Sienna Boe Mr. Newcomb English 10B Mar 11, 2023 The Great Gatsby Lens Analysis Essay Opinions change, as do people, but is there always a reason behind it? The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional tragedy that takes place in the 1920s. It is centered around romance, death, money, and crime. The lens being analyzed in this paper is a psychological lens that looks deeper into the feelings and motives behind a character's thoughts, words, and actions. It gives you a deeper look into their mind. An examination of Nick through the physiological lens will show that his opinions of Gatsby frequently change throughout the book. When Nick was first introduced to Gatsby, he had a very favorable opinion of him. At first glance, Nick described his smile as, “...one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.” (Fitzgerald 48). He feels that his smile feels safe and welcoming. He thinks that Gatsby is someone he would want to be around. He would feel secure and safe. Nick states, “It understood you just as far as you wanted to be …show more content…
Nick stated, “I found myself on Gatsby’s side, alone.” (Fitzgerald 164). This is when he realizes he is the only one who has stuck with Gatsby through everything. He realized nobody else cared about Gatsby the way he did. Even though he denies that he cares for Gatsby, in the end, he is the only one still by Gatsby’s side. A word I think best displays his feelings toward Gatsby is ambivalent. Ambivalent is when you have mixed feelings toward something, so even though we see how Nick constantly disapproves of Gatsby, he still realizes he is Gatsby's only true friend. Psychologically you can see how Nick realizes he cares more about Gatsby than he thought. He could have left Gatsby in his death, but he decided to stay with him until he was all taken care