Carraway As A Confidant In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

A confidant is a character, often a friend, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby is an excellent example of a confidant, as well as a narrator. He is not only a confidant for one character, but many. Nick Carraway’s prime reason for being such a good confidant is that he is so honest, sympathetic, compassionate, and open minded. He states at the very beginning of chapter one that his father told him “whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had (Fitzgerald 1).” He also states he is “inclined to reserve all judgments.” Carraway wants people to know that he is
not a judgmental man. However, he does state that his tolerance does have a limit. Nick Carraway tries to see the good in people and not judge them for bad choices and actions, making him a perfect confidant in this novel. He also says about himself: "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 (Fitzgerald Chapter 3)." Nick possesses all the characteristics of being a confidant, especially honesty. Nicks aim to be so honest and objective make not only the reader, but the characters trust him. Nick is also a good confidant because he is stable. He is thirty years old; therefore he is not an immature and inexperienced man. Furthermore, Nick is the only stable character in the novel. He has a conscience, he is not selfish, and he has common decency not really displayed in any of the other characters. Nick Carraway is the only character in the novel not constantly burdened with problems in his life, making him an obvious person to confide in. The character that Nick Carraway is most often a confidant is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a very troubled man who is in love with Carraway’s cousin, Daisy, who is already married to another man. Nick moves into an apartment next to Jay Gatsby’s mansion and they become friends. Fitzgerald’s main reason for making Nick Carraway the confidant of the novel is all about perception. If the reader didn’t see Gatsby through Nick’s eyes, he would be perceived as a corrupt man trying to disrupt an old girlfriend’s life. That is not what Fitzgerald wanted the reader to see. By making Nick Carraway the confidant, Fitzgerald allows the reader to see that Gatsby is not such a bad guy at all, but actually kind-of a good man, which allows the reader to feel sympathetic of Gatsby and to better understand him.