The Silent Villain
Who is the true villain of The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald? Is it Tom Buchanan the abusive, controlling husband, or perhaps Daisy Buchanan the greedy, manipulative heroine, who is the ultimate prize. Perhaps it's even Jay Gatsby the titular main character and star of the book whose obsession with the past leads to him not having a future? The true villain of this story is narrator Nick Carraway. He claims to not want to be part of the conflict, but there he is in the midst of it all, and what got him there was his actions, wanting to belong, and his inaction.
Nick is the silent villain of this story, he represents the underlying theme that sometimes silence is just as destructive as action.
Nick is not a silent protagonist, he is not a black slate that the reader is able to project themselves upon instead he is a watcher. He is meant to be the eyes and ears. A trustworthy individual that the reader is able to use as a portal into the world of The Great Gatsby. As the author of the book Nick tries to present himself as that kind of neutral person, in the story, he even goes as far as claiming in the beginning of the book, “In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores” (Fitzgerald 1). The reason Nick dose this is so that the reader will associate him with the truth, if they do so they will be less inclined to question his morality and actions. Atlas it is not so simple, one can not just state that he is a fair and righteous person they must also be willing and able back it up with their actions. Nick however is unable to do this, through the book …show more content…
The problem is Nick is not a sympathetic character, during the book he finds himself in a lot of unforeseen situations. Though most of these are not of his doing he is there because of his
Who is the true villain of The Great Gatsby, by F.Scott Fitzgerald? Is it Tom Buchanan the abusive, controlling husband, or perhaps Daisy Buchanan the greedy, manipulative heroine, who is the ultimate prize. Perhaps it's even Jay Gatsby the titular main character and star of the book whose obsession with the past leads to him not having a future? The true villain of this story is narrator Nick Carraway. He claims to not want to be part of the conflict, but there he is in the midst of it all, and what got him there was his actions, wanting to belong, and his inaction.
Nick is the silent villain of this story, he represents the underlying theme that sometimes silence is just as destructive as action.
Nick is not a silent protagonist, he is not a black slate that the reader is able to project themselves upon instead he is a watcher. He is meant to be the eyes and ears. A trustworthy individual that the reader is able to use as a portal into the world of The Great Gatsby. As the author of the book Nick tries to present himself as that kind of neutral person, in the story, he even goes as far as claiming in the beginning of the book, “In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores” (Fitzgerald 1). The reason Nick dose this is so that the reader will associate him with the truth, if they do so they will be less inclined to question his morality and actions. Atlas it is not so simple, one can not just state that he is a fair and righteous person they must also be willing and able back it up with their actions. Nick however is unable to do this, through the book …show more content…
The problem is Nick is not a sympathetic character, during the book he finds himself in a lot of unforeseen situations. Though most of these are not of his doing he is there because of his