The classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one that opens reader’s eyes to the clouded hallow hopes and dreams that came with the famous idea of an American Dream. The hopes that one day a person could make their own wealth and be successful quickly became dead to many around this time and it is played out by characters and conflicts within The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway is the very first character we meet in this story. A young man who came to West Egg, Long Island the summer of 1922 for work unknowingly walked into a summer that would haunt him forever. The character of Nick Carraway is one who is characterized as someone who is extremely observant as well as the mediator between many of the characters. He is always involved …show more content…
with the action simply by being there. Nick not only shapes the book because he is observant as well as the mediator but because he values love, honesty, and friendship, which is shown throughout the novel. The love Nick Carraway has for individual characters are quite obvious. From the text it can be seen that he values love and cares about the people around him. An example of this is seen with Daisy. He cares for her well-being mainly because she is his cousin, but also because he feels sorry for the pain he assumes she is going through. Daisy is aware of the affair going on with her husband Tom as well as everyone else. Nick only finds out because of Jordan, “I thought everyone knew. Why- Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15.1) because of this knowledge it made it easier for Nick to see that Gatsby and Daisy truly did belong together. Another example can be seen with Nick’s relationship with Gatsby. Nick cares so greatly for Gatsby and his hopefulness for the world. “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself” (48.3). From this point on, Nick always described Gatsby as nothing short but extraordinary. He cares a great deal about Gatsby than the other characters in the novel. Jordan comes along as an undertoned love. Many may have missed the subtle sense of love, but it was very present. The first time Nick meets Jordan, he says he “enjoyed looking at her” (11.1). He even believes that he must end his relationship back in Chicago before starting things with Jordan, “Nevertheless there was a vague understanding that had to be tactfully broken off before I was free” (3.169). Their relationship took off from there until the end of the novel where Nick felt as though he needed to break things off. A result that he just could not see things going anywhere, having a deep emotion towards her he felt it was only right. “"I'm thirty," I said.”I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honour." She didn't answer. Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away” (143.8). Nick values love quite dearly in this story and it is seen through these characters: Daisy, Gatsby and Jordan. His love for them shows how much he values and respects his love for them. Even though each love was a very different type of love, Nick still made it a priority during this time period. With love also comes friendship.
Friendship is also another major value of Nick Carraway. Nick Carraway is characterized as a very good listener and is also very open minded. From this it can be inferred that people felt comfortable telling him their secrets and coming to him with their problems. As a man who values friendship and is classified as the, “politician because I was privy to secret grief’s of wild, unknown men” (1.1) Nick was quickly put into the category of a people pleaser. He keeps the secrets of all of his close friends and the people around him. Seen first with Tom, Nick knows about Myrtle and has met her but yet he still does not tell Daisy, his cousin, who he knows is upset about the situation, that he has met Tom’s mistress. Myrtle’s sister Catherine states that, “They both can’t stand who their married to” (33.2) referring to Myrtle and Tom. Even though Tom is not considered a close friend Nick does not tell a soul that he was with Tom and his mistress. This confusing and twisty love triangle get out of hand but is never exposed because of Nick, thus validating his loyalty to his friendships and his …show more content…
relationships. The final and most important friendship that takes place within the story is Nick and Gatsby. Gatsby asks Nick to bring the two (Daisy and Gatsby) together for tea and Nick being the friend that he is agrees, knowing full well that she is going against Tom. The last and final thing Nick ever said to Gatsby was, "They're a rotten crowd . . . . You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together." (8.44-45). Nick reassures Gatsby that he may not be born into money like Daisy and Tom, but he is worth more of them combined. Nick values the friendship he has with Gatsby to another degree by being the only one at his funeral stating, “I was responsible, because no one else was interested- interested, I mean, with the intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end” (165.8). Nick’s quote highlights how no one had been interested in Gatsby but him. He believes that everyone should have this right at the end of the day. The right to have other people be at least interested and invested in who they are. Nick values his friendships individually with each person. All revolve around the idea that Nick keeps his secrets as well as his promises to the friends around him, and even being brutally honest to them many times that needed to be heard to them. Nick explains every story and every conflict with complete honesty.
Nick prides himself on being "one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (3.170). With this, he can be so honest that it can be taken as rude. Nick is a very honest with certain characters even if it is not the nicest things to hear. Gatsby is one of them, “I wouldn't ask too much of her,' I ventured 'You can't repeat the past.' 'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!' He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (111.6 ). Some of the things Nick says to Gatsby aren’t what he wants to hear but he’s being honest with what he says and trying to get Gatsby to move on. Another example can be seen in the end following Myrtle’s death Nick tells Gatsby that he needs to “go away, it’s pretty certain they’ll trace your car” (147.8), being viciously honest that he just needs to give up. Nick tries desperately to “shake him free” (148.8) of his last bit of hope by trying to be honest with the situation. Nick is a very upfront and honest narrator and this honestly is needed when telling the story as well as his values making him a trustworthy
character. In conclusion, the action within The Great Gatsby would not be quite the same narrated through any other characters eyes. Nick Carraway and his values have a significant relationship with each main character in this novel and with this shows his true honest self about whom these characters really are. Nick is a vital character to help understand the storyline. He is honest about each character even if they are not pleasant. He calls things as he sees them. Essentially, he was the fly on the wall for the novel. Being around every main action scene in the novel but is not quite involved gives an outsiders view of the issue. Having his own ideas about each character as well as these intimate relationships with each one he has a more true insight upon their lives making his statements so believable. Nick came into the world of Gatsby and Long Island as someone who held everyone to a high standard and the only character with true values. Honesty, friendship, and love are all values that Nick Carraway possesses that shape the novel as well as understanding the action and plot of the novel. Without Nick Carraway, we would not have The Great Gatsby.
Nick wants the readers to believe that the way he was raised gives him the right to pass judgement on a immoral world. He says, that as a consequence of the way he was raised he is "inclined to reserve all judgements" about other people (page 5). His saying this makes it seem like we can trust him to give a fair unbiased account of the story that he is telling, but we later learn that he does not reserve all judgements. Nick further makes us feel that he is a non-partisan narrator by the way he tells of his past. We come to see that Nick is very partial in his way of telling the story. This is shown when he admits early in the story that he does not judge Gatsby because Gatsby had a "extraordinary gift for hope, a romanric readiness". This made Nick more loyal to Gatsby than other characters in the book.
Nick Carroway is not a very judgmental person, in fact, he himself states that he withholds judgment so that he can get the entire story out of the person to whom he is listening. To say that Nick is both approving and disapproving is not suspiring, for Nick rarely looks at things from only one perspective. Nick finds Gatsby to be ignorantly honest, in that Gatsby could not fathom the idea of saying something without really meaning it. He respects Gatsby for his determination to fit in with the East Egg crowd, though Gatsby does not realize that he does not really fit in with them. On the other hand, Nick sees Gatsby to be excessively flashy and, in the words of Holden Caulfield, 'phony.' Gatsby's whole life is a lie from the moment he left behind the name James Gatz and became Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lies about his past to try to have people perceive him as an 'old money' guy when that really is not necessary. Gatsby's valiant efforts to lure Daisy are respectable, yet they show Gatsby's failure to accept reality and give up on his long lost dream.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, is Gatsby's neighbor in West Egg. Nick is a young man from a prominent Midwestern family. Educated at Yale, he has come to New York to enter the bond business. In some sense, the novel is Nick's memoir, his unique view of the events of the summer of 1922; as such, his impressions and observations necessarily color the narrative as a whole. For the most part, he plays only a peripheral role in the events of the novel; he prefers to remain a passive observer.
His duplicity continues, as he meets Tom’s mistress, and later arranges Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting, even going as far as to say “don’t bring Tom” (85). These are clear deceptions and violations of trust, which both reveal that Nick is not the honest and forthright man he wants the reader to believe his is; on the contrary, in many ways he is the opposite of honest and forthright. However, Nick’s most clearly professed lie is in protection of Daisy, when Tom insists that Gatsby had killed Myrtle, and Nick remains silent, forgoing telling Tom about the “one unutterable fact,” - that it had not been Gatsby who was driving the car when it had hit Myrtle, but Daisy - in favor of protecting Daisy (178). This obvious deception shows that despite Nick’s conviction in his honest character he does not neglect others, who depend on him. Once again, Nick mischaracterizes his traits and even fails to recognize his deceptions and violations of trust as being dishonest, failing to evaluate his own
Being a good friend sometimes means overlooking the obvious. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel set in the 1920s. It details the story of the narrator, Nick Carraway, an aspiring bondsman who has moved to the West Egg section of Long Island from Minnesota in search of business. Nick is considered a man of "new money." He has established and now manages his own wealth.
Nick Carraway is a special character in Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. The fictional story is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway who is deemed to be unbiased, impartial, and non-judgmental in his narratives. At the top layer, he appears to be a genuine and great friend, who seems to be the only true friend and admirer of Great Gatsby. As the story unfolds, readers get glimpses of internal issues that Nick Carraway has that show him as more of a flawed character than previous thought of. The first issue that readers see and challenge in the novel is Nick’s attempt at being an unbiased narrator.
Throughout the entire novel it is clearly portrayed that Nick Carraway is not a moral character by any stretch of the imagination. Nick Carraway may seem to have some good values, but he is in fact immoral for many reasons. First, Nick uses Jordan Baker; he never actually became interested in a serious relationship with the golf star. Miss Baker is basically just a fling to him. Secondly, Nick Carraway always seems to be the middleman in all the trouble that is going on in the novel. The narrator knows about all the lying, deceiving, two-faced things that are going on throughout the story, and he is completely ok with it. Also Nick defends Gatsby even though he very well knows of all Gatsby's criminal activity and liquor smuggling. Finally, Nick is the character who sets up two of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, to have an affair. It never crosses Nick's mind that it is an immoral thing to set up an affair. During the novel there is a discussion between Gatsby and Nick about when to set up the secret meeting with Daisy. During this exchange Nick actually says, "I'm going to call up Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about Nick Caraway, a man who moved into New York in West Egg. He soon finds out that his house borders a mansion of a wealthy man, named Jay Gatsby, who is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchannan. Nick describes his past experiences with Gatsby. He is an unreliable first person narrator, for he is extremely subjective being biased towards Gatsby and he is deceptive, with his lying and past actions. His evaluation of Gatsby is not entirely just, due to his close friendship with Gatsby.
Alli Craig AP Language Mr. Ruddy October 11, 2015 The Great Gatsby Synthesis Essay Nick Carraway the voice telling the story “The Great Gatsby” but the mastermind giving it purpose is the author Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald lived a lifestyle that was very similar to the one we see in Nick. He was also a very average man placed into a society of over the top lifestyles and extravagant wealth, possibly reflecting how Fitzgerald felt as an average person in a thriving time period being the 1920’s where people would do anything to pursue the American Dream. People, especially the rich, primarily value money over basic morals.
The quote that best describes Nick Carraway is, “The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality…in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men”(1). The good qualities of Nick are he is open-minded, a good listener, and tolerant of most things. His bad qualities are that he was affected by the fast life of New York, an example being when he got drunk just because the other people he was with were drunk. F. Scott Fitzgerald developed this character because as the narrator he can tell the readers what is happening. Additionally, he is important because through Nick readers realize how morally empty living a life such as Gatsby’s is.
Nick Carraway is the only character worth knowing in The Great Gatsby. He is living in East Egg with the rich and powerful people. He is on the guest lists to all of their parties and yet he is the person most worthy of attending such parties because he is well bread and his family is certainly not poor. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Ch1, P1). These words were taught to Nick by his father showing the qualities that a man with goals and values would have in a place where goals and values was no existent. His Judgmental eye for character and guts of using them when desired makes him more interesting. He has a greatest fear that he will be all alone by himself.
As Gatsby, at least in the eyes of many critics, should represent the idea of the American Dream, the presentation of his character puts the whole concept in question again, without being intended as criticism. This is mainly the fault of another weak character in the novel, Nick Carraway. At first, the only function of Nick in the novel seems to be to act as a reporter, telling us the truth by telling us his shrewd, objective perceptions. Then, as the novel progresses, it turns out that the opposite is the case, and he is siding with Gatsby to make this character stand above all others and shine. Nick Carraway is one of the finest examples of reader manipulation in literature.
From the beginning of The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is developed as a reliable narrator. His honesty and sense of duty are established as he remarks on his own objectivity and willingness to withhold judgment. However, as the book progresses and Nick’s relationship with Jay Gatsby grows more intimate, it is revealed that Nick is not as reliable as previously thought when it comes to Gatsby. Nick perceives Gatsby as pure and blameless, although much of Gatsby's persona is false. Because of his friendship and love for Gatsby, his view of the events is fogged and he is unable to look at the situation objectively.
“The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a world filled with rich societal happenings, love affairs, and corruption. Nick Carraway is the engaged narrator of the book, a curious choice considering that he is in a different class and almost in a different world than Gatsby and the other characters. Nick relates the plot of the story to the reader as a member of Gatsby’s circle. He has ambivalent feelings towards Gatsby, despising his personality and corrupted dream but feeling drawn to Gatsby’s magnificent capacity to hope. Using Nick as a moral guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to illustrate the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve this, Nick’s credentials as a reliable narrator are carefully established and reinforced throughout the story.
“The Great Gatsby” is one of these stories with its amazing characters and its exaggeration. This book has a major drawback. Gatsby and Nick’s relationship was too close. Gatsby was so cautious that he fired all his servants, but he allowed Nick to stay with him to peek on Daisy and Tom and to make sure Daisy was not hurt. Nick accepted his request to stay outside. This is where Nick contradicts himself again, “I disliked him so much by this time that I didn’t find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.” (Fitzgerald,136). He disliked Gatsby but he still stayed to help. But why should Gatsby, such a cautious person, allow Nick to stay beside him? And why would Nick be willing to stay even if he dislikes Gatsby so much? This part of the story is illogical, and that is why I don’t like this