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Book report of the great gatsby
Chapter by chapter study of the great gatsby
Chapter by chapter study of the great gatsby
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Nick Carraway, in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, seems to be the focal point of attention. This seems to be the case throughout the book, since he is the narrator of the book and the reader is only seeing the story from Nick’s point of view. Since Nick appears to be the focal point, we get to see the positives and negatives of his personality. Nick believes that he is an honest man. “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known (page 59),” Nick says. Thomas Hanzo agrees with this concept of Nick being an honest man. He thinks that nick is honest, but limited because he does not speak up. Gary J. Scrimgeour, however, looks at it from the opposite view. Scrimgeour believes that Nick is weak and essentially dishonest. In this case, Scrimgeour …show more content…
He is friends with Gatsby, when he does not have many friends, and believes that he is doing the right thing most of the time. He is always trying to make everyone happy which can lead to him being weak and too innocent. His attempt to make everyone happy leads to his dishonesty. There are many examples of his dishonest throughout the novel such as his dishonesty to Daisy Buchanan, to Jordan Baker, and about Myrtle Wilson’s death. Nick shows his dishonesty first by not telling either Daisy Buchanan, his cousin, or her husband, Tom, about each other’s affairs. In the attempt of Nick Carraway trying to not upset Daisy and Tom, he turns into being very dishonest to these characters. He is dishonest with Daisy because he did not tell Daisy about Tom’s affair with Myrtle. Nick clearly knew about Tom’s affair with Myrtle Wilson. Nick knows this because as Tom and Nick are headed to New York City, the train makes a stop at the Valley of Ashes, and this is where Tom forces Nick to leave the train with him. After a little bit, Nick finds out about Tom’s inappropriate relationship with Myrtle, but he does not do anything about it. Instead, he puts up with it and goes to a party with them in
A part of the novel that had heavy effect on Nick Carraway was when he hides Toms secrets and as well as Daisy and Gatsby’s. Tom reveals that he has an affair with another woman named Myrtle, but Nick doesn't tell daisy about it. Also, Gatsby was Daisy’s first love. Nick helped them meet, and have affairs behind Tom’s back. He was covering the mistake of others which can end up in huge problems if revealed. Sadly, Nick decides to stay silent from both side, and ended up getting along with everything. Because of this, another mess occurred; Myrtle dies in a car accident. Slowly, Nick becomes devastated with all this, and starts to change a bit.
As an unreliable person cannot be considered a credible source, Nick Carraway does not reflect the characteristics of a reliable narrator. From the very beginning Nick had no chance of being reliable, due to his god-like role assigned to him by Fitzgerald. This role not only gave him motivation to paint others in a poor light but also opportunities to show just how human he is in his hypocrisy. As Nick is human and a main component of the story, his narration is heavily biased in favor of Gatsby and this is made apparent in his
In his novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the character of Nick Carroway as a decent person. Nick stands out when being compared to the other characters in the story. It is Nick's honesty with himself and toward others, his morality, and his unbiased, slow to judge qualities that make him the novel's best character.
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.
In the beginning, Nick Carroway was very tolerant of the numerous affairs happening within his circle of friends and acquaintances. Shortly after Nick was first introduced to Daisy's husband Tom, he learned of an affair happening between he and another woman from New York. Nick seemed surprised to hear this, yet he kept quiet about it. Nick was also introduced later to the woman Tom had been having an affair with, Myrtle Wilson, the gas station attendant's wife. Nick did not speak to Tom of his infidelity he instead remained tolerant of it. And later when Tom and Nick met her in town, he still kept his thoughts to himself, rather than becoming involved in the conflict. Also, with Daisy and Gatsby's relationship Nick remained tolerant of the scandal. For example, when he set up the reunion of Daisy and Gatsby within his own home. He was aware of the sin, but he did not actually come forward with his opinion on the matter. Daisy would often go to Gatsby's house in the afternoons, and still Nick would remain tolerant of the immoral acts performed by his cousin.
Nick goes attends a small party with Tom, his mistress ,and a couple of there friends, at said party he witnesses Tom hit his mistress but does nothing about it (Fitzgerald 41). Nick not responding to this could show that he is not a man for confrontation. Nick is not a man to stand up for someone else, especially against someone such as Tom. This is prevalent throughout the book. For example, in the later chapter seven, Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Jay, and Nick are all in a hotel room together when Tom and Jay get into a sort of altercation (Fitzgerald 137-144). In this it is shown again that Nick won’t stand up to Tom no matter how wrong Tom may be. Nick lets Tom be hypocritical by not mentioning a word about Tom’s affair to Jay. If Jay were to know about the affair he would have a much better argument instead of getting demolished and belittled by Tom’s verbal assault. Not only is Nick not standing up against Tom, he is also not standing up for his friend, Gatsby. Nick not taking action in these two cases helps drive the plot because it allows Tom to walk all over Gatsby and stop him from taking Daisy away. This eventually leads to the death of myrtle and Gatsby's death (FitzGerald 147,
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is illustrated as the most honest character in the book when all of the other characters are just the opposite. Myrtle Wilson, the spouse of George B. Wilson, is dishonest in the way that she’s trying to live a life that she doesn’t belong in by cheating on Tom Buchanan. She first lies to George in the book before she heads to New York with Tom and Nick. She claims to be going to see her sister when Tom says “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he is alive.” (26) Myrtle goes on to spending Tom’s money on things she doesn’t even have room for back home in the Valley of Ashes.
Another character who displays such qualities is Daisy’s husband, Tom. Tom is even more dishonest than Daisy, a notion that begins taking shape with the discovery of Tom’s "girl" in the city. Tom proves to be a man of little morals. Although he confronts Daisy about morals in her relationship with Gatsby, Tom has his own woman on the side. Also, he lets this fact be known by others as though it does not bother him, an exposing of his nature. Later, after Myrtle is killed in the accident, Tom shows sadness, but not remorse. Tom then instructs George to murder Gatsby, an act that comes more from a heart seeking revenge for Daisy than for Myrtle.
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.
In the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, Fitzgerald explored the idea of self-delusion through Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Nick often describes himself as ‘‘Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known’. The quote above was referred to when he wants to officially in a relationship with Jordan, he must end his relationship with another girl at home. Throughout the novel, Nick wants to build himself up as an honest person and also as a viewer. But as the story goes on, we can clearly tell that he had self-deluded about his personality and his position in the story. There were two affairs in the story, one was Myrtle and Tom and the other one was Gatsby
One way in which Fitzgerald achieves this gradually change in opinion is through his use or narration. By using Nick Carraway as his reliable reporter of events, Fitzgerald creates an honest and truthful narrator for the readers. Nick himself says, “ I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.” Through this we can see the true opinion of nick on Gatsby and as his views changed, my admiration grew with his.
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had’” (Fitzgerald 5). Nick was the nonjudgemental narrator of the book, The Great Gatsby. Without Nick Gatsby’s true inner self would have never been revealed. Gatsby lied his way into his fame in fortune and lied into Daisy’s heart. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Gatsby isn't as great as he seems; his obsessive traits and fabricated past seem to tell a different story.
In his renowned book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald achieves one of his greatest technical inventions in the form of the narrator Nick Carraway, a character who embodies a critical, moral judgment that contrasts sharply with the wild and crude/despicable personalities of Gatsby’s world, a world choked by the arrogant rich and exploited by the party-going crowd. Through Nick’s observations, the reader explores both the struggles and the aspirations of the mysterious Gatsby, a strangely anti social figure with a tragic past and a hopeful dream.
In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a specific portrait of American society during the roaring twenties and tells the story of a man who rises from the gutter to great riches. This man, Jay Gatsby, does not realize that his new wealth cannot give him the privileges of class and status. Nick Carraway who is from a prominent mid-western family tells the story. Nick presents himself as a reliable narrator, when actually several events in the novel prove he is an unreliable narrator. Although Nick Carraway may be an unreliable narrator, he is the best narrator for the novel because he creates the correct effect.
Nick is not considered the perfect and innocent character in this book. He is a manipulator and excellent liar (“Great”, Scott). Nick thinks that he is above every characters wrongdoing. For example, he feels he is superior to Tom’s infidelities, Jordan Baker’s lies, and Gatsby’s criminal acts. However, little does he know he takes part in some of those wrongdoings (Hays). Nick can also be confusing at times. There are moments in the book where Nick thinks Gatsby has something to hide and that Gatsby is mysterious. Then, there are other times where Nick believes that Gatsby is the only honest character (Roulston). Therefore, one can conclude that Nick is not a very stable individual. He has been proven to switch up on the reader. He acts and says one thing but then later he actions are totally opposite.