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Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," Nick Carraway is the narrator and main character who provides the reader with an insight into the lives of the wealthy socialites in 1920s New York. As he is introduced to Tom and Daisy Buchanan's opulent lifestyle, he uses language that reveals his opinion of them and what they represent. Through a careful analysis of the stylistic elements such as tone, diction, imagery, and syntax in Nick's language, it is clear that he views the Buchanan's as superficial, careless, and corrupt. Nick's use of tone sets the stage for his initial impression of the Buchanan's home and lifestyle. The opening of the novel finds Nick describing the East Egg as a "factual imitation" of a French chateau, which sets …show more content…

This tone of detachment reveals Nick's opinion that the Buchanan's are disconnected from reality, living in a world that is an imitation of something else. Nick's diction further emphasizes his negative opinion of the Buchanan's. He describes their home as "gleaming white against the blue sky," using words that convey the excessive opulence and wealth of their lifestyle. However, he also notes that the house is "impersonal" suggesting that it lacks a sense of warmth or personal connection. This impersonality extends to the Buchanan's themselves, who Nick describes as "careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness." This use of the word "careless" twice in the same sentence emphasizes the idea that the Buchanan's are indifferent to the consequences of their actions, which Nick views as immoral. The imagery that Nick employs to describe the Buchanan's further underscores his opinion of them. For instance, when he describes Daisy, he notes that she has "a voice full of money." This image of a voice being "full of money" implies that Daisy is more concerned

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He obtained money to impress the girl he loved, but as his wealth continued to accumulate overtime, his life became filled with greed. The girl he was in love with fell in love with another man’s wealth, resulting in the Buchanans being self absorbed. Nick watches the corruption happen from wealth, but he is not influenced negatively by it because he does not strive or retain such money. Through the incorporation of

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They were careless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made,” (Fitzgerald 179). Nick admits that the actions Tom Buchanan committed seem entirely justified to himself, even when they feel wrong to Nick. This

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Nick’s first dinner party with the Buchanans In the first chapter of the novel nick goes to Tom and Daisy Buchanan's estate for a dinner party. Nick meets first with Tom, then meets Daisy and Jordan. In this scene we learn an incredible amount about Tom in a short amount of time. He loves telling Nick just how wealthy he is and it is immediately clear how prideful Tom is about his wealth.

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Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby written by Scott F. Fitzgerald a fiction book written about the 1920s during the era of Jazz, prohibition and bootlegging. The Great Gatsby had many important characters that played a big role in the plot. Many of the characters did not change throughout the novel like Gatsby never changed and was very static throughout the novel but others were very dynamic and changed throughout the novel in many ways. NIck Carraway is the narrator of the story but is also the main character in his story.

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Another value his father had taught him was to be honest and not to lie. Nick’s closed, rule-bounded view of life comes to a halt at his first visit to the Buchanan’s, where he learns about Tom’s mistress. Nick is befuddled with the juxtaposition of the way he was brought up to the actions of the people in the

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Nick Carraway - The novel’s narrator, explains that he was born in Minnesota, and served in World War I. After the war, he moves to West Egg, a wealthy fictional enclave of Long Island, from Minnesota to learn about the bond business. He lives near his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her wealthy husband Tom, who was Nick's classmate at Yale University. They introduce him to their friend Jordan Baker, a cynical young heiress, and she and Nick have a brief romance. Jay Gatsby, invites Nick to one of his legendary parties. Nick is intrigued by the mysterious socialite, especially when Gatsby introduces him to the gangster Meyer Wolfsheim, who is rumored to have helped Gatsby make his fortune in the bootlegging business.

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Talking about the Buchanans, Nick expressed that they “retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness” because of what Tom led George Wilson to do. (Gatsby) “The Buchanans' thirst for the good life victimizes others to the point of murder”. (Telgen) With Tom’s wealth, he escaped a scene where he was at fault. Completely different, Gatsby showed a dream believing in a “green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Gatsby) “Only Gatsby, could be construed as fulfilling the author's vision of the American Dream”. (Telgen)

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Nick Carraway maintains the impression that the Buchanans are deeply inconsiderate of others at both the beginning and the end of the novel. In the first chapter he observes that Tom Buchanan’s “speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked” (Fitzgerald 7). Tom looks down upon everyone he encounters and is prone to appear vainglorious. Daisy Buchanan is a narcissist in her own way.

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You can’t relive the past,” are Nick Carraway’s wise words to Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, the main character in the novel “The Great Gatsby” written by Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, is a wealthy man living in a rich city named East Egg, Long Island. He is well known for his fascinating weekly parties and massive mansion. Many would say that Daisy, the woman of Gatsby’s dreams, inspires him to work his way up from poverty. Gatsby and Daisy both lived happily together until the war; Daisy married another man by the name of Tom Buchanan and Gatsby committed his life to getting Daisy back into his arms.

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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,

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Later when Daisy is speaking to Nick alone, she describes the birth of her daughter and says, “...that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool. ”(Fitzgerald 17). This brings the stereotypes about old money to life as Daisy implies she would rather her daughter was a fool rather than being aware enough to see the flaws of the society she lives in. It indicates Daisy’s own unhappiness with her experiences as a woman in her community. Just a few seconds later Nick “...felt the basic insincerity of what she said…”

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However, once entered, a different mood is present, and the Buchanans are quick to show their superficiality as well as apathy for their enormous wealth. For example, during the dinner scene in the mansion, Nick describes Daisy and Jordan as speaking “unobtrusively

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald brings to our attention the ideas of greed, power, betrayal, and the American dream in the 1920’s. The social stratification peeks this list of themes as you can see through Nick Carraway 's point of view, the different complications of the everyday life. As Nick begins his new life in West Egg, he encounters three types of people. Daisy, an image of perfection, and grace, who comes from ‘old money’. Myrtle, born poor, and holds her reputation as the ‘other women’.

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

(128), the likes of which is rarely found with ‘new money’ people. Nick is aware that this is how the ‘old money’ lot spend their money. Being the only middle-class man and a distant cousin to a woman, who is born wealthy and has married into wealth, Nick considers himself “...well-rounded man.” (6). For all the Buchanan’s wealth and despite being “...a careless people.”

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849 Words | 4 Pages

The bourgeois status of Nick is contrasted by the extremely wealthy Gatsby and his grand mansion. The degree of the splendor Gatsby lives in is described in great detail by Nick, as is the Buchanan’s house: “The one on my right (Gatsby’s house) was a colossal affair by any standard it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 5). Nick represents Fitzgerald’s view, as he comes from a

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