The Role Of Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby

Words: 868
Pages: 4
Open Document
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of a young man, Nick Carraway, as he seeks fortune and a place for himself in high society. Fitzgerald chose to tell the story through Carraways’ point of view. The people at Thomson Gale describe Carraways’ role in the novel as, “… Nick Carraway narrates this novel; he is a keen observer of the American fairy tale come to life. As he uncovers more and more about Gatsby and his obsession with Daisy Buchanan, Carraway realizes the high price of materialism, envy, and desire (Gale 1). ” In the cookie cutter novel, the characters always learn something, but Carraway never learns. Nick Carraway, who is supposed to be an honest narrator that wrote an accurate illustration of the …show more content…
He says, in a frustrated mumble, "I'm thirty… I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor (Fitzgerald 177)." So what is Nick lying to himself about? Is it that he believes he deserved this lavish lifestyle, or that any of it is rational. Reflecting back on the summer Nick expresses some disappointment, "When I came back… I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. 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)." In a way, Nick is saying that he cannot stand the presence of any more high-life people, that he literally spent the entire summer with without fail, and he just cannot handle them anymore, but Gatsby is excluded. Carraway cannot act as if he never liked Gatsby. Nick Carraway wanted to be Gatsby when he first came to West Egg, yet somehow Carraway still has the audacity to say, "I disapproved of him from beginning to end (Fitzgerald 154)." Maybe it is because the two of them could not be more …show more content…
Carraway is a realist and Gatsby was a romantic dreamer. Carraway only focus on Gatsby’s money and Gatsby was more concerned with love, hope, and the promise of happily ever after. Gatsby had finally been free of the materialistic life that had seduced Carraway. Yet there was something about Gatsby, besides his money, which completely entranced Carraway. Early in the book Carraway studied Gatsby and discovered, “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself (Fitzgerald 48).” Even with this quality, Gatsby was obsessed with a fantasy; the Daisy he had fallen in love with was no longer existent. Gatsby reached so far back into him to find her that it quite literally killed him. It is at this point in the novel that readers find the real Nick Carraway The real Nick Carraway is a dishonest narrator who never can make up his mind about how he truly feels, and did not learn from other mistakes. Carraway should have learned from Gatsby that continually return to the past is fatal, but he did not lean at all. He went home and wrote an entire book about the past. F. Scott Fitzgerald
Show More

Related Documents: The Role Of Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway Gatsby Foil

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nick Carraway is introduced as the protagonist, the foil to J. Gatsby, and the narrator. He is presented as a young man from Minnesota that travels to the West Egg in New York. Soon, Carraway is gradually pulled into the lives of the wealthy and sophisticated of East and West Egg. Due to his relationships with Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and others, Nick is able to undertake the many roles of the foil, protagonist, and the narrator of The Great Gatsby…

Words 513 - Pages 3

Comparing Religion And Capitalism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, religion and capitalism play a central role. Churchill states how capitalism shares blessings unevenly. Capitalism according to Churchill is the unequal sharing of blessings. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, blessings are explicitly unequally shared. For example, Tom and Daisy Buchanan both had large sums of money before they were even married, they did not have to work to get what they desire. On the contrary, Gatsby has to work his way up from the…

Words 612 - Pages 3

Eyes Of Dr. J. Eckleburg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby: The Story of Us Jay Gatsby is one of the most memorable characters ever written in literature. Whether it be his extravagant parties, his overwhelming wealth, or simply his compassionate smile, Gatsby never fails to captivate the reader. Although Mr. Gatsby plays a large role in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby, there is a stronger force at work within this literary classic. Sometimes hidden deep within the lines or even standing in plain sight, symbolism…

Words 1663 - Pages 7

Essay about Gatsby Review GC

Reviews by Gene ciesla: The Great gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s amazing novel has been revamped once again in Baz Lurman’s interpretation of The Great Gatsby. The story is of an aspiring writer, Nick Carraway (played by Toby Maguire) and his relations with old friends and new ones. During his experiences, he meets his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who throws extravagant parties but is shadowed with mysteries. This story of love, tragedy, and the American dream nearly follows the novel and seems less distant…

Words 479 - Pages 2

Tom's Role In The Great Gatsby

But the main difference between then and now, in my opinion, is the way people acted/ were treated based on the set gender roles. Men were stereotypically manly men, and women were trophies, willing to put up with the man's antics. The man had total control of their significant other and dominated the workforce. Two main characters, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, in The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, represent the opposite ends of the spectrum. Daisy is an airheaded, ditzy woman, she is used…

Words 1268 - Pages 6

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby Great?

Why does Nick consider Gatsby “Great?” Every individual has a person in mind that they look up to. They consider them as their role model and they strive and work hard to be as good as them. Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, considers Jay Gatsby as his role model and hero. Nick Carraway unlike other people does not want to become rich and wealthy as Gatsby; Nick does not want to have gigantic mansion, fortune, expensive cars or large weekly parties. Nick looks up to Gatsby, because…

Words 1031 - Pages 5

The Great Gatsby Film Essay

money. The concept that classifies people through their status quo can affect one’s self, mentally and emotionally. This is true for the society in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920s, where there is an immense distinction between the elite and the untouchables. Jay Gatsby, the hero of the story, portrays the role of a man who comes from rags to riches and his success results to his downfall as he becomes ignorant of the true reality. The motive for metaphor, which is corruption,…

Words 1592 - Pages 7

The Great Gatsby Essay

rather than a classic coming-of-age narrative, since Nick Carraway is clearly an adult at the beginning of the novel. He has graduated from college, served in combat in World War I, and gone east to begin his career. During the story he has his thirtieth birthday. Even though he is an adult, however, Nick does grow in maturity and insight throughout the course of the novel as he is drawn into a lifestyle and a culture completely foreign to him. Nick is, in fact, the only dynamic character in the novel…

Words 1135 - Pages 5

What Does The Color Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Color Analysis of The Great Gatsby For many, the color green represents nature, trees, forests, etc. This is not true in F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel The Great Gatsby. From the radiant green light across the bay at Daisy Buchanan's house to the flourishing landscape of West Egg, Fitzgerald uses green to deliver themes of ambition for love, hope, and a perpetual effort to regain what one had lost many years ago. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the color green serves as a profound…

Words 687 - Pages 3

Disappointment In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, tells the story of a poor man, Jay Gatsby, who leaves behind his wealthy girlfriend, Daisy, when he goes to war. He comes back to find her married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man. Jay tries everything to get her back. Although the quest for love and wealth is exciting, for Gatsby it is nothing more than disappointing. In my novel, disappointment is a reoccurring theme due to the fact the characters strive to reach the stereotypical American dream, which…

Words 1080 - Pages 5