Through Rose Tinted Glasses

Nick Carraway does not need glasses. We can tell this from what he tells us, or rather, from what he doesn't. However, his sight is impaired, at least when it comes to Jay Gatsby for Nick sees very little of what he does not like and focuses more on what Gatsby represents to him. He morphs into some kind of beautiful metaphor, yet it is only Gatsby who is allowed such treatment. Nick of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby claims to be a narrator with the greatest form of objectivity, though throughout the book he proves himself by his blind eye and blatant praise of Gatsby and his chastisement for others.

The reader has barely begun the book and almost immediately Nick provides the reader with a most flattering description of the man who lends his name to the novel itself. Nick begins with warning us that Gatsby is not a righteous man, for he scorns Gatsby, but then promptly segues into telling us of his inner beauty despite his aforementioned flaws.We are then treated to a description of Jay Gatsby’s “extraordinary gift for hope, [his] romantic readiness such as [Nick] has never found in any other person and which it is unlikely [he] shall ever find again.” (2) We still have yet to meet Gatsby and here we are bombarded with praises for his “heightened sensitivity to promises of life” (2) and so on. Nick is attempting to teach the reader to condemn the “foul dust” that “floated in the wake of [Gatsby’s] dreams” (2) but still love and admire everything that he represents to Nick. Through doing so, our narrator is setting us up for developing predisposed notions about the character when Nick has just described to us how glad he is that he is “inclined to reserve all judgments” (2) until he is sure of what are that known facts. ...

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...mpaired. When it comes to Jay Gatsby, he only sees him through a pair of rose tinted glasses. He then is not able to be the objective narrator that he claims to be, for he has the ability to sway the reader’s view of Gatsby in his favor and almost forces upon us the need to be more than understanding of him. Thus we are asked to be like Gatsby’s rare smile. Regardless of what the readers may or may not be asked to be, Nick creates for us an uncertain New York. Without the reliability that we he needs to have in objectivity, it could allows us to question the truth in the remainder of his story. We cannot tell if Gatsby is great, for our only descriptions of him are from a man who saw few evils in him. As the reader, to detach yourself from the emotions of the story is difficult, but it does allow you to see the characters slightly more clearly than they be portrayed.