From the beginning of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, adds a unique perspective to the plot and character development of the story, but his reliability is questionable. Originally Nick states that he has a specific opinion about how the world should be, but then illustrates that the one exception to his judgment of others is Gatsby. Gatsby is the main character of the novel, whose one goal in life is to obtain Daisy Buchanan 's affection, which he does through materialistic means. Nick fixates on Gatsby 's dream in order to compensate for a void in his own life, which causes him to narrate the novel with Gatsby in a favorable light, thus demonstrating his irrational judgment and unreliability
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As Colin S. Cass asserts, "Nick 's source of information must be as credible as possible", even though he is commentating and narrating events two years after occurring (318). Originally Nick illustrates himself as a narrative voice that is telling a story primarily focused on a single man, Jay Gatsby, who is a criminal, a liar, and a man who deceives almost all of the other characters in the novel. On the other hand, he also illustrates himself as a narrator who sees the enormity of Gatsby 's vision and the relentlessness of his pursuit of Daisy to be more important than Gatsby 's unsavory attributes. David L. Minter perceives Nick 's narrative viewpoint to be "the role of observer and spectator, critic and interpreter of a scene and an action …show more content…
After returning from war, Nick "enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that [he] [comes] back restless", and decides he is not yet ready to settle into his families hardware business, concluding that he needs to detach from his old roots in the Midwest (3; ch. 1). In order to detach and find a greater purpose for himself, he decides to go to New York to begin working in the bond business. By moving to New York, Nick is implying that there is a void in his life that he thinks he can fill by making a lot of money while in the center of the busiest city in the world. Nick is ultimately searching for a purpose or a goal to pursue, but is unable to find what he is looking for through his unfulfilling job in bond business. Instead, he discovers his purpose in Gatsby, but during Nick 's original encounters with Gatsby, he sees Gatsby as only a philandering playboy. Nick 's inability to recognize Gatsby’s at the beginning of the novel result in confusion about Gatsby 's overly extravagant actions. David L. Minter notes that Gatsby 's story "is redeemed from corruption and waste, from failure and absurdity only through Nick Carraway 's effort imaginatively to interpret and render it" (83). Once Nick realizes Gatsby 's purpose, he is able to understand and justify Gatsby 's sometimes immoral or elaborate
As Colin S. Cass asserts, "Nick 's source of information must be as credible as possible", even though he is commentating and narrating events two years after occurring (318). Originally Nick illustrates himself as a narrative voice that is telling a story primarily focused on a single man, Jay Gatsby, who is a criminal, a liar, and a man who deceives almost all of the other characters in the novel. On the other hand, he also illustrates himself as a narrator who sees the enormity of Gatsby 's vision and the relentlessness of his pursuit of Daisy to be more important than Gatsby 's unsavory attributes. David L. Minter perceives Nick 's narrative viewpoint to be "the role of observer and spectator, critic and interpreter of a scene and an action …show more content…
After returning from war, Nick "enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that [he] [comes] back restless", and decides he is not yet ready to settle into his families hardware business, concluding that he needs to detach from his old roots in the Midwest (3; ch. 1). In order to detach and find a greater purpose for himself, he decides to go to New York to begin working in the bond business. By moving to New York, Nick is implying that there is a void in his life that he thinks he can fill by making a lot of money while in the center of the busiest city in the world. Nick is ultimately searching for a purpose or a goal to pursue, but is unable to find what he is looking for through his unfulfilling job in bond business. Instead, he discovers his purpose in Gatsby, but during Nick 's original encounters with Gatsby, he sees Gatsby as only a philandering playboy. Nick 's inability to recognize Gatsby’s at the beginning of the novel result in confusion about Gatsby 's overly extravagant actions. David L. Minter notes that Gatsby 's story "is redeemed from corruption and waste, from failure and absurdity only through Nick Carraway 's effort imaginatively to interpret and render it" (83). Once Nick realizes Gatsby 's purpose, he is able to understand and justify Gatsby 's sometimes immoral or elaborate