I believe Nick Carraway is the central character of the Great Gatsby book because he is the one who is telling everything that happens in the book and from his perspective.
F. Scott Fitzgerald fulfilled his proclamation that ‘’an author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward’’ through the book the Great Gatsby by utilizing Nick Carraway as the central character. He accomplishes this by expressing the views, sentiments, and ideals of the books happenings through Nick (Fitzgerald, ix).
For instance, one of the qualities I believe the author is trying to convey to the youth is that they should not be so judgemental. He does this through Nick in the very beginning of the book. ( resource -from www.shmoop.com ) First thing he does is pass along some of his father's advice: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had" ( Fitzgerald, 5) (1.2)’’.
“And while Gatsby is work of fiction, Fitzgerald’s real life contains some suspicious similarities. Narrator Nick Carraway is both mesmerized and disgusted by Gatsby’s extravagant lifestyle,just as Fitzgerald claimed to feel about the Jazz age excesses that he himself adopted. Ivy League educated, middle- class Midwesterner, Fitzgerald, like Nick, saw through the shallow materialism of the era’’. ( Shmoop.com).
Our narrator, Nick Carraway, begins the book by giving us some advice of his father’s about not criticizing others. People around him realized this, and therefore they were more inclined to tell him more about themselves than most people. This makes Nick a good resource for identifying people’s characterist...
... middle of paper ...
...’t. Another case of dishonesty is shown through Tom Buchanan and his secret affair with Myrtle Wilson, and how he had claimed Daisy was Catholic when she wasn’t. And yet another case was where Jay Gatsby claimed to be from San Francisco and from a wealthy family when we know that was not the case.
In conclusion I think Nick Carraway is the central character because the author is using Nick Carraway to reveal his thoughts and feelings for the 1920s era. F. Scott Fitzgerald thought that the 1920s was an era of get rich quick mentality, careless people, and immorality. These traits were revealed to the readers through Nick’s revelations of the primary characters within the book.
Works Cited
“The Great Gatsby Chapter 1 Summary.” Schmoop. Shmoop University. 2013. Web. 19
Nov 2013.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1925. Print.
His duplicity continues, as he meets Tom’s mistress, and later arranges Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting, even going as far as to say “don’t bring Tom” (85). These are clear deceptions and violations of trust, which both reveal that Nick is not the honest and forthright man he wants the reader to believe he is; on the contrary, in many ways he is the opposite of honest and forthright. However, Nick’s most clearly professed lie is in protection of Daisy, when Tom insists that Gatsby had killed Myrtle, and Nick remains silent, forgoing telling Tom about the “one unutterable fact,” - that it had not been Gatsby who was driving the car when it had hit Myrtle, but Daisy - in favor of protecting Daisy (178). Once again, Nick mischaracterizes his traits and even fails to recognize his deceptions and violations of trust as being dishonest, failing to evaluate his own traits. By highlighting Nick’s opinions of and interactions with life amongst the rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald crafts Nick into a complex character whose contrasting thoughts and actions create a many leveled, multifaceted character who shows the reader that one’s appraisal of one’s own traits can often be incorrect.
As the narrator, readers expect certain qualities in the character to provide an unbiased, non-judgmental, straightforward, and confident point of view of the story. The issues noted above can take away from the story and his narrative abilities. By following the self-improvement plan and advices, Nick Carraway can present himself as an upstanding character as all readers wish to see him to
Alli Craig AP Language Mr. Ruddy October 11, 2015 The Great Gatsby Synthesis Essay Nick Carraway the voice telling the story “The Great Gatsby” but the mastermind giving it purpose is the author Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald lived a lifestyle that was very similar to the one we see in Nick. He was also a very average man placed into a society of over the top lifestyles and extravagant wealth, possibly reflecting how Fitzgerald felt as an average person in a thriving time period being the 1920’s where people would do anything to pursue the American Dream. People, especially the rich, primarily value money over basic morals.
Nick Carraway is the main character and narrator of the The Great Gatsby. In class, it was discussed that this novel is never about Jay Gatsby, but about Nick. Nick was madly in love with Gatsby and that
As Gatsby, at least in the eyes of many critics, should represent the idea of the American Dream, the presentation of his character puts the whole concept in question again, without being intended as criticism. This is mainly the fault of another weak character in the novel, Nick Carraway. At first, the only function of Nick in the novel seems to be to act as a reporter, telling us the truth by telling us his shrewd, objective perceptions. Then, as the novel progresses, it turns out that the opposite is the case, and he is siding with Gatsby to make this character stand above all others and shine. Nick Carraway is one of the finest examples of reader manipulation in literature.
If you have ever read The Great Gatsby does it feel like Nick Carraway is the only cool, calm, and collective one? This novel titled The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, taken set in the 1920’s was full of trait filled characters such as Nick Carraway. When creating this character analysis Nick Carraway showed to be quite a “green” type of character. Carraway displayed such traits like enjoyment of the big picture process and work being his fun or even the value of justice meaning investigative type of person.
Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor and close friend, considers Gatsby to have achieved greatness. Nick sees greatness in Gatsby that he has never seen in any other man; unfortunately, all great characters do not always have happy endings. Gatsby’s ambition from a young age, along with his desire to please others, pave the road to his prosperity, but, ultimately, his enduring heroic love for Daisy, steers him to his demise. Several individuals mark Gatsby as a man of great wealth, with a beautiful estate, and an abundance of friends.
“The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays a world filled with rich societal happenings, love affairs, and corruption. Nick Carraway is the engaged narrator of the book, a curious choice considering that he is in a different class and almost in a different world than Gatsby and the other characters. Nick relates the plot of the story to the reader as a member of Gatsby’s circle. He has ambivalent feelings towards Gatsby, despising his personality and corrupted dream but feeling drawn to Gatsby’s magnificent capacity to hope. Using Nick as a moral guide, Fitzgerald attempts to guide readers on a journey through the novel to illustrate the corruption and failure of the American Dream. To achieve this, Nick’s credentials as a reliable narrator are carefully established and reinforced throughout the story.
In the Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald the novel does not reflect an autobiography, but several of Fitzgerald’s personal experiences are reflected in it. Similarities can be drawn between the novel and Scott Fitzgeralds own life. Similarities include Gatsby and Fitzgerald 's want for success through continuous failure, dreams of success, strong feelings towards alcohol, and their love life. Nick’s qualities that relate to Fitzgerald include his honesty as a man in relation to the liars surrounding him. Also his mid western values to not be judgemental makes him a perfect observer, but also makes him the perfect outsider, which is how Fitzgerald always felt in the company of rich people. The relation between Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby
In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a novel set in The Roaring Twenties, portraying a flamboyant and immortal society of the ‘20s where the economy booms, and prohibition leads to organized crimes. Readers follow the journey about a young man named Jay Gatsby, an extravagant mysterious neighbor of the narrator, Nick Carraway. As the novel evolves, Nick narrates his discoveries of Gatsby’s past and his love for Daisy, Nick’s married cousin to readers. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald develops the theme of the conflict which results from keeping secrets instead of telling the truth using the three characters – Tom Buchanan, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby (James Gats).
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald has explored three separate themes: his own life, narrator Nick Carraway, and literary criticism. Back then this good book called The Great Gatsby was released in 1925 (Shain). He could not think of anything else for the next novel (Shain). When it came to the twenties he was over his head (Shain). Fitzgerald was like a brother to Graham. She stopped all the rumors about him from his recent novels and stories (Doreski). Their social lives raised put more effort to make repeating small stories, for the “Saturday Evening Post”. Fitzgerald wrote a play that failed called the “The Vegetable”, they found durable frustration in getting to his other novel (Anderson).
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, reveals thin threads woven between himself and the novel, revealing the truth about a corrupted society filled with discontentment and superficiality. From marriages to women to an impossible dream, all these aspects of Fitzgerald’s life influences his work, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s novel quite closely resembles his own circumstances through his portrayal of the characters and the society of the 1920’s. Though Fitzgerald himself lived in a society of shallowness, he was able to portray that the emptiness in society would not bring anyone happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the characters in The Great Gatsby to represent the people in his own life and to show that wealth causes corruption.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is well known for being an excellent writer, for expertly describing the Jazz Age, and for having a drinking problem. However, he is not so well known for creating deep and intriguing characters. In The Great Gatsby, the majority of the characters remain one-dimensional and unchanging throughout the novel. They are simply known from the viewpoint of Nick Carraway, the participating narrator. Some insight is given into characters in the form of their dialogue with Nick, however, they never really become deep characters that are 'known' and can be identified with. While all of the participants in the novel aren't completely flat, most of the main characters are simply stereotypes of 1920's people from the southern, western, and eastern parts of America.
From the beginning of The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway is developed as a reliable narrator. His honesty and sense of duty are established as he remarks on his own objectivity and willingness to withhold judgment. However, as the book progresses and Nick’s relationship with Jay Gatsby grows more intimate, it is revealed that Nick is not as reliable as previously thought when it comes to Gatsby. Nick perceives Gatsby as pure and blameless, although much of Gatsby's persona is false. Because of his friendship and love for Gatsby, his view of the events is fogged and he is unable to look at the situation objectively.
Narrator's Perspective in The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway has a special place in this novel. He is not just one character among several, it is through his eyes and ears that we form our opinions of the other characters. Often, readers of this novel confuse Nick's stance towards those characters and the world he describes with those of F. Scott Fitzgerald's because the fictional world he has created closely resembles the world he himself experienced. But not every narrator is the voice of the author.