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Examples Of Ambiguity In The Great Gatsby

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The Sexual Ambiguity of Nick Carraway: Analyzing Homoerotic Undertones Within Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald, within the text of The Great Gatsby, hints at subtle moments of homoeroticism in interactions between Nick Carraway and numerous protagonists in his novel to show the possible normality of these tendencies in everyday culture.
Scholars seem to interpret that our narrator in The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, has homosexual tendencies that are based on his actions within the novel. There are many instances to back up this particular claim, but the most convincing part of the text is Nick’s actions that take place after his interaction with Tom and Myrtle in the city. The scene of Carraway looking at McKnee, clad in underwear, …show more content…

What is important here is not whether Nick feels homosexual desire for Mr. McKee but Nick's responses to both McKee and Tom, which create the ambiguity of the whole McKee episode. Rather than an absolute ideological statement about "feminine" emotion in art or a clear revelation of Nick's sexuality or gender identity, the chapter registers Fitzgerald's ambivalence toward the high modernist taboo on sentimentality and personal expression and perhaps also anxiety about the nature of his own artistic talent. The chapter's strange gender transgressions suggest Fitzgerald's discomfort with strict divisions between masculine and feminine behavior and personality. (Kerr …show more content…

Nick seems to profess love for Gatsby in ways of such admiration, so much of which to make the reader believe that this might not be a simple platonic relationship between the two males. A really intense passage within the novel that shows the utmost admiration for the man in the pink suit is when our narrator is describing Gatsby’s smile:
He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. (Fitzgerald 53)
Carraway continues to explain how Gatsby’s grin makes your entire life feel justified up until this point of your life, which shows that Carraway’s feelings for the man might not be strictly one of neighborly

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He imagines Gatsby as what he wants himself to be- a wealthy, gregarious man who needs no other way to impress people because he is nearly famous. It is clearly understood that Nick has a desire to be a more socially active person which is why he invented Gatsby in the first

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In the captivating novel The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Chapters three and four have many differences that arise within the pages. The main contrast is Nick and Gatsby’s relationship. To begin, in chapter three Nick Carraway hears more rumors about Gatsby and gets to see his appearance. In chapter 4 however, he gets to observe his personality. In chapter three when Nick finally sees’s Gatsby, he says “ I could see nothing sinister about him.

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The rich bastard/good guy dichotomy is most essential to Steinbeck’s narrative purpose for Chapter Two. Tom Joad Jr., while prying the truck driver for a ride, claims that “sometimes a guy’ll be a good guy even if some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker.” We know that the driver wants to be a good guy, similar to the emergence of ‘good personality’ over ‘good character’ in The Great Gatsby. The phrase “good guy” is only referenced six times within the novel, all within chapter two. “Rich bastard” only appears twice, both within chapter two again.

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Standing in another’s shadow can occasionally lead to feelings of jealousy. In the case of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick Carraway has no problem with this idea of being the ‘sidekick.’ This is because of how much he admires Gatsby. Nick is a smart, educated man from a fairly wealthy family in Minnesota, but he doesn’t spend the book bragging about himself. He instead spends the majority of the novel raving about his good friend, Jay Gatsby.

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At the height of American opulence, the extravagant lives of New York City’s elite, and the dramatic affairs that arise within them are highlighted in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 20th century classic, “The Great Gatsby”. On a steaming day in the summer of 1922, the novels observant protagonist Nick Carraway, lounges amongst his companions in a hotel suite, as tensions rise between Tom Buchanan and his wife's love interest, Jay Gatsby. In this passage, through Toms verbal belittling of Gatsby and Nicks critical observations, Fitzgerald indirectly characterizes Tom, exemplifying his insecurity from threats to his masculinity and status. The passage centers around a one-sidedly antagonistic conversation between Tom and Gatsby that comes after Tom

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569 Words | 3 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates a morally ambiguous character that can’t be defined as strictly good or evil. Moral ambiguity is the driving force towards Gatsby’s actions. The character Gatsby demonstrates morally ambiguous qualities that initiate plot throughout the whole novel. Morally ambiguous choices can be viewed towards Gatsby’s character throughout the novel. The first glimpse of Gatsby is introduced in the first chapter while Nick is “exempting him from his reaction” of a “uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever” already placing Gatsby in a position of moral ambiguity (Fitzgerald 2).

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Nick had attempted to escape from this lifestyle but because he was unable to make a complete decision in the beginning, he kept living it through the Buchanans; they were Nick’s window to the past. He witnesses Tom’s affair being “insisted upon wherever he was known” (21) without shame, and Daisy “[turn] out the light” (117) in her relationship with Gatsby, as it it never happened. A quiet bystander, never interfering, he experiences their life of ignorance, one with no repercussions, the one he had. Unwilling to remove himself from them, he instead complies to their wants, their decisions that create a sense of accomplishment. Doing nothing to change and move on from his past, Nick makes his choice to move to the east pointless.

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It is made clear to the reader that Nick gains quite an interest in Gatsby. He actually begins to become obsessed with him. The book states, “Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him… It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.”

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1240 Words | 5 Pages

Nick is a little over the top as he describes his features this is first evident when he says “not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body, he seemed to fill those glistening boots until her straightened the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulders moved under his thin coat” (7) this marks the beginning of Nick's feelings for Gatsby even if he hasn’t realized it yet he continues describing him likes this and noticing these types of unnecessary details throughout the rest of the book this is further emphasized later when he described his facial features he goes “he was a blonde spiritless man anemic and faintly handsome”(2). Nick again describes him in such a way that another man specific detail when he could have just said he was handsome or good looking These two examples, some of how Nick talks about Gatsby throughout the rest of the novel, these over the top, unnecessary, visual descriptions. Are a staple throughout the book and are just the beginning stages of Nick’s true feelings for

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815 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, the author insinuates Gatsby is a morally ambiguous character. Fitzgerald supports this claim by the description of Gatsby’s decisions, his words, and the way Nick describes Gatsby, resulting in a more complex and deeper story. Through the choices Gatsby has made, the words he used, and how Nick illustrates Gatsby, it is shown that he is an ambiguous character. First, Gatsby’s choices and actions reveal his moral ambiguity.

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1213 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the book, there are number of instances to suggest Nick is not straight. He seems totally unconcerned with women, but is oddly fascinated with Gatsby. Fitzgerald’s often flowery writing and Nick’s somewhat excessive descriptions of the people around him can be an indication of something deeper. In the first chapter, Nick attends a dinner and the reader is first introduced to Tom, Daisy, and Jordan Baker.

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637 Words | 3 Pages

In the story "The Great Gatsby" Nick has a favorable opinion of Jay Gatsby. In the first chapter of the book Nick states "When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction- Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. " The book gives many examples of Nick thinking of Gatsby as the "Great" such as Gatsby 's smile, what Gatsby was willing to do for Daisy, and what Gatsby did for himself.

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1122 Words | 5 Pages

When he explains how he felt about Gatsby’s smile he mentions that it made him feel special and that it would most likely be one smile that he would remember throughout his whole life. This point would normally be understandable from a male perspective if the characters knew each other from a long time and made a lasting impression on each other, however, given the fact that he just met Gatsby, this reaction towards his smile is somewhat rare and exaggerated. As well as Nick’s thoughts, the use of imagery and symbolism employed during the book in regards to Nick’s experiences with men and women tends to be more vivid when it comes to men. This accounts for the use of phallic symbols used in certain encounters with men during the book.

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

This relationship was fascinating in terms of its state, it was brotherly in some instances, fatherly in others but overall it possessed a romantic and breathless characteristic of hope. This is evident as we witness Nick’s immediate curiosity and admiration for Gatsby. Nick’s fascination began at the start of the novel as he wonders, “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him (Gatsby)”. (Fitzgerald 3). Gatsby made Nick feel hopeful and magnificent, this kind of hope was romantic and orgasmic in a sense, because of the way in which he

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1158 Words | 5 Pages

He incorporated this ellipse intentionally to depict an event has taken place during the encounter with Mckee. Thereupon, Nick was found to be by Mckee’s bed, who was also was in his undergarments showing Nick his portfolio. If Mckee’s sole intentions were to show Nick his portfolio, the act of him being in his underwear was unnecessary, as two men do not require the need to be in underwear during social encounters. Nick only departs from Mckee’s apartment at four in the morning, this scene intensive suggests Nick and Mckee had some sort of sexual occurrences during their time together. Fitzgerald allows the readers to read between the lines and derive thoughts centred around his sexual preference.

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