In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald gives insight into Nick’s new perspective, a disgust of the East and his realization that he was utterly out of place there.
Fitzgerald display’s Nick’s growing appreciation for the West. In the beginning of the passage, on 175 he regards coming back with a gift like sentiment. Nick’s memories of return to the West are always on Christmas, which means he views coming home as a gift. “Cheerful as Christmas itself on the tracks beside the gate” when Nick spots the cars on the tracks waiting to bring him back home it gives him as much joy as Christmas itself (175).
The passage is also included to add that Nick is finally realizing that the west is where he truly belonged. He regards Christmas snow as “Our Snow” to imply that Nick has re-accepted the West as his own (175). The line “Before we melted indistinguishably into it again” was included to show that Nick and the other westerners
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coming back are falling right into back into their old life, because it is where they truly belonged. Nick is starting to say “That’s my middle west” and is finally realizing that the east was never his home, and he was always a member of the west (176). Additionally Fitzgerald conveys Nick’s realization that his summer was a story of Westerners not suitable for the East.
Nick notices that although the characters had lived in the east they were not truly from there. “I am part of that”, he mentions as he realizes he is a part of the West and not the East. Fitzgerald also adds realization that “this has been a story of the West, after all.” upon having Nick reminisce on his origin and that of his one time friends (176).
Fitzgerald is expressing another realization, that in which Nick understands that none of the characters were truly meant for the East. Nick notes that maybe the reason the characters all struggled was because they were westerners. “Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common.” Fitzgerald is also showcasing the Nick’s realization that the characters in the book were not equipped for eastern life “we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to eastern life”
(176). This passage is also meant to establish Nick’s new distorted and disgusted view of the East. Fitzgerald shows his view of the east through a dream nick had, which involves a horrible distorted view of his former home. “I see it as a night scene by El Greco” El Greco painted all of his paintings with a quality of darkness in the faces of his characters. Most all of his characters have an eerie quality of dismay in their faces. Meaning, Nick is views the east with distortion, and a quality of chaos. Nick views his former home on long island as lustreless and abysmal now. “A hundred houses, at once conventional and grotesque, crouching under a sullen, overhanging sky and lustreless moon.” Fitzgerald is including this to show that Nick’s once glimmering impression of west egg is now nothing a faded and distorted memory (176). Nick describes the end of his dream to reaffirm that he has came to a dark conclusion, that the party is over and it has just tossed everyone out in the end. “Four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress” The men who were clearly attending a party, but are now leaving. Fitzgerald is signaling to the audience that the party is over. Another observation by nick is included to further add to the assertion that all the eastern party life they had been leading will do is drain the life from a person and then toss them out in the end. “Gravely the men turn in at the house—the wrong house. But no one knows that woman’s name, and no one cares” (176). Fitzgerald also includes a direct statement from nick about his disgust for the east. “After Gatsby’s death the east was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction.” Nick is meaning that Gatsby’s death caused him to lose his sense of hopefulness for the east. Gatsby had a strong sense of hope and when he died he took Nick’s capacity for hope along with him. He now sees the east with disgust and pessimism, only looking at the harsh aspects of that side of the country (176). Fitzgerald used the last passage of The Great Gatsby to provide Nick’s new sense of belonging in the West and disgust for the East.
As a way of bettering themselves, they leave behind the only life they knew. Jim goes to law school at Harvard and Nick studies at New Haven in Connecticut. On their return from the east back to the Midwest both come to the realization that everything is different. Nick, on one of his first return trip home, felt that “instead of being the warm center of the world, the Middle West now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe” (Fitzgerald 3). Nick was excluded from a life he had previously felt comfortable in. Instead of trying to re-adjust to his old life, Nick makes his way back east to try and reestablish himself somewhere else. Similarly, when Jim returns home from Harvard he is disappointed in his hometown. When he first arrived he was able to reminisce about his past, but he was soon able to see that everything was different, as “most of my old friends were dead or moved away. Strange children, who meant nothing to me, were playing […] I hurried on” (Cather 237). Movement from the Midwest to the east coast has caused both Nick and Jim to shun their places of origin. They do not completely fit in anymore or feel like they still
In chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates the change of Nick’s emotions. During the early 1920s a new dawn buds out with Nick, and Tom traveling to New York. On their way they stop to visit Tom’s lover Myrtle Wilson at the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle Wilson invites Tom, Nick, the Mckee family, and her sister Catherine to her apartment for a party in New York. During the end of the party Nick expresses a variety of emotions, as he is “enchanted” and “repelled” by the arguments, and the careless gibberish of the drunken souls . Nick is enchanted by the amount of secrecy humans can disclose to a “casual watcher” when they are careless. He is “repelled” by the arguments and the derogatory comments Myrtle, and Tom makes about other people as they start to drink more.
Among the first indicators of Nick’s unreliability as a narrator is shown through his extreme misunderstanding of his father’s advice. When Nick’s father told him that “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had” (1) he most likely meant not all people have the same opportunities in life. However, Nick perverted his father’s meaning and understood it as “a sense of the fundamental decencies us parceled out unequally at birth” (2). Nick’s interpretation of his father’s advice provides insight into his conceited, somewhat supercilious attitude, as he believes that not all people are born with the same sense of manners and morality.
Nick and Jordan are intrigued to discover who Gatsby was. Unexpectedly, Nick discovers a man who remembered him from WWI was Gatsby. Nick illustrates the idiosyncratic Gatsby’s exquisite appearance, his solitude since he is a non-alcoholic, and his reputation. Nick crafts Gatsby’s description, “His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day...the fact that he was not drinking helped to set him off from his guests...no one swooned backward on Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby’s shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby’s head for one link” (Fitzgerald 50). Nick’s fascination for Gatsby is clearly evident during the chapter. Since Nick’s fascination for Gatsby is insatiable and he is neighbors with Gatsby, a bond may be established between each other. Also, Gatsby’s solitude is caused by the misinterpretation of his guests of his true persona and there oblivious of his existence. This solitude is displayed in the gratitude he received from the opportunistic, unloyal women. From the information asserted, Tom and Gatsby’s personalities are clearly
In the Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald the novel does not reflect an autobiography, but several of Fitzgerald’s personal experiences are reflected in it. Similarities can be drawn between the novel and Scott Fitzgeralds own life. Similarities include Gatsby and Fitzgerald 's want for success through continuous failure, dreams of success, strong feelings towards alcohol, and their love life. Nick’s qualities that relate to Fitzgerald include his honesty as a man in relation to the liars surrounding him. Also his mid western values to not be judgemental makes him a perfect observer, but also makes him the perfect outsider, which is how Fitzgerald always felt in the company of rich people. The relation between Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby
Nick speaks for Fitzgerald and that’s the novels mission is an essentially straightforward criticism of the “American Dream.” The use of Nick in the novel by Fitzgerald may also play a role in Nick being unreliable, although he does bring moral to the novel. Nick is a very misleading narrator, further, given the story: a simultaneous narration would have made for clunky exposition. Nick talks not only about the events as they unfold, but stories from the past. He cuts across the present with flashbacks from the past often, and many times the flashbacks aren’t his either.
Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel. He is not just one character among several, it is through his eyes and ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. Often, readers of this novel confuse Nick's stance towards those characters and the world he describes with those of F. Scott Fitzgerald's because the fictional world he has created closely resembles the world he himself experienced. But not every narrator is the voice of the author. Before considering the "gap" between author and narrator, we should remember how, as readers, we respond to the narrator's perspective, especially when that voice belongs to a character who, like Nick, is an active participant in the story.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses tone, diction, syntax and imagery to voice Nick's perception of the world around him. In this passage his use of language is used repetitively to convey Jordan Baker, Daisy and Tom Buchanan's lives. On the outside it may look like they all are living a perfect and ideal life, however Fitzgerald's illuminating use of language highlights how far from perfect their lives truly are.
Fitzgerald presents us with the conflict between the illusion and the reality of the American dream. The novel begins in the present tense, and is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator and moral centre of the novel. His tale is told in retrospect, if not. Nick Carraway is a young man from the Mid West. introducing himself as a graduate of Yale and a veteran of World War One.
Through Fitzgerald's use of symbolism, expectations, and relationships, he explores the American dream, and how it is an illusion that corrupts and destroys lives. Through Fitzgerald’s symbolic description of Gatsby, he explores the extent of the American Dream’s deceptive nature that slowly destroys a person and his/her morals. During the Roaring 20s it was very common for people to project illusions to mask who they truly were; to fit in, it was almost essential to have one to survive in the highly materialistic and deceitful society. Nick is introduced as the objective narrator of the novel.... ...
“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.
Fitzgerald uses the character of Nick Carraway as the theme of moral corruption is explored via the technique of narration. Nick moved to West Egg where he met his new mysterious neighbour Jay Gatsby, whom he believes is the opposite of what he represents. Nick Carraway on the outside can be seen as a moral and steadfast person, but he too is not without his own faults and moral corruption. A major example is how Nick uses Jordan Baker, whom he never thought of her and himself being in a serious relationship.
One of the aspects I enjoyed about Fitzgerald’s novel is that Nick is a very intriguing character to discover. He has a rich back-story. He was a mid-western man who graduated from Yale. Later, he served in the army during the First World War, and this caused him to be restless, which led him to discover the bond business. He earned some money
Nick thinks the East is more exciting than the MidWest in terms of the way of life. He goes on about the fascination and thrill of the parties and wealth he is exposed to following his arrival in the East. The metaphor and simile Fitzgerald uses, comparing the MidWest to “the warm center of the world” and to “like the ragged edge of the universe,” emphasizes the perspective change in the way of life. The center is meant to drag people into appreciating their essence, but Nick is dissatisfied and restless, choosing bond business as an alternative. Nick realizes the opportunity to go to the East opens up a new experience, perhaps pleasing. However, Nick’s innocence is consumed by the corruption of close relations. The exposure to the less prevalent features of the East draws him further from the Nick he once was back in the MidWest. The direction Nick chooses strongly shows the power decisions have on his life. If Nick had not sought for a change in his life, which was prosperous enough, a mishap would have been
In Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrator Nick takes the time to list and describe many of the guests that visited Gatsby in his residence during the summer of 1922. The list of Gatsby’s guests includes people from different social groups and parties. There are people from East Egg, the location of “old money” and social importance and people from West Egg, the location of “new money” where people are trying to fit into the society as people from East Egg. Even though all of Gatsby’s guests come from different places and have different morals, they all have one thing in common, which Nick states as, “those who accepted Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him”(Fitzgerald