Examples Of Honesty In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the book follows a tale of Nick Carraway as he narrates his meeting Gatsby and the events that follow. Nick does not demonstrate honesty by delivering claims appropriate to the situation and stating what everyone is thinking based on his own biased thoughts, although he considers himself honest because he believes his purpose is to serve as a narrator of “justice” from his perspective. Nick was on trial throughout the book, putting his honesty to the test; when Tom invited him to go and meet his mistress, his response showed where his morals lied; when he met Gatsby his morality was put to the test of how he would use his knowledge of Tom’s endeavors. It all tied into the fact that even though Nick
was honest, his bias affected his use of honesty.

Nick’s views on Tom’s actions in the beginning of the book are rather odd to the reader, because as you read you find that Nick is fine with Tom doing things like cheating on his cousin or doesn’t feel uncomfortable going with Tom to meet with his mistress even though he knows Tom is with Daisy. His actions as a character in the book imply that he is okay with some of the things that the readers would frown upon.

“In short, I have tried to see Nick’s unreliability as an integral part of the book by finding ways in which the norms of the novel are conveyed independent of and in contradiction to the explanations Carraway offers.” (Boyle) According to Boyle, the norms in the book are presented in a way that always contradicts Carraway. Nick Carraway is aware of his claims being odd compared to the morals at the time. But he just uses excuses and says that they are apart of him, how that’s the way his dad taught him. He lets other things from his unique past justify his views on what happens in the present as valid.

Something else that attributes to his sense of bias is that he seems to do give his skewed honesty any time he can. “He seems to take every opportunity to display his sense of fundamental decencies” (Lisca) Nick has personal integrity something that a lot of the other characters in this book don’t have and his sense of right and wrong helps to elevate him above the others. He is different from the other elitist type characters in the book. He doesn’t share the same mentality as the likes of those he is surrounded by such as Daisy and Tom. He is a more of a humbled, down to earth type of character, this can be attributed to his past, so he feels the need to express himself to those that he is set apart from at any opportunity he gets.
Carraway’s background isn’t really special it’s similar to a lot of characters in the book but what he learned from his is what makes him special.
He is from the upper Midwest and has supposedly been raised on stereotypical American Dream values, which is common at the time. He is a little more complex than that, however. His family, although descended from the "Dukes of Buccleuch," really started when Nick's grandfather's brother came to the U.S. in 1851. By the time the story takes place, the Carraways have only been in this country for a little over seventy years. In addition, the family patriarch didn't show those American Dream values, I mentioned earlier, Nick sees in himself. When the civil war began, Nick's relative "sent a substitute" to fight for him, while he started the family business. From this information I am able to infer that the Carraway’s are a wealthy family and suggests that the early Carraways were more tied to commerce than justice. Nick's relative apparently doesn't have any qualms about sending a poorer man off to be killed in his stead. Given this background, it is interesting that Nick would come to be regarded as a level-headed and caring man, enough of a dreamer to set goals, but practical enough to know when to abandon his dreams this unique trait that he has is what makes him
special.

Also contributing to Nick's characterization as an Everyman are his goals in life. He heads East after World War I, seeking largely to escape the monotony he perceives to permeate the Midwest and to make his fortune. He is an educated man who desires more out of life than the quiet Midwest can deliver (although it is interesting that before living in the city any length of time he retreats to the country). What helps make Nick so remarkable, however, is the way that he has aspirations without being taken in — to move with the socialites, for example, but not allowing himself to become blinded by the glitz that characterizes their lifestyle. When he realizes what his social superiors are really like (shallow, hollow, uncaring, and self-serving), he is disgusted and, rather than continuing to cater to them, he distances himself. In effect, motivated by his conscience, Nick commits social suicide by forcefully pulling away from people like the Buchanans and Jordan Baker.