Nick Carraway Dishonest Analysis

Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This novel is a story about the love triangle of Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby, told from the perspective of Nick. Nick moves to Long Island, New York, where he encounters the lives of his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom, as well as his wealthy neighbor Jay. Throughout the story, Nick shows that he is judgmental, dishonest, and passive. Nick is an extremely judgmental person throughout his life. As the story begins, Nick says, “...I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me…” (Fitzgerald 1). Although Nick claims he has been taught to not judge others, he does quite frequently. Nick insults Daisy and Tom,

“... I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 59). The night of the car crash, Nick has many opportunities to be honest, but he chooses not to. The first time Nick lies on that night was when he was talking to the police. “‘Listen,’ said Tom, shaking him a little. ‘I just got here a minute ago, from New York. I was bringing you that coupe we’ve been talking about. That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn’t mine-do you hear? I haven’t seen it all afternoon.’... ‘And what color’s your car?’ ‘It’s a blue car, a coupe.’ ‘We’ve come straight from New York,’ I said” (Fitzgerald 140-41). Nick lies to the police about who the yellow car belongs to, in order to help Tom stay out of trouble, but his dishonesty made Jay more of a suspect, eventually leading to his death. Nick chooses to tell a simple lie which has

Nick learns that Daisy was driving the car, not Gatsby. “ ‘Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes,’ he said after a moment, ‘but of course I’ll say I was…’” (Fitzgerald 143). Nick could have taken this information to the police and kept Jay out of trouble, but he decides not to. This decision has consequences as well. Nick has information that could be useful to police as well as protect Jay, but he prefers to lie. Jordan Baker suspects Nick to be a liar as well. When Nick and Jordan talk a while after the car accident, she tells Nick she believed he was an honest person, but after most of his behavior, she has changed her mind. “‘... I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person. I thought it was your secret pride.’ ‘I’m thirty,’ I said. ‘I’m five years too old to lie to myself and call it an honor’” (Fitzgerald 177). Therefore, even the people around Nick noticed his behaviors, which led them to consider him as