The Great Gatsby: Nick’s Reliability as a Narrator The Great Gatsby is a novel that was written in 1925 by author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is a novel that follows various characters that reside in fictional towns within the hot summer period of 1922. The story focuses on Gatsby, a fortunate but rather mysterious man. The first person introduced into the story, Nick Carraway is a character who holds a special role. He is in charge of narrating the story from his point of view. Similar to when parents would tell their child a story from their past. Nick is a promising character who is known as being omniscient, non-judgemental, and deemed of having the up most integrity. From the characteristics listed latter, Nick Carroway is a reliable narrator …show more content…
within the novel. To being omniscient is the capacity to know everything there is to know.
Nick is a first person (peripheral) narrator, meaning he is not the centre of attention but always on the outside view. He seems to have gained a reputation throughout his earlier years, “So it came about that in College I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown to men.” (Fitzgerald, 5) He is known as being a politician in the beginning of the book by strangers solely because he went to college and he appears to be intelligent. This also gives him the opportunity to being almost “invisible” in the novel because he is, “inclined to reserve all judgements…” (5) Having these types of characteristics provide him with the ever present, all knowing, God like capabilities that make him a reliable …show more content…
narrator. It is amazing to be able to have a sense of what is right or wrong, to be able to strive and become a better person. But there is always a danger to becoming way too cocky and impose one’s standards towards other people. Nick is a person who does not think too critical towards other characters within the story. This represents Nick as being non- judgemental, which is one of the more “tough” traits to obtain. Throughout childhood, Nick was taught by his father at such an early point in his life. His father told him to be aware and grateful of the advantages he has had over the rest of the world, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had” (5) Since he was told this at such a young age, Nick has been given the chance to express and practice this certain trait throughout his lifetime. He also noticed the rarity of this trait, being well aware of how many people within the novel tend to evade being non- judgemental, because of where that individual grew up in. He mentioned, “Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.” (6) This means he stands by being non- judgemental and fully supports the fact that it is one of the most important traits a person must obtain. Being unprejudiced will present Nick as being a reliable narrator. When one is honest and have strong moral principles, they are known for having a personal trait called integrity.
To have integrity is a key point to being a reliable narrator. Nick was aforementioned to being non-judgemental. But there is much more that he can add on to his personal résumé. Nick is also a very sincere and honest person (always telling the truth). This can be seen when Nick professes to having high personal standards of integrity, “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (81) This was said towards Jordan (his love throughout the novel) and her dishonesty. Jordan is a person who is dishonest, cynical, boyish, and self centered. But she is also very beautiful and that is what entrapped Nick into having a romantic relationship with her. Nick notices that and agrees to the fact of the female deception. He willingly falls to supress the truth. Throughout the story he also has to make moral choices that hold integrity. This is always putting him in situations where it, “also made [him] the victim of not a few veteran bores… frequently [he has] feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity” (5) some of these situations was accepting Daisy’s love for Gatsby or holding a relationship between him and Jordan. Nick is a person who tells the truth as he sees it, as an unbiased witness to the events of the story. This is important to the story because it involves the reader make him or her ask
questions. An individual has to keep in mind the point of a narrator. The narrator’s job is to keep the audience intrigued and keep reading. Throughout the story there is no character other than Nick who can take up this task. The person must be able to be omniscient, non-judgemental, and hold up integrity. Since every other character in the book is raised completely differently because of the social stratification. Nick is held most viable for this key role in the story. Particular others may disagree with the fact that Nick is the most reliable narrator because he may have lied about being non-judgemental in the story. Or because he let his integrity gets the best of him. But he did say in the beginning of the book at the introduction, “And. After boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit…” (6) Here he answered that as much as he can tolerate, there is a certain limit that he may reach. This is him being completely honest and argues against whichever individual thinks he is an unreliable narrator. To become reliable one is supposed to be consistently good in quality, or performance, and must be able to be trusted.
Nick wants the readers to believe that the way he was raised gives him the right to pass judgement on a immoral world. He says, that as a consequence of the way he was raised he is "inclined to reserve all judgements" about other people (page 5). His saying this makes it seem like we can trust him to give a fair unbiased account of the story that he is telling, but we later learn that he does not reserve all judgements. Nick further makes us feel that he is a non-partisan narrator by the way he tells of his past. We come to see that Nick is very partial in his way of telling the story. This is shown when he admits early in the story that he does not judge Gatsby because Gatsby had a "extraordinary gift for hope, a romanric readiness". This made Nick more loyal to Gatsby than other characters in the book.
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
His duplicity continues, as he meets Tom’s mistress, and later arranges Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting, even going as far as to say “don’t bring Tom” (85). These are clear deceptions and violations of trust, which both reveal that Nick is not the honest and forthright man he wants the reader to believe he is; on the contrary, in many ways he is the opposite of honest and forthright. However, Nick’s most clearly professed lie is in protection of Daisy, when Tom insists that Gatsby had killed Myrtle, and Nick remains silent, forgoing telling Tom about the “one unutterable fact,” - that it had not been Gatsby who was driving the car when it had hit Myrtle, but Daisy - in favor of protecting Daisy (178). Once again, Nick mischaracterizes his traits and even fails to recognize his deceptions and violations of trust as being dishonest, failing to evaluate his own traits. By highlighting Nick’s opinions of and interactions with life amongst the rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald crafts Nick into a complex character whose contrasting thoughts and actions create a many leveled, multifaceted character who shows the reader that one’s appraisal of one’s own traits can often be incorrect.
development of a genuineness. & nbsp; Another time that Nick shows his development into a more genuine. person is when he helps rekindle the love between Jay Gatsby and Daisy. He does this by setting up a surprise meeting at his house. Gatsby knew of this because he had asked him to do it. At this time in the novel is when Nick says "I'm going to call Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea. It is a good idea. (Gatsby, p.82) This shows that Nick is genuine because he is trying.
Nick attempts to deceive the reader at the beginning of the novel by describing himself as a man who is inclined to reserve all judgments (3). But Nick actually evaluates everyone based off his own bias judgments. He describes Jordan Baker as an incurably dishonest (57) and careless person (58). Tom and Daisy are careless people who “smash-up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or vast carelessness” (179), according to Nick’s description. He describes Mr. McKee as feminine (30). Nick also describes George Wilson as a spiritless man (25). He is effectively not reserving his judgments. This deception and lying from Nick is another reason why he is an unreliable narrator, which goes against how Nick generally describes himself as an honest man who reserves all judgments, showing his non-objective stance.
Nick is our narrator and the voice of reason in a time and place where parties are the goals and having a good time is all that matters. Parties at Gatsby’s mansion are the rule not the exception and all who attend pay homage to their false prophet Gatsby. He is their leader the charming man living in a mansion and driving and awesome care. Too bad he has no sense of real worth. Yet nick seems to be loyal to him the whole time “They're a rotten crowd, “I shouted across the lawn. “You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.”I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end. First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile, as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on that fact all the time” (Pg 162). Nick appears on the sidelines more than in the mix with all the drinkers and boasters and unfaithful spouses. “I forgot to ask you something,...
At the very beginning Nick states, “In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements” (Fitzgerald 1). This is a complete lie, he tells the reader that he does not judge, but when Gatsby dies he criticizes Tom and Daisy for being the villains of the story. When he meets up with Tom at the very end, he says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money” (Fitzgerald 179). This is another example of him being biased towards certain characters. The worst part of it all is that after he says that he is reserving all judgment, he judges, “Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction-Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 2). He is calling out Daisy and Tom but praises Gatsby instead. Another excellent example of Nick judging characters is found when he meets Wilson and goes to that little party. He describes Wilson as, “a blond, spiritless man” (Fitzgerald 25). Nick also judges Mr. McKee as being, “a pale, feminine man” (Fitzgerald 30). Nick is being rude and judgmental towards these minor characters, even though he said he does not judge. Nick is also the type of narrator that does not tell you everything. When Nick goes to Tom’s apartment and has a party, there is a moment towards the end where they are ellipsis and then it immediately jumps to another scene, “Beauty and the Beast…Loneliness…Old Grocery Horse…Brook’n Bridge…Then I was lying half asleep in the cold lower…” (Fitzgerald 38). This shows that Nick does not tell you everything, he only tells you what he wants the reader to know. This displays Nick as an unreliable narrator. Towards the last pages of the book Tom is talking about how Gatsby deserved to die and while he is talking, he cuts him off, “When I went to give up that
In the book “The Great Gatsby” we have the character Nick, which at first, gave the impression of a nice person, because in the book he states that keeps all judgments to himself, stated in, this quote, “ In consequence I am inclined to reserve all judgments.” This gives an idea that Nick while knowing the character of another keeps his ideas to himself, in addition, it shows that Nick is aiming to keep the judgments that his father gave him with out giving up, even though it has caused Nick a lot of trouble. That make Nick boring, nonetheless, he continued showing an ambition to keep his fathers advise, ...
At the beginning of the book, Nick's dependability is demonstrated as he recounts various information about himself. He is “inclined to reserve all judgments”(1), a trait that implies objectivity and therefore reliability as a narrator. However, he continues to say that this reservation of judgment has certain limits, especially recently in his life. These limits, apparently, do not apply to Gatsby, as evidenced in the next line. Nick says that only Gatsby “was exempt from [his] reaction”, even though Gatsby “represented everything for which [he has] an unaffected scorn”. He then continues to praise Gatsby's “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life”, and his “extraordinary gift of hope”(2). This beginning excerpt from the book in the first two pages sets the tone for the rest of the book and foreshadows the events that are going to happen. It is one of the most important sections of the book, as it lays out ...
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”, is one of the few novels he wrote in 1925. The novel takes place during the 1920’s following the 1st World War. It is written about a young man named Nick, from the east he moved to the west to learn about the bond business. He ends up moving next to a mysterious man named Gatsby who ends up giving him the lesion of his life.
He becomes our eyes and ears in this world and we have to see him as reliable if we are to proceed with the story's development. In The Great Gatsby, Nick goes to some length to establish his credibility, indeed his moral integrity, in telling this story about this "great" man called Gatsby. He begins with a reflection on his own upbringing, quoting his father's words about Nick's "advantages", which we could assume were material but, he soon makes clear, were spiritual or moral advantages. Nick wants his readers to know that his upbringing gave him the moral fiber with which to withstand and pass judgment on an amoral world, such as the one he had observed the previous summer. He says, rather pompously, that as a consequence of such an upbringing, he is "inclined to reserve all judgments" about other people, but then goes on to say that such "tolerance. . .
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character Nick Carraway is one of the main characters in this novel. Nick isn’t only a character, he is a great narrator also for this novel. In The Great Gatsby the narrator, Nick, is the only one to seem to be know the real Gatsby and to be on Gatsby's side. He wants the readers to know who Gatsby really is and why he has become who is. Nick also talks about how he feels and his character is conflicted internally and externally.
In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a novel set in The Roaring Twenties, portraying a flamboyant and immortal society of the ‘20s where the economy booms, and prohibition leads to organized crimes. Readers follow the journey about a young man named Jay Gatsby, an extravagant mysterious neighbor of the narrator, Nick Carraway. As the novel evolves, Nick narrates his discoveries of Gatsby’s past and his love for Daisy, Nick’s married cousin to readers. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald develops the theme of the conflict which results from keeping secrets instead of telling the truth using the three characters – Tom Buchanan, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby (James Gats).
...themselves. Even when confronted with a disproof of his perfectly honest nature, as Jordan does late in the novel, Nick responds with an appeal to his belief in his own honesty-his myth about himself is that sacred. Much like Gatsby's self-image, Nick's belief in his own honesty seems to spring from the Platonic conception of honesty, and, much like Gatsby, he simply ignores or rationalizes away anything that comes into conflict with his belief. Nick Carraway is far from one of the few honest narrators I have ever read, but he is a testament to the powers of self-deception that exist in both fictional and non-fictional human beings. "Everyone suspects himself of one of the cardinal virtues," Nick says, and as Nick himself demonstrates, nearly everyone is wrong.
At the beginning of the book Nick sees Gatsby as a mysterious shady man. In the beginning of the chapter Nick somewhat resents Gatsby. In Nick’s opinion Gatsby was the representation of “…everything for which I have unaffected scorn.” (Fitzgerald 2). Nick sees Gatsby as what he hates the most in life, rich folk. Since the start of the novel it was obvious that had “Disapproved of him from beginning to end.” (Fitzgerald 154). As time passes, Nick realizes his neighbor has quite a mysterious past. Some think he’s a bootlegger, and a different person wa...