Great Gatsby Narrative Voice
Gatsby
Seminar Instructor Simionescu Angela Mona, 3A
Mihaela Precup English-Russian, group 2
Seminar of American Literature
Nick Carraway’s Narrative Voice
The narrator’s influence plays a fundamental role in a novel that every reader takes into
account when getting involved in the story .
In Francis S. Fitzgerald’s literary work ‘’The Great Gasby ‘’ the function of Carraway’s
narrative voice brought up several controversies among readers and critics for it deals with 3
different attitudes from the part of the narrator through whom ‘’Fitzgerald is able to achieve
the aesthetic distance ‘’.(76 Donaldson)
The purpose of the essay is to try to pin down those attitudes in view of Carraway’s
reliability , awareness and detachment in the novel.
In ‘’The Great Gatsby ‘’ Carraway presents the main character as an unique individual who
has an ‘’extraordinary gift for hope , a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any
other person and which is not likely i shall ever find again ‘’(2).His fascination and
aknowledgement of Gatsby’s idealism promps the reader to reflect on the promise and the
hope the future holds for such an individual and for the tragism of his existence.
Carraway becomes reliable as a visionary for he is able to rise above the particular events
depicted in the story , revealing a universal and tragic meaning in Gastby’s fate ; that of
America itself for the hero personifies th seeker of ‘’ his personal Grail ‘’ in the same way
Americans pursue their ideals in their quest for national identity.
But as the story unfolds the attitude of the narrator becomes more and more ambivalent ‘’ I
was within and without simultaneausly enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of
life’’ .
Seminar Instructor Simionescu Angela Mona, 3A
Mihaela Precup English-Russian, group 2
Seminar of American Literature
Nick Carraway’s Narrative Voice
The narrator’s influence plays a fundamental role in a novel that every reader takes into
account when getting involved in the story .
In Francis S. Fitzgerald’s literary work ‘’The Great Gasby ‘’ the function of Carraway’s
narrative voice brought up several controversies among readers and critics for it deals with 3
different attitudes from the part of the narrator through whom ‘’Fitzgerald is able to achieve
the aesthetic distance ‘’.(76 Donaldson)
The purpose of the essay is to try to pin down those attitudes in view of Carraway’s
reliability , awareness and detachment in the novel.
In ‘’The Great Gatsby ‘’ Carraway presents the main character as an unique individual who
has an ‘’extraordinary gift for hope , a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any
other person and which is not likely i shall ever find again ‘’(2).His fascination and
aknowledgement of Gatsby’s idealism promps the reader to reflect on the promise and the
hope the future holds for such an individual and for the tragism of his existence.
Carraway becomes reliable as a visionary for he is able to rise above the particular events
depicted in the story , revealing a universal and tragic meaning in Gastby’s fate ; that of
America itself for the hero personifies th seeker of ‘’ his personal Grail ‘’ in the same way
Americans pursue their ideals in their quest for national identity.
But as the story unfolds the attitude of the narrator becomes more and more ambivalent ‘’ I
was within and without simultaneausly enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of
life’’ .
Bibliography: • Hoffman, J. Frederick. The Great Gatsby: a Study. Riverside , University of California , Charles Scribner’s Sons , 1962 • Donaldson, Scott. Critical Essays on Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby’’.Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall & Co.,1984 • Lehan , Richard.The Great Gatsby: The Limits of Wonder. Boston , Rwayne’s masterwork studies , 1990 • F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby.The Scribner Library Edition , New York , 1960 • Mizener , Arthur .F.Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays.Englewood Cliffs . Prentice-Hall Inc. , 1965