Moral Ambiguity In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

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