Morality In The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader is introduced to Nick, one who believes to have phenomenal morals, yet shows no signs. Nick Carraway refines himself throughout the novel to become someone that truly is a moral being. By examining Nick’s morality and how it reverses itself from being unreliable to trustworthy, the reader learns that it takes acting upon to express reliability. The use of the word unreliable is to emulate those who believe themselves to be moral, yet have no evidence to back that up. While, the use of trustworthy and reliabiliy is to show the complete opposite of those with “unreliable morality.”
Early in the story, the reader is made aware of the fact that Nick indentifies himself as a moral being, “in consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores” (1). Nick is clearly tooting his own horn, he gives not one piece of sheer physical evidence as to why he believes that he is a moral being. The quote shows that he sees morality as a limitation against himself, using the phrase “in consequence.” He talks how being moral makes his life is a bore and that this lifestyle

“I'd been writing letters once a week and signing them: ‘Love, Nick,’ and all I could think of was how, when that certain girl played tennis…” (58). Nick talks about his girlfriend he left in Chicago, yet here he is falling for another woman, Jordan Baker. Throughout the next couple chapters he talks about his intrigue and relationship with Jordan. Every once in a while, mentioning how he still needs to break up with his girlfriend from Chicago. The character’s behavior shows that even though Nick claims he is a moral person, does not mean he truly is moral. Actions speak louder than words, and here Fitzgerald is, stating that Nick is not what he says he