The Great Gatsby Reliability Of A Narrator

The Reliability of a Narrator
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a depiction of the 1920s as seen through the eyes of a young man by the name of Nick. This use of first-person point of view lends the accuracy of the story to the credibility of the author. Throughout the novel, however, Nick reveals himself to be an unreliable narrator. His description of both characters and events are revealed to be inaccurate and extremely biased Nick’s self contradictions distort his depiction of other characters as well as plot events. From the beginning of the work, Nick almost immediately contradicts himself within The Great Gatsby. On the opening page of the book, Nick states, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments,” (1); however, on the

This is particularly true in the case of Nick’s description of Gatsby as a man for whom, “represents everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (2). This description of Gatsby would suggest that Nick has a strong dislike for Gatsby but one a few lines later he describes Gatsby as having, “a heightened sensitivity to the promise of life...it was an extraordinary gift of hope,”(2). This statement suggests that Nick adores Gatsby and finds him to be quite similar to nick himself. This contradiction makes it difficult for the reader to get a clear picture of Gatsby solely from the description nick gives of him and must rely on details of the plot or Gatsby’s own dialogue. Nick continues displaying this bias in his descriptions of Tom and Daisy. Nick describes tom as having “... a touch of paternal contempt... even towards people he liked...” (7). This instantly puts tom in a bad light even though the reader has barely just been introduced to Tom. In contrast, Nick describes Daisy in a way that gives the reader an idea that she is angelic. The first time the Fitzgerald introduces Daisy into the book, Nick states, “[she] held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see” (8-9). By doing this, Nick attempts to villainies Tom and make Daisy appear to have