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Why Is Nick Carraway Important In The Great Gatsby

542 Words3 Pages

Anum Khan
Dr. Ellis
Honor English II
November 5, 2014
Characterization in The Great Gatsby: Nick Carraway “Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.” (Fitzgerald, 59) Nick Carraway’s judgement of himself being the “most honest person he has ever known” is derived from the fact that he is an outsider to the society of The Eggs and to the thinking of the phony socialites around him. Unlike other characters in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick came to New York as an Everyman, looking for fortune and a better life, much different than those who had everything they needed living while living in The Eggs. Being from the Midwest and not New York creates an unattainable boundary between Nick and the rest of his peers causing him to have dissimilar …show more content…

Nick repeated time and time over in the novel about how he is the only honest person while his friends Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby all had affairs and his girlfriend, Jordan Baker cheated in a golf tournament. Being new to the society of East and West Egg, he does not understand the social norm, in fact when he realizes he’s getting to close to the phony world he says “ I’m thirty... I’m five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor.” (Fitzgerald 177) He started off being an outsider, for example when he was simply spectating as Tom Buchanan took him to see his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. We all notice Nick’s absence of sharing information about the affairs which again proves the point that he is an outsider,and his honesty brought from outside is not part of the norm of society. Eventually his honesty and integrity force him to have a funeral from Jay Gatsby-leaving him flabbergasted when no one comes-exemplifying the integrity the rest of the society

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