The Great Gatsby is told entirely from the point of view of Nick Carraway. The novel would be very different if it were told from any other character’s perspective.
Nick is a reliable narrator, but he is not omniscient. He doesn’t know everything that goes on in the novel, but he knows enough to provide us with a clear picture of the events. Fitzgerald uses Nick’s limited point of view to create suspense and keep readers guessing about what will happen next.
Nick is also a very important character in the novel. He serves as a link between all of the other characters. We learn about them through his interactions with them and his observations of their behavior.
What words or phrases do Nick’s early statements imply that he is enthusiastic about going east? His views on the environment as he travels east differ significantly from those he saw while traveling west, where he lives. As he ventures into the East, his first impressions include words such as “Fashionable” and “Smiling,” which are a stark contrast to the terms used to describe the West, such as “superficial” or “odd.”
Furthermore, Nick’s view of people also changes as he meets new characters such as Daisy Buchanan. When Nick first meets Daisy, he is immediately enchanted by her beauty and innocence. She represents everything that is pure and good in the world, and he cannot help but be drawn to her. The hope and possibilities that Nick feels at the beginning of the novel are embodied in Daisy, and it is this hope that sustains him throughout the novel.
What evidence suggests that Nick’s perceptions have changed by the end of the novel?By the end of The Great Gatsby, Nick’s perceptions have changed considerably. He has become more cynical and jaded, and his views on the East Coast elite are much less forgiving than they were at the beginning of the novel. The illusion of the American Dream has been shattered for Nick, and he can no longer see the world through rose-colored glasses.
The death of his friend, Jay Gatsby, has had a profound effect on him, and he can no longer view the world in the same way. The Great Gatsby is ultimately a tragic story, and Nick’s perceptions reflect this by the end of the novel.
The narrator’s enthusiasm for travelling to the East is demonstrated as he describes the “East Egg gleamed along the water,” this indicates how he views it over the water as a place of marvel and astonishment, and that all of the lights and color attract him to it, therefore why he was so confident about going there in his beginning. America during the 1920s was dubbed part of the “Jazz age,” and while they separated themselves from Europe to avoid a class system, there is still a distinct difference between West and East egg.
The people who live in the West egg are said to be ‘new money’ which means they have only recently acquired their wealth, whereas those in the East Egg are ‘old money’ and have been wealthy for some time. The people in the East look down on those in the West because they believe them to be nouveau riche and not worthy of their social class.
The reason Nick moves to the East is because he is related to Daisy Buchanan who lives there with her husband Tom. The novel is set during prohibition so alcohol was illegal, however this didn’t stop people from drinking it as they would get it smuggled in from Canada or make their own. The parties that Gatsby throws at his house are renowned for the amount of alcohol that is available.
The people who attended Gatsby’s parties were a mix of East and West eggers as he was originally from the West, Nick says ‘I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited– they went there.
They got into automobiles which overturned in trying to turn around, and then you would see them either rushing wildly back to more safety or floundering out through the wet shrubbery toward the road where their taxis waited.’ This tells us that people just turned up to his parties regardless of whether they were invited or not as they were such a good time. The people who did this were known as ‘gate crashers’.
Nick is the narrator of the story and it is told from his point of view, he talks in the first person which means that the readers only know what he knows and we see things from his perspective. He is an honest and reliable narrator as he tells the story objectively without any bias towards any of the characters.
The novel starts with Nick reflecting on the events that have happened over the summer and how they have affected him, he says ‘In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’ This tells us that he is a fair person and that he is going to try not to judge people too harshly as he knows that everyone has their own story and background.
Nick meets Jordan Baker at one of Gatsby’s parties, she is a professional golfer and comes from a wealthy family. She is described as being ‘incurably dishonest’ which means she cannot help herself from lying, she is also very carefree and careless. Nick starts dating her but he is not really interested in her, he is only doing it to please Daisy as she wants him to be with someone who is similar to her.
Nick is also drawn to Jordan because she represents everything that he wants, she is wealthy and carefree and he is intrigued by her lifestyle. The fact that Nick is not really interested in Jordan but is only dating her to please Daisy shows us that he is not really a materialistic person and that he is more interested in relationships and emotional connection than money and status.
Nick meets Jay Gatsby at one of his parties, Gatsby is originally from the West egg but has made his fortune through illegal activities such as bootlegging alcohol and dealing in stocks. He lives in a huge mansion on the East egg and throws lavish parties every weekend. Gatsby is obsessed with Daisy Buchanan and wants to win her back, he asks Nick to arrange a meeting between them.
Nick is hesitant to do this as he knows that Daisy is married and he doesn’t want to get involved in any drama. However, he eventually agrees to it and the two of them meet at Nick’s house. Gatsby is overjoyed to see Daisy again and they start an affair, however Nick starts to feel like he is getting in too deep and tries to distance himself from the situation.
The novel is full of symbols which represent different things, for example the green light that Gatsby stares at across the bay represents his hope and dreams for the future. The parties that he throws represent the excesses of the 1920s and the decadence of the upper class. The eyes of Dr T.J Eckleburg represent the moral decline of America and the loss of values. The novel is also full of literary devices such as irony, foreshadowing and symbolism.
The Great Gatsby is a classic novel that is still relevant today, it has been made into a movie several times and there are many different interpretations of it. The novel is an important commentary on the American dream and the concept of wealth and status. It is also a story about love, betrayal and greed. The novel is full of symbols and themes that are still relevant today, making it a timeless classic.
