is nick carraway a reliable narrator
Is Nick carraway a reliable narrator?
In the beginning of the book, The Great Gatsby, Nick could be described as the main character but as the book goes on Nick is having more of a secondary role, instead of the primary role which he was supposed to be. The Great Gatsby is shown through the eyes of one man. We as the readers don’t know whether or not whatever Nick says is correct or true. A good narrator doesn’t judge people but Nick does this a lot. We see how he changes at different points in the book. He undergoes changes that discredit his ability to be truthful and not biased in his narration. He is not always rational and objective, since he is a human. All this shows how Nick becomes an unreliable narrator.
Nick is not always rational and objective: in chapter 3 of the book, we can clearly see that Nick is drunk. He loses his senses when Tom invites him to see his mistress in their apartment. We all know that a person who is drunk cannot give an articulate and cohesive answer, when he is the state of being drunk. He is has exchanged his morality for a bottle of scotch. We don’t know if whatever he says during this period in time is accurate. Even when he goes to Gatsby party he is clearly drunk and he doesn’t even recognize the host. His words are stammered and blurry because of his present state. At this point in time we don’t know if the descriptions and the conversations that went on during this party are true. This makes him an unreliable narrator. Coupled with the facts that Nick becomes unreliable when he is drunk, we can also see that he undergoes changes at different parts in the novel making him an unreliable narrator.
Nick undergoes serious periodical changes in the novel. At first glance, Nick finds Gatsby very mysterious and wants to know more about him. This quest to know about this man he finds mysterious can cloud his thoughts, he could have exaggerated Gatsby’s mysteriousness so that we the readers would agree and want to read more
In the beginning of the book, The Great Gatsby, Nick could be described as the main character but as the book goes on Nick is having more of a secondary role, instead of the primary role which he was supposed to be. The Great Gatsby is shown through the eyes of one man. We as the readers don’t know whether or not whatever Nick says is correct or true. A good narrator doesn’t judge people but Nick does this a lot. We see how he changes at different points in the book. He undergoes changes that discredit his ability to be truthful and not biased in his narration. He is not always rational and objective, since he is a human. All this shows how Nick becomes an unreliable narrator.
Nick is not always rational and objective: in chapter 3 of the book, we can clearly see that Nick is drunk. He loses his senses when Tom invites him to see his mistress in their apartment. We all know that a person who is drunk cannot give an articulate and cohesive answer, when he is the state of being drunk. He is has exchanged his morality for a bottle of scotch. We don’t know if whatever he says during this period in time is accurate. Even when he goes to Gatsby party he is clearly drunk and he doesn’t even recognize the host. His words are stammered and blurry because of his present state. At this point in time we don’t know if the descriptions and the conversations that went on during this party are true. This makes him an unreliable narrator. Coupled with the facts that Nick becomes unreliable when he is drunk, we can also see that he undergoes changes at different parts in the novel making him an unreliable narrator.
Nick undergoes serious periodical changes in the novel. At first glance, Nick finds Gatsby very mysterious and wants to know more about him. This quest to know about this man he finds mysterious can cloud his thoughts, he could have exaggerated Gatsby’s mysteriousness so that we the readers would agree and want to read more