How Does Fitzgerald Create Power In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most prominent authors of the last century. Famous for works like “This Side of Paradise”, “Tender Is the Night” and a number of other short stories, novellas and novels, he is often inspired by his own personal life and experience. A considerable part of his pieces tackle questions regarding social status, rise to power and how they correlate to love and “The Great Gatsby” is one of them. This particular novel takes place in the year 1922 in New York and the fictional villages of East and West Egg and is seen through the eyes of Nick Carraway, a writer and not particularly successful bonds salesman. It tells the story of the affair (and the events preceding it) of Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby but also includes

Nick Carroway is a veteran from the First World War and a graduate from Yale. Although he states that his family have been “well-to-do people in the Middle East for three generations” he is by no means rich, especially compared to Gatsby or the Buchanans. His opening statement is of a lesson from his father- to never judge people because not everyone has had the advantages that he has but he later makes clear that even he has his limits. All this creates the image of a sober-minded and responsible man but not without faults. He, much like Gatsby, sees Daisy as the “golden girl”, which is best shown in chapter 7 where he realizes (after Gatsby states it) that he finds her voice appealing because it “is full of money”. Although he is aware and attracted by the benefits of wealth, he prefers the honest way of earning it (he refuses a job from Gatsby when he is doubtful of its nature or of the nature of Gatsby’s business as a whole). In my opinion his accounts and judgements of other characters are objective and accurate enough and can be