Moral Ambiguity In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
The morality of the characters in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby can be questioned. Rather than merely good or bad, black or white, honest or dishonest, characters are often grey -- neither good nor bad but morally ambiguous. Though Nick Carraway is presented an honest narrator and objective observer who values trust, Nick Carraway, as a character, becomes involved in the moral ambiguity of the wealthy East Coast and inadvertently, he himself assumes some of the faults which he criticizes the other characters for, illistrating that even a fundamentally good character such as Nick can be tainted by the admiration of wealth.

Nick’s honesty as a narrator is crucial to the integrity of the novel as a whole. In order to establish truth in
…show more content…
In the beginning, Nick establishes his moral uprightness, stating that "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." In addition, Nick proudly states that he graduated from Yale twenty-five years after his father 's graduation and that his "prestigious" family made their fortune in the "wholesale hardware business." In contrast to his declaration of moral uprightness, it is vital to the narrative that the true nature of Nick 's character is revealed. For instance, Nick is constantly surrounded by deceit and infidelity, observing immorality and dishonesty, but chooses to not expose the infidelity. When Nick first visits Daisy, Tom receives a call from his mistress. Jordan informs Nick that Myrtle often calls the house. When Nick accompanies Tom Buchanan on the train, his own behavior becomes morally questionable, as Nick seems almost duplicitous with Tom 's adultery, and he himself becomes involved in the morally ambiguous event: When introduced to Tom and Myrtle 's secret apartment, Nick is unsure of how to respond; however, he is persuaded by Tom, stating that “Myrtle [will] be hurt if you don’t come,” and gets drunk, “ for only the second time in [his] life.” Getting drunk is a personal experience, especially because Nick had only been drunk once before, showing his tolerance. Though Nick declares himself to be "one of the few honest people that I have ever known," he becomes involved with Jordan Baker, who is not only a cheat in her profession but also a cheat in life. Also, although Nick has stated that he follows his father 's advice of being careful about criticizing others who have not had his "advantages in life", and he asserts that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," Nick insistently judges others. For example, Nick calls Tom and Daisy "careless people" who using people like objects and then "[retreat] back into

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Evidently, Nick believes that in order to achieve personal happiness he must move and start a new life for himself. Finally, when Nick attends a party at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment, he gets drunk, which is something very uncommon to his past life. He describes his condition at the party as, “ I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon” (29). This shows that Nick is trying to fit into the fast paced city lifestyle which is previously unknown to him, as he is from the midwest. To sum up, Nick reinvents himself in order to forget his past and assimilate to his new life in West Egg.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, Nick admires the wealth of Tom and he reckons Tom’s house “is even more elaborate than [he] expected(Ch.1).” Nick tolerates Tom despite Tom’s arrogant attitude annoys him because he reserves judgment to anyone just like his father tole him so. So Nick remains silent to Daisy Buchanan after knowing Tom is cheating on her although with resentment feelings for Tom. He tolerates Tom’s dishonest instead of to tell the truth, as a person with higher moral standards would do.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nick views them in a much different light after Gatsby’s death. "They were careless people,Tom and Daisy, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Nick 's views of Tom and Daisy drastically changed after Gatsby was killed by Georgie Wilson. It was Tom and Daisy 's fault for it because Tom told Wilson it was Gatsby 's car which hit Myrtle but Daisy was the one driving the car not Gatsby. Which led to Wilson to believe it was Gatsby who ran over Myrtle so then he proceeded to kill Gatsby and himself.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nick is judgemental in the story because he calls Daisy and Tom careless people. Nick says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 179). Nick makes judgements about Daisy and Tom and how when they were in trouble they packed up and left town. The author wrote, “Nick is prejudiced, latter making comments such as: ‘Dishonesty in a women is a thing you never blame deeply.’ and referring to his household help as ‘My Finn’” (Wolok 1). Nick can be a kind person but is judgmental and rude at times to other people and their lifestyles.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gatsby’s character ranges from a gracious host and protecting lover to a law breaking bootlegger. Due to his pivotal role, good decisions and actions, and bad decisions and actions, Gatsby can be thought of as an important and morally ambiguous character. The character Gatsby seems to reflect the world’s population as a whole. Human beings are rarely all good or all bad, and people are often motivated…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Human beings are fickle creatures that exhibit the wildest characteristics. Often unpredictable in behavior but predictable in thought, people are prone to act in certain ways based on how they were raised or on what they believe. F. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly encompasses this fickleness in his novel The Great Gatsby. Set in the 1920’s, his novel uses a variety of characters where each have their own uncertain ethics and, subsequently, behavioral patterns. The moral ambiguity of Fitzgerald’s characters illustrates the cruel reality of human nature.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nick describes them as careless people since they did not show up to the funeral of Gatsby. Nick would have at least thought that Daisy would send flowers or a letter, she insteads hides and gets away with Tom. Keep in mind that this whole nightmare happened because Nick agreed to inviting Daisy over for tea. This is careless because he knew that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle. Nick does not tell Daisy, which means that he is covering for Tom.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This sudden outburst abruptly muddles Nick, as he doesn’t apprehend why gossip of his fairly mundane life would circulate. Nick asides that something was making Tom “nibble at the edge of stale ideas,” perhaps that he is apprehensive of his marital status. An illustration of this is created when Myrtle, Tom’s other paramour, derides him by repeatedly shouting Daisy’s name, but is then shortly interrupted after Tom strikes her front. Tom doesn’t view Myrtle in the same light as Daisy, denying her the right to acknowledge his wife’s name because she’s only a decoration for him; a way to feel superior by presenting the fact that he can do anything and slip away with it, even abusing multiple partners at…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nick comments on himself as he says that he is very tolerant and has a tendency to reserve all judgments, and this is completely true. Tom had total trust in Nick when he introduces him to his mistress, Myrtle as he never suspected Nick to reveal his affair to anyone. Along with his arrogance, I feel that Tom is very unfaithful to his wife, Daisy as he does not try to hide this when he accepts a call from his mistress during lunch. Tom’s behavior has left me speechless as he cheats on his life to fulfill his pleasures. To add to his unfaithfulness, I believe that he has a very sexist nature and rudeness towards women as he merely uses them as objects.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Nick himself was also disillusioned; “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I has ever known” (Fitzgerald, 39), thus characterizing himself in opposition to the masses. He is “inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald, 3), events in the novel do not attest to his self-characterization. Though he wants to take the moral high ground, his best friend ends up being probably one of the more morally corrupt characters, Gatsby. He also says about Jordan’s cheating during her tournament, “Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply—I was casually sorry, and then I forgot” (Fitzgerald, 38). His utter awe and wonder of this “new…

    • 2691 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author illustrates the life of people in New York City in the 1920s through the life of the narrator, Nick Carraway. In this novel, the author’s purpose is to make the reader be conscious of the people that did not come to Jay Gatsby’s funeral were spurious and judgmental towards each other. However, Henry Gatz, who is Gatsby’s father, Nick, and Owl Eyes, and few servants were an exception due to them being at the funeral. Fitzgerald portrays this by contrasting the old-money people to the new-money people, how critical and false they are, he does this by stylistically choosing to us paradox and similes to display the some people as fake. One stylistic choice that Fitzgerald…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He is a prime suspect to Tom’s cheating, but decides to keep it to himself and shelter Daisy from Tom’s actions. This action of keeping secrets once again leads on to bigger events and problems as soon Daisy founds out creating the main dilemma of the novel. As Gary J. Scrimgeour says, “Jordan is right about Nick’s character. The crisis of their affair reveals to her what she…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    " Now, everyone in the class longed to be like him. Welcome to the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald 's classic novel The Great Gatsby, a life that is filled with hopes and dreams of happiness and a wealthy future. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Nick Carraway and his journey into the…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes the subjectivity of narration to provide further insight into the characters of the story. Because the novel is told through a first-person point of view, objectivity is nearly impossible. That would require the narrator to disregard their personal feelings and opinions. Therefore, The Great Gatsby is a subjective narrative full of biased opinions about the lives of the wealthy in New York, during the roaring twenties. These opinions come from Nick Carraway, who is born into the upper class.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Another example of Nick contradicting his own claim of not judging others is at Gatsby’s funeral he says “They were careless people Tom and Daisy they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money” (118). Even though this is true Nick once again does not withhold his judgment as he claims to show his bias towards Gatsby and his hatred toward the Buchanans. Another example of Nick being an unreliable narrator is him being drunk during two very important parts of the story. The first time Nick was intoxicated during the novel is at Myrtle's party. Nick says “ I have only been drunk just twice in my life and the second time was that afternoon so everything that happens has a dim and hazy cast over it”(33).…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays