What Does Nick Carraway Represent In The Great Gatsby

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In The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, the author tells us the story through the narrative perspective of Nick Carraway, a character within the novel. The story of mysterious Jay Gatsby is gradually being revealed through the eyes of Nick, a character with a peripheral role. However, the “Great” is yet not a perfect way of describing a man who we hardly know of; someone whose identities and character differ from time to time. Surely, Gatsby is a young wealthy man who lives in an enormous mansion in West Egg. Nevertheless, the luxurious ”Gatsby’s mansion” is just a display to the public. The value of a person and their identity is solely based on their self -concept. By stating, ” a mansion, inhabited by gentleman of that name”, the author …show more content…

He throws parties every Saturday night. Uninvited people with different faces from different places participate but yet, not one has seen Gatsby. Fitzgerald releases rumors and gossips about Gatsby being “a bootlegger”, “German spy”, ‘Oxford man” and other identities that surround his life. The emptiness of the parties is shown. Yet, Gatsby doesn’t care much about who’s around and still wants them to enjoy of what he has, showing his generosity. Unusually, Nick is the only person who’s been invited and introduced to Gatsby. “ Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care”. Here, the author realizes the unnatural act of Gatsby. This directly shows that he has been practicing using his elegant sentences to convince people he’s an old wealth. However after identifying himself, his butler informed, “ Chicago was calling him”. By this, the butler tries to suggest that the business associated must not be revealed. The situation here is perhaps a little suspicious of Gatsby and is certainly curious. As well as being the absolute mystery, Gatsby remains unidentified and an observer as he is “standing alone on the marble steps and looking down from one group to another”. He is rarely seen socializing with his own guests. At this point, the author still hasn’t clearly present Jay Gatsby who has deep secrets