Examples Of Judgement In The Great Gatsby

Has judgment always been an important part of people’s lives? In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, judgment is essential in the main character’s life. During the summer of 1922, Nick Carraway moves to the wealthy and lavish East Egg, one of two rich islands just outside of New York City. While living in East Egg, he meets the mysterious and very well-off Jay Gatsby, who coincidentally knows Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy lives in West Egg, the richer and more luxurious of the two islands with her husband Tom Buchanan. Throughout the summer, scandals involving these characters, including a couple of affairs, test Nick’s ability to keep his lifelong promise of withholding judgment from people. Throughout the novel, Nick does keep his promise of withholding judgment

During lunch, Gatsby explains to Nick that Meyer had fixed the World Series in 1919 and Nick responds with the reaction, “The idea staggered me”(73). Even though he had just heard this shocking news about Meyer, Nick had nothing judgmental to say about him or what he had done, rather he was just stunned. Furthermore, Nick reserved his judgment from Jordan Baker. While describing Jordan, Nick says that she is dishonest, although he also says, “It made no difference to me”(58). Although he had heard rumors about her like the fact that she was accused of cheating at a golf tournament, Nick was still able to see past it and withhold his judgments of Jordan. Moreover, Nick suppresses judgment of Tom’s scandalous affair with Myrtle Wilson. When Tom forces Nick to meet Myrtle, he says, “I had no desire to meet her-but I did”(24). In spite of the fact that Nick did not want to make the acquaintance of Myrtle, he didn’t have anything rude to say about her to Tom and didn’t fight him on the fact that he didn’t want to see her. In conclusion, Nick withheld his judgment from a gambler, a rumored cheater, and an actual