views it all, knows each individual and through him we are able to see what is truly happening between the characters.

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

  In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a specific portrait of American society during the roaring twenties and tells the story of a man who rises from the gutter to great riches. This man, Jay Gatsby, does not realize that his new wealth cannot give him the privileges of class and status. Nick Carraway who is from a prominent mid-western family tells the story. Nick presents himself as a reliable narrator, when actually several events in the novel prove he is an unreliable narrator. Although Nick Carraway may be an unreliable narrator, he is the best narrator for the novel because he creates the correct effect.