Fitzgerald's Use Of Narration In The Great Gatsby

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What’s that book called? The Great Carraway? That doesn’t sound quite right. The Great Gatsby is told through the perspective of Nick Carraway, but his role is just that, a narrator. While Nick is present throughout the entire novel, the intended purpose of this book is to tell Jay Gatsby’s story. Throughout the course of the book, the audience learns his background and how Gatsby became the man he is, his struggle with obtaining Daisy, and finally, his death. Gatsby is the main character because the plot diagram centers more around Gatsby's actions. Nick is merely a supporting character who is there to aid Gatsby in his quest. Finally, the title itself is named after Gatsby, not Nick, indicating that Gatsby will be the main character in the …show more content…

In The Great Gatsby, he attempted to bring these narrations together to create a style that is both romantic and cultural. Like many stories before his, Fitzgerald uses romanticism to combine two worlds, in this case Gatsby fantasized version of himself and reality. The naturalistic portion can be seen when Gatsby has a power struggle with Tom, and Nick concludes that even when we think we are looking forward, we are often looking backwards. Gatsby models himself on his mentors, which relates to Fitzgerald’s historic narration. Fitzgerald also leaves things vague, including Daisy’s appearance. This leads to inconsistencies throughout the novel. Fitzgerald left a certain amount of vague descriptions, possibly to allow him to manipulate the plot however he chose. But The Great Gatsby as a modernist text explains these discrepancies. His vagueness allows him to have a sadder more dramatic ending. Lining the plot up with the seasons, he leaves a filling of helplessness for both characters. The seasons help correspond with the mood of the novel. The ending leaves a lot of unanswered questions. It leaves the reader wondering about important plotlines like if Daisy purposely hit