Nick Carraway: Sincere Storyteller or Narcissistic Narrator?
If someone feels the need to assure you that they are a good person, how good can they actually be? In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway claims to be an extremely credible man, specifically in his narration of the story. However, it can be argued that he actually is semi-deceptive in his portrayal of this novel. This theory can be proven, or at least justified, through Nick’s misconstrued perception of self, his seemingly hypocritical thought process, and Jordan’s poor opinions about him.
On the very first page of the book, Nick describes himself as a man with extremely high moral integrity. He tells a story, explaining how his father
…show more content…
At first Nick thinks of Gatsby only as an extravagant socialite— with his exorbitant parties with excessive amounts of guests— but, upon actually meeting, as aforementioned, and recognizing him, decides he is actually a pretty decent guy. He eventually reverts to thinking Gatsby might not be such a good person once he reached the conclusion that Gatsby was only treating him in such a kind way so he would go through with the scheme to hook him up with Daisy. In reality, Nick spends the entire book going back and forth between loving and disliking Gatsby. He also can’t seem to decipher his feelings about Jordan Baker. At first she seems pretty standoffish to Nick, but then they appear to get along at Gatsby’s parties— maybe even as if they were in love with each other— but alas, it was not meant to be. Nick ultimately decides that while he does enjoy Jordan’s company, she is as dishonest and careless as the rest of her friends and therefore not worth his time. However Nick’s conflicting thoughts pertain to much more than just these two people. His paradoxical mentality applies itself to the entirety of his social interactions. Nick can never seem to determine whether or not he wants to consort with these people. He actually goes back and forth trying to figure out whether or not he enjoys spending time with such empty headed people.“I wanted to get out... but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back... I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety [of their lives].” (35) It’s quite obvious that even Nick doesn’t know what he thinks or feels. Thus, The Great Gatsby’s narrator could not possibly be capable of accurately describing this story to the