Nick Carraway from Great Gatsby free essay sample

Is he a reliable narrator? What factors contribute to his perspective of what has taken place so far? Is he a character with which it is possible to empathise and trust? Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, is introduced in a certain way by Fitzgerald in order to gain trust from the reader. He is shown to be looking back at time and explaining the events that have taken place. Therefore, this trust must be gained as time can askew facts and opinions; the reader must be able to empathise with the narrator and so be able to believe the judgments which he gives. Fitzgerald starts by explaining Nicks character in the first chapter. He is said to be able to reserve all judgments in order not to misinterpret other people. This is a necessary quality as it shows that his judgments are given after considerable thought and so must be accurate. We will write a custom essay sample on Nick Carraway from Great Gatsby or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His tolerance is also boasted in order to make sure that readers do not think him as a biased narrator. Fitzgerald is also quite subtle in upholding Nicks intellectual personality by starting with the phrase in my younger and more vulnerable years which suggests that he has matured now. However, in order to make him seem real, he has also included the fact that his tolerance has a limit. This whole introduction tries to gain trust in the reader by explaining which characteristics make Nick a reliable narrator. Furthermore, Nick is described to have a family from a prominent, well-to-do people . He has been educated at New Haven university as has his father. All this suggest he is knowledgeable and has been brought up in a good environment. This may give a reason to why he has a higher sense of morality than most other people. All this gives the impression that he is well educated and so well informed as well as reliable in his judgments. The background on his life helps establish the relationship with the reader. Moreover, he tries to distance himself from what is occurring in the book by focussing on the actions of others and giving detailed descriptions of his surroundings. The extent of this description may show the reader how vivid his memories; this will give an impression of him being trustworthy. Also, he rarely describes his own actions within the text, often remarking I told him instead of his conversation. In my opinion, although this may be an attempt to hide his opinions and stay factual, it makes it increasingly difficult for the reader to empathise with him as they never know what definitely transpired during the events in the book. Additionally, I find that he often incorporates his opinions within the text by trying to build the picture of an entity in a certain way. His use of language here becomes extremely important. He often uses negative words to describe things which he detests; these are very subtle ways for him to give a certain impression of thing in the readers mind. For example, he describes the dog Tom buys Myrtle as having a brown washrag of a back – this is obviously his opinion and may be interpreted differently by other people. These opinions are given with less subtlety further on in the book when the reader has established a relationship with Nick and trusts his judgment. However, his judgment can be questioned when it comes to his interest in Daisy and Jordan as it may seem to askew his chain of thought. On his first meeting with Daisy, he seems extremely positive in whatever he says about her and his increasing interest makes it seem that his opinions here may not be completely reliable. Nevertheless, he manages the gain the trust of the reader by explaining his character and giving reasons for his reliability. He tries to keep to the facts and distances himself from the event. In the third chapter, he speaks directly to the reader and starts explaining what else he has done in the past weeks. The way he says he has read over his work makes it seem that all words chosen before were done so purposely and all facts given should be accurate. Overall, I would say that the narrator does gain the trust of his audience but his judgments in some areas of the text can be questionable.