Nick's Transformation In The Great Gatsby

Nick is a developing character, he is gifted with the ability to withhold crucial information in order to let us; the readers develop our own, perhaps biased, view of the character of “Gatsby”. Throughout the novel, Nick gains an insight into stereotypical rich human nature; a life of luxury and carelessness, however he also concludes that some of the “new money” differ vastly from the old money, and have the capability to avert a life of languidness and discord. In the first pages of the novel Nick describes himself and his values, he tells us that Gatsby “represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” and, yet, “…there was something gorgeous about him” Although Nick greatly disapproves of Gatsby’s method of obtaining his fortune,

Nick acknowledges that Gatsby has an “incorruptible” dream and Gatsby has some sense of honour and courage, which may perhaps have stemmed from his wartime years. As the novel progresses, the friendship between Nick and Gatsby matures; Nick begins to comprehend what motivates Gatsby, which, in turn, triggers momentary shifts in the narrative voice. Nick attempts to delve into the mind of Gatsby in order to gain an insight into what Gatsby may have been thinking, as he re-tells the events that occurred.

Nick sees the purity in Gatsby’s dream and the monotonous life of the privileged crowd like Tom, Daisy, and Jordan who all belong to the "rotten crowd" because of their selfish, materialistic, and cruel

behaviours. Gatsby is "worth the whole damn bunch put together" because he gave himself over to his dream in his entirety; when the dream dissipates, there is nothing left for Gatsby to live for.

From the first meeting of Gatsby in chapter 3, Nick views Gatsby as a dreamer; his smile had a “quality of eternal reassurance in it” that Nick admired as it was much more than understanding that was conveyed through the small act.

However with the absence of this smile Nick almost comes back to reality as if Gatsby’s smile almost had a hypnotising quality to it. This is shown through the “strong impression” of Gatsby that “he was picking his words with care”. Nick sees the duality of Gatsby; he sees the dreamer and he sees the conformer, (to superficially constructed standards) as demonstrated through his “formality of speech” that “just missed being absurd”. Nick appears to prefer the “dreamer” boyish side of Gatsby, he likes his sense of hope and magic even amidst of the superficial socialites of the fashionable East Egg. Nick loathes the “old money”, such as Tom Buchanan, as these people are generally consumed by self-absorption and lack the ability to feel any real emotion, as shown by Daisy crying over the “beautiful shirts”. Nick shouts out, "You´re worth the whole damn bunch put together." As a method of consolation, and also to remind Gatsby that he is not like the “careless people” of West

Egg.

Nick gave Gatsby his only compliment after his many encounters with him, once he had had time to confirm to himself that Gatsby was pure of heart. Nick was initially doubtful and suspicious of Gatsby- a mysterious criminal whose past was unknown and based upon hearsay, after their first few meetings Nick's doubts would appear to significantly diminish and eventually become replaced by an aggrandizement of Gatsby and the dedication with which he held onto his dreams.

Meanwhile, Nick expressed only feelings of disdain and loathe to the “rotten crowd” that his cousin belonged to; unwilling risk a romance with Gatsby, despite wanting to call of her own wedding after receiving a note from Gatsby, Daisy consciously prevented the past feelings she had for him and pretended the whole affair had never happened; she would then flee East Egg with her husband Tom, disregard Gatsby's funeral, and never thank Gatsby for taking blame for the murder that she had committed. Everyone who had attended Gatsby's parties and associated with him never did so out of true friendship, but rather out of selfishness and their desires to be associated with money/high-end parties, this could be shown through the use of Gatsby’s assumptions, the superficiality and the concept of being used has become a second-nature to him, as shown when he asks Nick to take a swim with him in the pool as “he hasn’t made use of it all summer” . This was proven by the fact that literally no-one showed up for Gatsby's funeral except for Nick, which juxtaposes to. the “thousands” who had consistently attended those weekly parties that Gatsby would hold.

Although Gatsby was the richest out of West Egg, it was not his desire for money that drove his ambition, it was his desire to “repeat the past”; to go back to the life of happiness that he lived “one autumn five years earlier”.. He had illegitimately earned his money and social standing, thus characterising an dishonourable character but, ironically he was still the only one who showed a genuine character to Nick.

Perhaps Nick is proud of giving Gatsby the “only compliment I ever gave him”, as he feels remorse for never defending Gatsby in public, for which he may feel some aspects of cowardice. This quote from The Great Gatsby, allied with the quote at the beginning of the novel in chapter 1, in which Nick says "Gatsby turned out all right in the end" shows Nick's alliance with Gatsby and his dreams. The irony, of course, is that Nick only privately condones Gatsby, never publicly--a kind of cowardly admission.
The "rotten crowd" to whom Nick is referring to could, in modern days be narrowed down to the Marxist bourgeoisie, or the historically rich like the Buchanans, Tom and Daisy, who run away from their problems and hide behind their money.
Ultimately Nick views Gatsby higher than the “bourgeoisie” and even the poor of the “valley of ashes” because of his boyish, romantic dreams, because his desires have honourable and non-malicious intent, they are simply to relive the perfect past that he had had with Daisy.