To What Extent Is Nick A Biased Narrator In The Great Gatsby

Nick proves to be an unreliable person telling the story because he is created unfair thinking in his description of the other characters, specifically Tom, who he views negatively, and Gatsby, who he favors over everyone else. Also, Nick is drunk during parts of his narration, which does not promise that something will definitely happen or that something will definitely work as described.

Nick is not the perfect and innocent character in this book. He is a manipulator and excellent liar (“Great”, Scott). Nick thinks that he is above every characters wrongdoing. For example, he feels he is superior to Tom’s infidelities, Jordan Baker’s lies, and Gatsby’s criminal acts. However, little does he know he takes part in some of those wrongdoings (Hays). Nick can also be confusing at times. There are moments in the book where Nick thinks Gatsby has something to hide and that Gatsby is mysterious. Then, there are other times where Nick believes that Gatsby is the only honest character (Roulston and Roulston). Therefore, one can conclude that Nick is not a very stable individual. He has switched up on the reader. He acts and says one thing but then later his actions are opposite.

In the novella of The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald the characters drive the plot of the story. Nick is a major importance to The Great Gatsby because he sets up the beginning of the story. He starts off by talking in how his great grandfather's brother came over in 1851 in having someone else take his place in the civil war. “The actual founder of my line was my grandfather’s brother, who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War,” (Fitzgerald 3). The quote explains how his whole family is a bunch of liars, implying Nick’s character. He moved to West Egg to start in the bond business his father had financed him to go for a year. In Nick’s eye West Egg was less spiffy than East Egg had all of the better looking residentials.

I feel like Gatsby is a man of low class. Not low class as in, he does not have any money but as in although he has money he does not have the ability of truly act as a man with actual class. Almost as if a common man had a mountain of money fall on him out of nowhere. In the book Nick's keen eye, in this case I should say "ear" he realized that Gatsby was choosing his words methodically, almost carefully. As if he was using much of his brain power to sound smart, like a man with class. Furthermore in Chapter four Nick finds yet again another flaw in Gatsby's life story. Gatsby was lying in order to make his life seem interesting and appealing to Nick in order to gain his trust. During Gatsby's many parties, there are many random people and

Fitzgerald uses Nick’s role to help the reader understand Gatsby’s world by saying “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited” Nick's invitation means that Gatsby wanted him to be there. When Gatsby throws these parties people just show up with no invite from Gatsby and they just went because of what the rumors and expectations. This means that Gatsby want to be seen but mostly by Daisy which is Nick's cousin and Nick will probably say good things about him to

Lastly Fitzgerald uses details to strengthen the idea Nick’s character has evolved through the novel. He demonstrates this to the audience by describing how privy Nick is to secrets, “Most of the confidences were unsought-- frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon; for the intimate revelations of young men, or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions.” He uses this statement to reiterate that in the beginning of the novel Nick’s character felt as though since he is an elite he was inclined to listen to these unequal men who plagiarize others suppressions to make themselves seem as though they were more powerful. Fitzgerald changes his attitude towards the end of the novel by suggesting Nick is now struggling with the careless people he is acquainted with and the decisions they believe are entirely justifiable. Tom believes that even though he is indirectly responsible for Gatsby’s death Nick does not realize what he has been through, “And if you think i didn’t have my share of suffering --look here, when i went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, i sat down and cried like a baby.

Towards the end of chapter 3, the reader is relatively used to Nick’s skilful use of the English language and literary styles, as Fitzgerald has programmed Nick, as the narrator, with the capability to tentatively and boldly write in a format that is phonetic, lyrical and vivid to the readers. Nick even informs us that he once was ‘rather literary in college’, which inadvertently influences the reader’s analysis of Nick as we accept this as fact because he is academically intellectual and therefore should be vigilant about the individuals and their

Mr. Fitzgerald is a very smart man by choosing Nick as the narrator of the story. I believe nick was the perfect person for the role because Nick isn't an extremely focused on character of the story. Instead of Nick being the center of attention he is disregarded and plays a more observative narrator giving us an inside look on the situation rather than being in the middle of all the chaos. Nick’s role is basically to be the source for our information, there are so many stories passed around all the characters in the book that Mr. Carraway is our only way to see the truth behind everything.

One of the first things to notice about The Great Gatsby is that it is a story of one man’s (Gatsby’s) life told by a different man (Nick) who gets his information about Gatsby from a variety of different sources, none of which can be definitively called reliable. It’s proven on practically the first page that Nick’s recount of Gatsby’s life will be unreliable and clouded by personal judgements. On the first page of the novel he claims to be “inclined to reserve all judgement” (Fitzgerald, 1) and at the very end of the very same paragraph he describes the

Therefore, Nick is ‘spoon-fed’ by other characters throughout the novel. This portrays Nick’s lack of identity and purpose within the novel as he merely followed ‘everyone’ into the bond business. Fitzgerald uses Nick as a character to question the American Dream and the zeitgeist of modernism in the novel act as motifs to show Nick being seen as febrile since he is heavily influenced through narcissist wealth, where he epitomises Tom and characters like Gatsby; the upcoming rich. Furthermore, Suzanne Del Gizzo’s Statement: “Throughout the book, Nick has difficulty connecting with people, particularly women, highlights his emasculation” this therefore supports the views of Nick being a weak and biased character towards Gatsby therefore it highlights Nick’s ‘emasculation’ this then epitomises Nick as representing the ideal man, but more of a woman, who were dominated by men at this period of time, which shows why is why Nick idolised Gatsby.

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader follows the point of view of Nick Carraway and his experiences in New York, specifically in East and West Egg. When he first arrives, Nick meets Jay Gatsby, his neighbor and the main character of the novel, at one of his parties and they soon become friends. Throughout the rest of the novel, Nick is a witness to the many events that unfold, from Tom’s infidelity to Gatsby’s many attempts to woo his past love, Daisy Buchanan. After a major misunderstanding that results in many deaths, Gatsby’s being one of them, Nick ends his relationship with Jordan and returns to the West, disgusted with the events that had happened. At the end of the novel, Nick reflects on the experiences

In the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is written as the narrator for the story. He is a unreliable character to tell the reader the story because reserves all his judgments. The reader is lead to believe what he telling the reader from an third person objective point of view. Nick is not a reliable narrator because is biased in his description of the other characters within the novel. Tom for example, who he views as negatively, and Gatsby who Nick favors over all the other character. Nick is intoxicated during part if his narration, which does not give the reader accurate description of the events that take place throughout the

Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby takes the audience along the journey of Mr. Gatsby to the traditional American Dream. Gatsby's journey is not told in his own perspective but Nick Carraway, his neighbour’s, instead. On the surface, this may seem as a proficient choice of narration since Nick may be less biased since the journey discussed is not his own and would not sugar coat Gatsby's actions. However, digging deeper, Nick is just as biased, if not even more, which shows his unreliability as a narrator. However, right at the beginning of the novel, Nick declares that he shall remain impartial throughout his narration in the words: “I am inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald, p.1). Despite this profession, Nick is seen doing the complete opposite and proves to be a not-so-impartial narrator by criticizing others,

First, the story begins with Nick describing a mysterious person who moves in next to him and likes to throw huge parties. Later, it is revealed to him that this mysterious man is none other than Jay Gatsby. Nick is invited by Jay Gatsby personally to attend one of his huge parties. Nick accepts the invite out of curiosity because no one has ever been invited personally by Jay Gatsby in fact most people who attend his parties don’t even know who Gatsby is. When Nick attends this party most people at the party whisper rumors about Gatsby since they do not know him. Nick hears these rumors and is immediately skeptical about Gatsby since he is not able to find him. At this point, Nick wants to leave the party but ends up meeting Gatsby through Jordan Baker, a professional golfer and finally gets to see what he is all about. This is important because the first impression that Nick gets from Gatsby is one that makes him very suspicious of him. Throughout the rest of the time Nick spends with Gatsby; he spends it constantly second guessing and analyzing him because of it. Nick sees Gatsby for who he really is and not what he claims to be.

In my opinion the way Nick opens up is the most crucial. Him talking about judgement and morals kind of sets up the story. Along with also not liking what Gatsby represented he didn’t judge him because of his personality.