Nick Carraway in the Great Gatsby

[tankster12]

Hey Guys,

I am writing a paper on Nick Carraway and was wondering if any of you could give me a little bit more information about Nick Carraway. How is he full of it? Why would he declare himself to be so honest and objective, but at the same time, give so many opinionated comments? I am quite confused. I will probably detail point of view, his role as a narrator and participant, and this honesty dilemma. Is there any other technique used to develop his character? If any of you could give me any feedback and suggestions, I would be genuinely grateful. Thanks!

 

[KristoCat]

It's been a long time since I read it so I don't know how helpful I'll be in terms of your paper, but here are a couple of thoughts:

I think Nick says he is honest and objective when he is obviously not because he wants to set himself apart from Gatsby, Daisy, et al. You can tell by what happens between these characters that they all have pretty serious emotional issues and Nick doesn't want to be lumped in with that, even though I think he is (though perhaps to a lesser degree).

 

[novella]

Nick, to me, is a lot like Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye.

He is part of the privileged 'social register' class, but yet he wants to distance himself from those in his class he considers spoiled phonies. He avows a weird kind of allegiance to Gatsby, but yet at times he clearlyl disdains the social climbers, like Gatsby and his party crowd, who aspire to the higher social set.

Nick's not intentionally hypocritical; like Holden he believes every point of view he has, even if they change from circumstance to circumstance. The person he feels most akin to is Jordan Baker, who is much like him--qualified by birth to be in the upperclass, yet cynically (and modernly) outside it.

This book had, I think, a strong post-WWI sentiment in it. Nick is a veteran, I think, which is why his 'career' in finance has been delayed, yet he has many connections in the city, and his 'real' connections are out in Chicago or the Midwest. The war broke down a lot of Victorian social conventions and barriers, freeing people like Gatsby to prosper. It also made those like Nick more self-conscious about privilege and class, resent what they had lost while also feeling that a more modern way of life suited them.

That's all I can think of right now. But I will say that if there is a 'Romantic' point of view in the book, it is Nick's, not Daisy's or Gatsby's. To an extent, they are both pragmatists. Nick reads a lot into what Gatsby doesn't say or do, the metaphors and imagery spring from him, the feeling of lost youth and lost innocence.

 

[tankster12]

Thanks!

Thanks a lot! But how could I go about explaining how Fitzgerald develops Nick's character? I know his first person narrative point of view and evolution from being a fence-sitter to an idealist show something, but what? What essentially, is Nick Carraway? Why is he even in the book, rather than Fitzgerald simply using an omniscient narrator? And how does Fitzgerald go about portraying Nick? I know it is a lot to ask, but I've been storming about for weeks, and I've come to a near pitstop. Can anyone give me some quick ideas to go on?