How Does Nick Carraway Mature In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, the narrator, forges an affectionate, but ambivalent, friendship with Jay Gatsby. Originally, Nick Carraway is from the Middle Western City of Chicago, until he decides to move to New York city, aspiring to live the American dream. Nick rents a small house in the town of West Egg, next to the mansion of Jay Gatsby. After encountering his enigmatic neighbour, Nick learns that Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy, Nick’s cousin, who is married to Tom Buchanan. Gatsby is so deeply in love with Daisy that she becomes his American dream, characterizing her voice “full of money”. In short, Gatsby commits his life to rekindling his love with Daisy, attempting to fulfil all of his dreams. As

Gatsby seeks Daisy, Nick and Gatsby forge an unique relationship. In fact, Nick has ambivalent feelings towards Gatsby because Nick sees through Gatsby’s superficial facade, admiring his persistent pursuit of his American ideals, nevertheless, disagreeing with Gatsby’s means
Through Nick and Gatsby’s relationship, Nick admires Gatsby’s commitment to his dream and his character.

After moving from the Midwest, Nick learns about Gatsby’s enigmatic character through rumors, forging a mysterious initial impression. However, during Nick’s first encounter with Gatsby, Gatsby greets Nick with “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance”. From the beginning, Nick sees through Gatsby’s enigma, encountering a genuine quality. Moreover, Nick admires Gatsby’s “extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness”(2), seeing Gatsby idealize Daisy, fully committed to rekindle their lost love. As a result, Nick admires Gatsby for his ideals- being hopeful and pursuing his dreams- representing the American ideals of the twentieth century. More importantly, through Gatsby, Nick conveys a romantic aspect to the evolving nature of American

idealism.
Through Nick and Gatsby’s relationship, Nick encounters admirable qualities in Gatsby that represent Midwestern values. Nick decides to go East because “the Middle West seemed like the ragged edge of the universe”, whereas the East Coast is “racy” and “adventurous” (3,108). However, Nick quickly learns that the East Coast has “a quality of distortion”, full of selfish and self-protecting people. On the other hand, there is “a little complacent from growing up in the Carraway house in a city”, implying a sense of norm and satisfaction. Therefore, when Nick encounters Gatsby on the East Coast, he sees through Gatsby’s facade and admires his “creative temperament”, alluding to a spontaneous character, representing Midwestern values. Moreover, during Nick’s adventure on the East Coast, he does not encounter many people that possess Midwestern values. In fact, after Nick is disgusted by Tom, Daisy, and Jordan, he tells Gatsby that he is “worth the whole damn bunch put together”. Although Gatsby is a criminal, Nick admires his character and integrity, embodying Midwestern values, making him an honorable friend in their relationship.
Despite admiring Gatsby for his ideals and character, Nick disapproves of Gatsby’s means to achieve his dream, making him ambivalent towards Gatsby.

Gatsby believes that he can win Daisy’s love through his wealth and materialistic stability. Therefore, Gatsby buys an opulent home, “so that Daisy would be just across the bay” in the mere hope of rekindling their love (78). Additionally, Gatsby throws extravagant parties, hoping to lure Daisy, attempting to impress her with his wealth. However, Nick is against Gatsby’s means, stating that Gatsby “represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (2). Since Gatsby represents the American ideals of the twentieth century, it suggests that wealth and materialism prevails society. However, when the Dutch sailors initially came to America, the original American dream was about the “a fresh, green breast of the new world”, referring to the beauty of the nature. Moreover, the land “compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired”, conveying the sailors’ wonder due to the aesthetic beauty, suggesting their limitless dreams. However, during the twentieth century, the exact land that had awed the sailors, “vanished, the trees had made way for Gatsby’s house”, emphasizing that American idealism had been corrupted by

materialism.
Although Nick admires Gatsby’s pursuit of his ideals, Nick disagrees with Gatsby that he can “repeat the past”, displaying Nick’s realism despite his admiration of ideals (110). Nick admires that Gatsby has a dream, to pursue; however, when Gatsby yearns to “repeat the past”, he crosses the line and his dream becomes a distortion. In short, Nick believes that when man, initially, saw the beauty of America, it was “the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder” because any dream after this moment is short of the original. Therefore, regardless of Gatsby’s commitment to his dream, it “was already behind him” (180). Ultimately, after Gatsby dies, Nick affirms himself that it is impossible to “to borne back into the past” because regardless of our efforts, “we beat on... against the current” (180).
Ultimately, when Gatsby dies, Nick knows that he was right, all along, about the blunder of Gatsby’s means and the inability to “repeat the past”, making his dream a distortion. Nick realizes that the East Coast is full of dreamers like Gatsby; however, through Gatsby, Nick realizes that they have a wrong perception of American idealism. Moreover, dreamers like Gatsby “did not know that [their dream] was already behind [them]”, suggesting that their dreams were out of reach, and thus, distorted. Despite witnessing Gatsby’s ideal and inability to attain it, Nick deems “Gatsby turned out all right at the end” (2). Nick is sympathetic towards Gatsby because he truly admires Gatsby’s tenacious pursuit of his dream and his character while acknowledging his imperfections.