Nick Carraway's Archetype In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a tragedy filled with love, loss, and betrayal. Fitzgerald paints us a beautiful picture of the events in this tale through complex wording. While his story and word usage may be complex, his character are not as complex as they appear. Their outward appearance may fool a reader because deep down they fit many popular archetypes. From the narcissistic jock type to the outsider, each one of Fitzgerald’s main characters can fit a certain archetype. Nick Carraway is the first of many characters to fall under an archetype. Nick can easily be considered the classic outsider. Throughout the book, the characters go through a dramatic downfall while Nick stands back and watches it crumble at his feet. Nick “succumbs to the lavish recklessness of his neighbors and the knowledge of the secret moral entanglements that comprise their essentially hollow lives”(“The Great Gatsby” 70). His house even makes him a physical outsider. Nick describes his house saying, “My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I …show more content…

Daisy’s main goal is to maintain her social status. She comes from a high status; her voice is even described as “sounding like money” (120). Near the end of the novel, she doesn’t leave Tom for Gatsby even though she truly loved Gatsby. She stays with Tom knowing he has a higher status and more security than Gatsby. Nick describes Tom and Daisy interactions as not happy, but almost satisfied in a way. Nick says, “They weren’t happy, and neither of them had touched their chicken or ale- and yet they weren’t unhappy either. There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together” (145). This quote shows how Daisy wasn’t with Tom because it made her happy, she was with Tom because he didn’t make her unhappy. Daisy uses Tom to provide a secure status and life for

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