Examples Of Sexuality In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby and Nick Carraway’s Sexuality Within the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway’s sexuality is referenced in a few instances although it is not specifically mentioned. The subject of homosexuality was forbidden and filled with uncertainty in the era of the 1920s but by reading it, Fitzgerald’s hidden references are quite evident to today’s reader. The language, diction and style used are curated to describe the characters of Gatsby and Nick and this ultimately allows us to gather that Nick Carraway is gay/bisexual. The love Nick has for Gatsby is curious and harmless at first yet the admiration for him grows in each chapter, but is it truly innocent towards the end? The language Nick uses within the

The actions that he portrayed in the apartment (Fitzgerald, Ch. 2) set the scene for his sexual awakening. His mental state is clearly altered as he states, “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second was that afternoon."(Fitzgerald 20). The state of being intoxicated may have added to the scenario that he was apart of. Nick's sexuality became apparent in the case where he was in the elevator with McKee (Fitzgerald 25). Nick follows McKee and they speak about lunch briefly as they "groan" down the elevator. Elevator's "groaning" may be an allusion to a sexual act because normally, elevators do not usually "groan". The next part however describes Nick "beside his bed and McKee was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands." (Fitzgerald 25-26). The sexualization emanating from those final sentences of the chapter reveal that they had slept together. The blurred state Nick was in accelerated the sex as it occurred. As a reader in the 21st century, the two examples of the language and actions portrayed in this novel so far reveal that Nick Carraway is in fact, gay, but what about

Nick Carraway could in fact be bisexual, possessing the ability to love anyone; this would explain his confusing and complex relationship with Jordan. He felt as though she was “incurably dishonest” (Fitzgerald 38) but he was still intrigued by her. He was “half-angry and half in love with her”. (Fitzgerald 113). This intrigue was enough for him to love her, the most complicated and purest emotion of all. Unfortunately, his relationship with Jordan was not long lasting because of her behavior and dishonesty, so who did Nick truly love? In terms of “romantic” pairs, Daisy had Tom, Tom had Myrtle but whom did Nick truly have? Gatsby. In a novel filled with lies and deceit, their relationship was the only “honest one” in terms of love. 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