Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Nick Carraway is both the narrator and a character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. He brings an objective point of view as a character who reserves judgment, so that the audience sees the story free of distortion. Nick, as a narrator and character, acts as a buffer between the story and the audience, keeping them separate, but still allowing the audience know everything he does about the famous Jay Gatsby. Nick’s connections to both East and West Egg give the reader an opportunity to see the characters in the novel as an insider who doesn’t quite fit the description of “new money” or “old money”.
Nick brings an objective point of view to the narration that the audience receives. In the beginning of the novel, Nick says that his father once told him, “‘Whenever you feel like criticising anyone,’ he

At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick knows nothing about Jay Gatsby. The two men grow closer throughout the novel, and the reader discovers new information about the illustrious Gatsby as Nick does. This allows Fitzgerald to gradually release information about Gatsby’s nostalgic and enigmatic character. The audience starts in the same place as Nick, first introduced to Gatsby at the same moment. As Nick becomes Gatsby’s closest friend, so too does the reader. But, as Robert Stone says, “No one— not even his closest friend, Nick Carraway— can claim to truly know him.” Just the fact that Nick is Gatsby’s closest friend is perplexing. Gatsby has spent his entire adult life chasing after Daisy, and Nick is the first to understand that. Nick knows Gatsby for a very short period of time before he knows more about him than anyone else. By being close to Gatsby, Nick gives the reader a unique view that no other characters have. At the same time, Fitzgerald keeps his audience interested and focused on Gatsby above Nick by not allowing Nick to know everything about