Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby

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As I’ve had crushes on females in the past, I always find myself back to a position where I despise someone. I lack the control and fortitude that many people say they have, but in reality may not. My want controlled me to a point where I didn’t present myself as who I really was. Maybe I tried to impress that person, but I realize, despite all my “hard work,” maybe I shouldn’t have. My purposeful determination consumed me, and if I didn’t win in the end, I was pessimistic. I have blamed people for that and have lost friends for that. However, I see that I am more self aware because of it. Like my journey of becoming more self aware, Nick Carraway experiences similar feelings when he fights against culture in New York. This culture he engages in engulfs him and changes his personality drastically. Even though Nick enjoys his friends’ parties, his lifestyle, and his nostalgia, the careless world he lives in expands the cynic within him when he needs support the most. We risk coming to hate our pleasures or our friends, so we need to stop our selfish ways and become aware of ourselves. While Nick enjoys the parties and a sense of nostalgia, he becomes aware of his conflicting hatred and sets up control over his arousing temptations. Nick first meets his rancor at Tom Buchanan’s party in New York. Nick looks out at the black streets and sees himself “within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life”(35). Nick is in limbo; he cannot tilt his metronome. Limbo, like a broken metronome, worries us, and we may think that life is absent of any rhythm. A shower of emotions floods us: anxiety, curiosity, indecisiveness; however, we forget that all we have to do is fix our problem. The state of be... ... middle of paper ... ...ith those qualities we learn. Nick gains a better view of who he is and what his responsibilities are by becoming connected with a sense of duty that he finds from Gatsby. I found through countless trials that I’ve been selfish when motivated by affection. However, I am now aware of that flaw, and it is my job to prevent selfishness if it occurs again. Nick involves himself into a culture that is selfish. Nick sees this, but he enjoys the lifestyle. However, when Gatsby dies, he cannot enjoy it any longer. The death of Gatsby releases Nick’s hatred for the world that he invests so much time into. I am reminded of my own conflict. I have felt a similar hatred to those who succeeded where I didn’t, and I realize that we must accept our losses and move on towards a greater goal. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print

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