Return with Elixir Nick Carraway has the rather problematic disposition for a writer, he tends to not tell the truth, or not the entire truth. Nick Carraway weaves together a biography of his life in the east to describe not only his experiences but also the people he detested. The account starts when he arrives and chronicles the events leading to his departure from the east. His reliability as a narrator is extremely questionable. Nick begins his narration by stating his honest and unjudging character, that “I’m inclined to reserve all judgements” (Fitzgerald 1). However Nick constantly judges people throughout the novel calling Daisy and Tom “careless people” (Fitzgerald 179) and Jordan “incurably dishonest” (Fitzgerald 58). This penchant …show more content…
for judgement is almost ironic considering he labels Gatsby as “everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 2), yet exempts Gatsby from said scorn as though Gatsby was not judged in the first place. This is not the only lie, or direct disparity that Nick tells about himself. Nick Carraway even hints at his disposition to lie, possibly unconsciously, “the intimate revelations of young men… are… marred by obvious suppressions”(Fitzgerald 2). If Sigmund Freud could be asked for his thoughts he may call this a “Freudian Slip” as Nick did not mean to call himself a liar, yet does; revealing Nick’s inner nature (McLeod “Psychoanalysis”). There is another perceivable incident that Nick lies about; he specifically expresses, “they [these events] absorbed me infinitely less than my personal affairs” (Fitzgerald 56). This can not be the case for a very simple reason, people are unable to remember the exact wording of events occurring 2 years earlier, given that they do not have a photographic memory. It becomes readily apparent that Nick is lying, so one must wonder how much of this story could be considered factual. It seems that Nick believes himself above telling the truth or simply does not care about contradicting himself. Meeting with the Mentor One must wonder, why would Nick, who directly states, “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known”(Fitzgerald 59) lie? The why can be answered by the title of the book, The Great Gatsby. Nick finds himself becoming friends with his next door neighbor, Gatsby, despite them having such different lifestyles. Nick begins to idolize Gatsby, even from their first meeting “I was looking at an elegant young roughneck” (Fitzgerald 48). Nick praises and likes Gatsby even though Gatsby represents everything that Nick supposedly hates. Nick even tries to sneakily defend Gatsby by telling the truth about his wealth while weaving in ridiculous lies. Nick does so through some young ladies, “He’s a bootlegger” (Fitzgerald 61) but Nick follows up the truth with an outrageous lie to deflect your attention from it. Gatsby is the actualization of what Nick wants to achieve in the east. This ridiculous idolization does not deteriorate in the slightest when Gatsby proves his idiocy, “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West… San Francisco” (Fitzgerald 65). Nick goes along with the lie of San Francisco being in the Midwest so as to not insult his idol. Nick and Gatsby both idolized their rich friend, for Gatsby that was Dan Cody. The difference between Gatsby and Nick is Nick left before making it big. Nick will do almost anything for Gatsby and similarly Lennie would follow George’s orders. Lennie does hard farm work for George, and Nick worked absurdly hard to provide a funeral to someone he only knew for a summer. However Gatsby was only using Nick as an avenue to Daisy, whereas George and Lennie cared about each other with both willing to sacrifice themselves, LENNIE.“If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time.” GEORGE. “No-look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me.”(Steinbeck 7). It is conceivable that Nick was so in love with Gatsby’s image that he was unable to judge Gatsby’s true intentions as well as Lennie could have. Aaron Ben-Zeév would defend this possibility as he does not think that love and hate are mutually exclusive. Ben-Zeév may go so far as to say Nick is in deeply love with Gatsby’s image because he thinks that love is an excellent breeding ground for hate. Nick undoubtedly wants to be like Gatsby, but does not know how to and thus subconsciously follows Gatsby around trying to emulate him. Nick copies not only his actions but also copies Gatsby’s morals leading to his eventual downfall. Refusal of the Call While Nick has a multitude of problems with his behavior there are times when he actually shows “a sense of the fundamental decencies” (Fitzgerald 2). Unfortunately for supporters of Nick these instances are immediately rejected in favor of following his rich friends. Nick claims to not want to meet Tom’s mistress indicating his first refusal of adventure, “I had no desire to meet her” (Fitzgerald 24). However he goes along with Tom anyway leading to his first reality check of high class society. Immediately following that event Nick details his experience in Gatsby’s party. And during that party Nick gives the impression that all the drunkards and leeches had put him off from high class society. But Nick implies that he had enjoyed himself enough because he states, “I had gone to two of his parties” (Fitzgerald 63). One can tell that Nick likes the company of these detestable people because he continues associating with them, be it Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, Jordan, or one of the other attendees of Gatsby’s parties. Should the esteemed philosopher Maslow be asked why Nick would do such things, he would answer Nick is likely in the “self-esteem stage” of his hierarchy of needs (Mcleod “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). The conceivable reason for Nick’s presence could be that he enjoys being near people he thinks of as having lesser morals in an attempt to improve his own self-esteem. Unfortunately many readers of The Great Gatsby find themselves with a strange sentiment- that Nick is actually a good person in spite of the lack of evidence for this,these people tend to cite that he stood on the sidelines next to evil people, but did not actually engage in bad behavior. Sadly this does not mean that he is a good person, as stated in the Bible “33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”” (1 Corinthians 15:33. ESV: Study Bible). Nick, much like Oedipus, brought misfortune on himself by traveling to a community where he did not belong. Nick corrupted his morals by staying in the proximity of vile people contributing to his eventual absence of morals whatsoever. Tests, Allies, Enemies Nick becomes a reflection of the people he is around, namely Tom, Gatsby, and Jordan. Nick starts as someone that is quite straightforward, but he allows his morals to bend and mimics Tom. Nick exposes himself to 2 other of the deadly sins while emulating Tom, lust and wrath. Nick acquires a mistress much like Tom, “I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City” (Fitzgerald 56). He begins his initiation into high society with an affair, once again showing his lack of morals. Nick exhibits his version of Tom’s wrath when he yells, “They’re a rotten crowd… You’re worth the whole bunch put together” (Fitzgerald 154). Instead of breaking someone’s nose, Nick jabs their ego’s instead. Nick’s idol-like obsession of Gatsby actually causes Nick to repeat one of Gatsby’s largest mistakes. Nick wants to duplicate Gatsby’s past with Daisy in his own way. Nick begins a relationship with someone out of his reach, just as Gatsby did. That someone is Jordan Baker a upper class person and professional golfer. Nick does realize Jordan is out of his social class, but he chooses to continue their relationship anyway. Nick tries to match her status by making connections within her class of people. Should the famed philosopher Alfred Adler be asked why Nick would stay in the this societal circle, Adler may point to his “compensation theory”. Adler would think that Nick is compensating for being less than Jordan by keeping better company. As with any relationship each person takes something from the other, be it emotionally or mentally. Nick takes her dishonesty. Jordan, at the end of her relationship with him states, “I mean it was careless of me to make such a wrong guess. I thought you were an honest, straightforward person” (Fitzgerald 177). Nick adopts Jordan’s morals to gain social acceptance, brushing away the integrity that Nick arrived with. Nick becomes a strange outlier of society, having the nonexistent morals of the upper class, yet not belonging in that crowd. Characters seem to recognize how much of a hypocrite Nick is-except Nick himself. Ordeal There is little doubt that Nick completely abandons his morals during his biography. The premier event that showcases this complete change is his choice to help Gatsby’s quest for Daisy. Nick quickly agrees to Gatsby’s plan and tells him as such, “I’m going to call up Daisy to-morrow and invite her over here to tea” (Fitzgerald 82). Nick must know he is making a grave mistake but goes along with the plan anyway, and even leaves the house to improve Gatsby’s chances, disregarding Tom and Daisy’s marriage. His actions identify him as a abhorrent person who is perfectly willing to break up a marriage between two of his supposed friends. Nick further tries to destroy their union by getting them to go to Gatsby’s next party, so that Gatsby and Daisy can be together more. Nick describes how Gatsby and Daisy flirted while abandoning Tom, “Daisy and Gatsby danced. I remember being surprised by his graceful, conservative fox-trot-I had never seen him dance before” (Fitzgerald 105). These actions of purposeful sin to help a friend are eerily similar to Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth also encouraged Macbeth to do something extremely terrible, Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go carry them, and smear The sleepy grooms with blood. (Shakespeare 2.2.45-47). Lady Macbeth and Nick both set up situations where their companion could execute a sin, a murder and an affair respectively. While both situations seem set up for failure, Nick gets off scot-free. The question is how; but a plausible explanation is that Nick set up the entire confrontation leading Gatsby and Tom into a fight where Nick is completely unsuspected of any wrongdoing. Similarly, it is conceivable that Nick is something of a sadist savoring the schadenfreude that he gains from Tom’s unhappiness and uneasiness around Gatsby. (Bryner). Tom and Gatsby are both given a terrible fate that was orchestrated by Nick. Nick may seem upset about Gatsby dying, but he could just be hiding his enjoyment of a show; after all the narrative is from Nick’s unreliable point of view. The Road Back Nick relishes his life in the east, tormenting others until he is forced back to the west by circumstances beyond his control.
The events leading to his retreat start with Gatsby’s death but continue until the end of the novel. First Nick tries to go back to work but finds it too boring to contemplate saying, “I tried for a while to list quotations on an interminable amount of stock, then I fell asleep in my swivel-chair” (Fitzgerald 154). Nick is slowly pushed back into the west, but not of his own free will, by everyone he knows in the east cutting ties with him-probably because they figured out what kind of evil person he actually is. Daisy and Tom leave first fleeing from Nick quickly and silently, “I called up Daisy… But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (Fitzgerald 164). Similarly Jordan does not want anything to do with Nick, “She didn’t answer. Angry and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away” (Fitzgerald 177). While many defenders of Nick Carraway would advocate that Nick leaving to go west depicts him regaining his morals, this is asinine assumption. Should Sigmund Freud evaluate Nick using his theories of the Id, Ego, and Superego, it is likely he would conclude that Nick has a underdeveloped Superego and an overdeveloped Id (McLeod “Psychoanalysis”). The most feasible explanation Nick went back to the west is that he got bored; and with a overdeveloped Id he wants immediate satisfaction leading to him abandoning the world that was now boring him. The underdeveloped Superego would also explain why he has no problems with lying or annihilating his friends’
marriage.
The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is a novel that tells the story of different peoples lives and how they are intertwined with each other. The story is told from the viewpoint of the character Nick Carraway. It is through his eyes and ears that the reader forms their opinions of the other characters. In the novel the characters trust Nick and confide in him quite a bit. He thinks of himself as an open minded non-judgemental, non-partial person. I think that it is almost impossible to live your life and not judge others and also not be partial and judge different individuals with different standards.
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.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, is Gatsby's neighbor in West Egg. Nick is a young man from a prominent Midwestern family. Educated at Yale, he has come to New York to enter the bond business. In some sense, the novel is Nick's memoir, his unique view of the events of the summer of 1922; as such, his impressions and observations necessarily color the narrative as a whole. For the most part, he plays only a peripheral role in the events of the novel; he prefers to remain a passive observer.
A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who “...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...” (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new perspective on life. Nick’s maturity becomes evident as his perspective of society becomes more realistic as a result of his observing the consequences which occur in unhealthy relationships.
The classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one that opens reader’s eyes to the clouded hallow hopes and dreams that came with the famous idea of an American Dream. The hopes that one day a person could make their own wealth and be successful quickly became dead to many around this time and it is played out by characters and conflicts within The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway is the very first character we meet in this story. A young man who came to West Egg, Long Island the summer of 1922 for work unknowingly walked into a summer that would haunt him forever. The character of Nick Carraway is one who is characterized as someone who is extremely observant as well as the mediator between many of the characters. He is always involved
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.
Even though he had some thought that the meeting would provoke harmful tensions between Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby, he went along with it anyways, further demonstrating his own innate lack of reservation. Ultimately, Nick is an unreliable narrator who overlooks Gatsby’s lies because of his biased judgment of him. Nick portrays Gatsby as a generous and charismatic figure while in reality, he is a duplicative and obsessed man entangled in illegal business who is determined on an unattainable goal. It is highly ironic that Nick judges others for their lack of morality and honesty; his own character is plagued by lies as he abets Gatsby in many of his schemes.
Throughout the entire novel it is clearly portrayed that Nick Carraway is not a moral character by any stretch of the imagination. Nick Carraway may seem to have some good values, but he is in fact immoral for many reasons. First, Nick uses Jordan Baker; he never actually became interested in a serious relationship with the golf star. Miss Baker is basically just a fling to him. Secondly, Nick Carraway always seems to be the middleman in all the trouble that is going on in the novel. The narrator knows about all the lying, deceiving, two-faced things that are going on throughout the story, and he is completely ok with it. Also Nick defends Gatsby even though he very well knows of all Gatsby's criminal activity and liquor smuggling. Finally, Nick is the character who sets up two of the main characters, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, to have an affair. It never crosses Nick's mind that it is an immoral thing to set up an affair. During the novel there is a discussion between Gatsby and Nick about when to set up the secret meeting with Daisy. During this exchange Nick actually says, "I'm going to call up Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea.
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 more of a spectator than an actor in the story. He is just an
4). Nick’s assessment and criticism toward Jordan, Tom, and Daisy also show his skeptical and logical outlook on others around him. This tone shows Nick’s struggle between being like the emotionless and careless people around him (like Tom) or to be his own hopeful and romantic man (following
Daisy proves how Nick is an unreliable narrator and how Nick’s interpretation of Gatsby and his personal relationship with him prevents him from being a reliable narrator.
Narrator's Perspective in The Great Gatsby. 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.
Nick Carraway is not a reliable narrator of the novel The Great Gatsby, because of constant lies that he not only tells, but keeps from his own family. Throughout the very first three chapters of the novel we are introduced to Carraway and soon start to question his reliability. One of the first instances that is called into question is when we goes to New York with Tom Buchanan who is married to his cousin Daisy. This was something a subject that Tom was open to discussing was Nick, as he exclaims, “ We’re getting off,” he insisted. “I want you to meet my girl” (24). Seeing that Daisy is his cousin you would think he would be a little angry at Tom for treating her this way, but with no resistance he quietly accompanies him to meet her. Throughout this visit he could have easily called Daisy and told her of her husband's mistress, but instead he keeps his mouth shut. If he is keep something this important from his family, what could he be keeping from the reader?
Nick and Jordan hang up the phone and Jordan rushes over to Nick's house to meet them there. While they are waiting for Jordan to arrive the try to decide their next move should be to ask all the servants who were working outside and closer to gatsby if they had any more information such as car tags or descriptions of the people.