The Role of the Narrator in The Great Gatsby

The Role of the Narrator in The Great Gatsby

The role of the narrator is to establish a link with the outside world and the one in

which he lives. Nick in essence becomes the eyes and ears of the novel. And through him

the basis of opinions that occur on the other characters are created. Nick becomes the

sole source for information in the novel. Nick also participates in the novel, and is not

just an observer. Nick provides the novels moral framework.

Nick Carraway the Narrator starts off with a little bit about himself as to provide

some background on his life. 1"I graduated from New Haven in 1915, just a quarter of a

century after my father, and a little later I participated in that delayed Teutonic migration

known as the Great War. I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back

restless.". Nick graduated from a university in New Haven. This provides readers with an

idea of his intelligence. Nick was also involved in World War 1 in which he spent some

time in the trenches. The time he spent there changed his perspective of reality, and it

changed his lifestyle. Gatsby was also involved in the war along with Nick so there is

some similarities between both Gatsby and Nick therefore a link of similar experiences

can be seen between the two.

2"My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city

for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition

that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was

my grandfather's brother, who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War,

and started the wholesale business that my father carries on to-day." This gives insight

into Nick's background...

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..., of which he had

unpure thoughts of. For the most part though it was the upbeat, fast paced lifestyle, that

lured him into New York.

So in closing, Nick the Narrator, was found to be bias in his judgements. In the

novel he makes an exception of judging Gatsby just for the fact that they had the same

sort of life experiences. There are also some important factors that make Nick able to

make these judgements believable. The fact that Nick did not just sit back and judge the

other characters from afar gains his credibility. Nick's credibility is strengthened just by

the fact that he went to parties, drank the alcohol, had sex ( which was frowned upon

before marriage ), and knew that it was wrong all the while. It also makes him more

believeable because he is making judgements, knowing that he himself has done the

same things as the people he is judging.