Character: Nick Carraway (Leaving Cert English): Revision Notes

Character: Nick Carraway

Introduction to Nick as narrator

Nick Carraway serves as the narrator of The Great Gatsby, presenting himself as a contemplative, thoughtful, and reserved storyteller. Originally from Minnesota, he comes from an established Chicago family who take pride in calling themselves "the Dukes of Buccleuch," despite earning their wealth through the hardware business. After attending Yale and serving in World War I, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business, becoming Gatsby's neighbour in West Egg.

What makes Nick particularly significant is his dual role in the novel. He functions not only as the person telling Gatsby's story but also as someone who helps us understand how the word "Great" applies to Gatsby himself. Through Nick's perspective, Fitzgerald creates early hints about the novel's tragic conclusion, as when Nick observes that "Gatsby turned out alright in the end" in Chapter 1. These ongoing observations and reflections create curiosity in readers about the other characters, allowing us to form our own moral judgments about them while being guided through the story's complexity.

Nick as the narrator

Nick operates as what literary critics call an intradiegetic narrator, meaning he exists within the story he's telling. He moves fluidly between first-person narration (when describing his own experiences) and third-person narration (when recalling what Gatsby confided in him). This positioning allows him to be both an outsider observing events and a participating character involved in the action.

This dual perspective creates a fascinating paradox that Nick himself acknowledges at the end of Chapter 2 when reflecting on Tom and Myrtle's apartment: "I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life." This statement captures his role as both a reliable observer and an unreliable participant in the novel's events.

One crucial aspect of Nick's narration is that he never claims to have instigated any major action in the novel. Instead, he positions himself as someone who simply accompanies other characters in their decisions and adventures. This limited involvement in driving the plot forwards might lead readers to question the completeness and trustworthiness of his storytelling.

Nick's key characteristics

Tolerant nature

Nick opens his narrative by recalling his father's advice and declaring "I am inclined to reserve all judgements." This tolerance has established him as a confidant to various characters and sometimes made him a victim of others' problems. He reinforces this tolerant approach by explaining: "Whenever you feel like criticising any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

However, Nick's tolerance can be seen as somewhat selective. While he initially refrains from judging others, this changes once events reach their tragic climax. He ultimately decides to distance himself from the corrupt moral environment of East Egg society, though until that point he continues to observe and interact with characters he describes as unpleasant, shallow, or domineering. Some readers might interpret his continued association with these characters as indicating a lack of genuine moral conviction.

Honesty - a questionable virtue

On the novel's opening page, Nick reveals he "was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men." Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realised by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon."

This admission suggests Nick's tolerance allows him to become a trusted confidant, which explains why various characters open up to him throughout the story. Daisy confesses her cynicism about life, Myrtle shares intimate details about her relationship with Tom, and both Gatsby and Tom confide their personal conflicts to him.

Yet Nick's claim to honesty becomes questionable when examined more closely. In Chapter 3, he declares: "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." However, his choice of the word "suspect" rather than "believe" subtly encourages readers to question the reliability of this self-assessment. Furthermore, his continued relationships with morally questionable characters and his enabling of Gatsby's affair with Daisy while continuing to socialise with Tom suggests his honesty may have different definitions than conventional morality would suggest.

Quiet and reflective disposition

The story unfolds retrospectively, which may affect the accuracy of events as Nick recalls them two years later. Memory can create distortions or gaps that might influence how he presents characters and situations. However, this temporal distance also allows Nick to reflect thoughtfully on events and people in ways he might not have managed during the intense moments themselves.

This reflective distance means Nick's understanding of the characters remains relatively consistent throughout the novel, even though they may have evolved during the actual events. Nick describes Gatsby with a mixture of criticism and admiration, giving readers a sense of his balanced perspective while also revealing his personal attachment to Gatsby's character.

The novel's quieter moments often feature Nick's internal reflections, which serve as Fitzgerald's vehicle for social commentary. These pauses in the action allow for critical examination of American society in the 1920s, making Nick function essentially as Fitzgerald's spokesperson for unconventional observations about the era.

Self-awareness and caution

Despite Nick's subdued voice, he demonstrates keen awareness of his own limitations. His reluctance to speak with complete authority stems not from indifference to the events around him but from his recognition of his own constraints in fully understanding and rectifying the behaviour of others.

His detachment reflects his acknowledgement that "a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth" and that he holds other characters to high moral standards. While this perspective colours his storytelling with personal bias, he remains honest about the fact that his criticisms stem from moral convictions. As he puts it: "Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or on the wet marshes, but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on."

Nick also demonstrates remarkable self-reflection about his own storytelling process. He acknowledges his limitations by noting: "After boasting this way of my tolerance, I come to the admission that it has a limit" and "Reading over what I have written so far, I've given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me."

Nick's unreliability as narrator

Contradictory and inconsistent behaviour

While Nick generally presents himself as honest and trustworthy, his actions don't always align with these claims. He proves dishonest about his relationship back home and is challenged by Jordan who says: "I thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person" when he fails to disclose certain information. He also praises Catherine for lying to a judge after Gatsby's death.

Although these instances of dishonesty are relatively rare, they may cause readers to retrospectively question Nick's version of events. His moral standards appear influenced by his personal feelings about the characters, particularly evident in his different reactions to Gatsby's affair with Daisy compared to Tom's affair with Myrtle. After Gatsby's death, he praises Catherine's character for lying to a judge, revealing moral inconsistencies that make his judgments throughout the novel questionable.

Sentimental and biassed towards Gatsby

Nick's portrayal of Gatsby is heavily influenced by his personal attachment to him. He both admires and feels disappointed by Gatsby, describing him as someone "who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." Gatsby embodies materialism and an obsession with wealth, yet later, during the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom, Nick experiences "one of those renewals of complete faith in him that I'd experienced before."

This emotional investment in Gatsby affects how Nick presents him to readers. His mixture of criticism and praise may lead readers to believe his judgement is balanced and objective - something Nick himself encourages by suggesting he has intimate, unique access to Gatsby's story and psychology. However, Nick ultimately falls under Gatsby's influence, and this becomes most apparent through the numerous parallels he draws between Gatsby and Jesus. Nick may have become infatuated with Gatsby's capacity for romanticism, but a more critical reading might reveal Gatsby as deluded and lacking in self-awareness.

Susceptible to alcohol

Although Nick appears to be one of the more responsible characters who doesn't join the drunken crowds in their social gatherings, when he does become intoxicated, he proves susceptible to alcohol's influence. In Chapter 2, Nick's narration becomes distorted when he drinks at Tom and Myrtle's party in New York. His incoherence during these events, depicted through unfinished sentences and unclear transitions, contributes to readers' uncertainty about what actually occurred.

When Tom breaks Myrtle's nose, Nick's reaction is notably unresponsive - he simply leaves and observes the "flickering lights" of the city. His confusion matches that of other characters like Tom, Myrtle, Catherine, and the McKees, suggesting that alcohol compromises his usually reliable observational abilities.

Literary techniques and symbolism

Nick's references to lights

Nick frequently references lights throughout the novel, noting "the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machine's gives to the restless eye," "the single green light," and "the constant flicker." This repeated imagery represents the instability of the economic system and the dreams that exist within American society. The material world appears as unstable as the emotional world, and the money that supposedly brings stability also carries immense uncertainty.

This "constant flicker" also references "We live in the flicker" from Marlow in Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Both Conrad's and Fitzgerald's narrators serve as historical observers - Marlow examines British imperial history while Nick observes American modern history. Though Nick sometimes only glimpses or briefly observes situations, he doesn't rely on detailed imagery but rather on repetitive symbols. This technique effectively highlights social realities and demonstrates how deeply and widely they have influenced society.

Foreshadowing through Nick's birthday

Foreshadowing appears as an important technique throughout the novel, with hints of the tragic ending woven throughout the narrative. The characters' fates seem predetermined, and the American Dream appears foreclosed upon for them.

When Nick, Tom, and Jordan leave New York, Nick suddenly realises it's his birthday. He envisions the years ahead as "a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair." At this moment, Nick becomes aware of his mortality and states: "we drove on towards death through the cooling twilight." While this line references general mortality, it also specifically foreshadows Myrtle's car accident that they discover down the road.

Thirty represents the age that separates youthful adulthood from mature responsibility and freedom from accountability. Nick becomes aware of this turning point in his life and begins to understand not only the temporary nature of his chosen lifestyle in New York but also the importance of social responsibility. The passage prominently features his acknowledgement that he cannot remain careless and tolerant of so much corruption and immorality without becoming careless himself.

The value of Nick's narrative voice

By the end of Chapter 9, Nick's voice essentially merges with Fitzgerald's voice. He reduces his personal authority and confidence in doing so, but doesn't become invisible - instead, he makes Fitzgerald's intended messages visible. Nick's narration provides more than just storytelling; it offers social commentary.

Nick's constant movement from innocence to experience, from reality to poetry, from indifference to empathy reflects New York's own lack of equilibrium and the heterogeneous state of American culture. His narration of events accompanied by critical reflexion and commentary provides an effective method to satirise society. Nick's voice presents a realistic and modernist perspective from which to view the text.

The elements of realism (evident in the mundane, descriptive details of his surroundings) work alongside elements of modernism (evident in his internal monologues that seek to define his role in an industrialising society) to illuminate the moral bankruptcy of post-War America. Nick participates in the story through subtle action but satirises it with constant reflexion and mockery. This approach makes Nick emerge as a moral agent in the novel who remains trustworthy despite his flaws.

Nick's relationship with Jordan Baker

Nick encounters Jordan when invited to the Buchanans' home, where she appears as one of Daisy's friends. Their relationship develops most significantly during Chapters 3 and 4, when they spend considerable time together, but as the novel progresses, their connection diminishes. Ultimately, Nick's romance with Jordan becomes symbolic of his own internal conflict - he's attracted to the excitement of New York life but also finds the lifestyle of people there morally questionable.

Nick's initial perception of Jordan relies heavily on her physical appearance. He finds her attractive and notes that she transmits "an aura of class and sophistication" through her body language and posture. In Chapter 1, his immediate physical attraction is apparent when he describes her:

"I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage which she accentuated by throwing her body backwards at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming discontented face."

Nick finds himself drawn not only to Jordan's physical attractiveness but also to what she represents: the ideal society girl of the American Twenties, with her boyish appearance. Her fame as a young celebrity golfer adds to her appeal, as Nick becomes very aware of her glamour. She also appears unattached and candid in her conversations.

This casual approach seems to work well with Nick, whose relationship style appears quite unattached. There are brief mentions of women he has left back home and women he dates briefly from his office. He doesn't resist Daisy's casual arrangement of him and Jordan, perhaps because he prefers casual encounters or because Jordan represents a social advancement for him. Even though Nick acts as the everyman, Jordan does represent his own ambitions to improve his class status.

However, Nick's admiration for Jordan doesn't prove lasting. As the novel progresses, Nick develops a moral compass that leaves him appalled by how Jordan reacts to the car accident. When she calls him to announce she's leaving Daisy's to go to South Hampton, he describes her voice as "harsh and dry" as opposed to its usual "fresh and cool" quality. This final conversation ends "abruptly" and marks the end of their relationship, which he regards with indifference: "I don't know which of us hung up with a sharp click but I know I didn't care."

Nick and Gatsby comparison

The contrast between Nick and Gatsby reveals important themes about wealth, social acceptance, and morality in 1920s America. While Nick neither pursues the American Dream nor needs to pursue it due to his relatively wealthy and financially secure background, Gatsby pursues the American Dream intensively, though his goal involves wealth for wealth's sake rather than financial security, given his impoverished origins.

Despite being less wealthy than Gatsby, Nick finds himself more accepted by East Egg society, while Gatsby, despite his fantastic wealth, faces contempt from West Egg society due to his nouveau riche consumption habits and mannerisms. Nick leads an ordinary life and appears mentally balanced, while Gatsby exists in isolation, shrouded in mystery and consumed by obsession.

Perhaps most significantly, Nick scrutinises everything and subjects the novel's actions to his moral analysis, while Gatsby demonstrates questionable morality and allows himself to be influenced primarily by Daisy's impressions of him.

Key quotes and analysis