The Great Gatsby Point Of View Analysis
Danielle Buck
11AP Francis
April 4, 2014
3rd Period
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told in first person through the eyes of Nick Carraway. The primary story is regarding Jay Gatsby and his devotion to his dream. Other stories, also told through Carraway’s eyes, include Tom’s reconciliation with Daisy, Nick’s own relationship with Jordan, and Nick’s evolving friendship with Gatsby. Nick is only able to tell these stories through his limited omniscience. At times, he is able to narrate scenes despite not being present. Although the story is told in the first person, Nick is able to easily become part of the wallpaper. His major character trait—reserving judgment—allows him to be almost an "invisible" narrator. Ultimately, if the reader were to lose Nick’s point-of-view, there would not be an understanding of the evolution of his character. Nick is the reserved, unbiased character until the end of the book when he suddenly has opinions about everybody. …show more content…
In the novel, Nick writes that he is inclined to reserve judgments, which is a habit that has opened up many curious natures.
However, he has personal connections with the other characters. Therefore, even if he believes that he is providing the reader with an impartial story, it is psychologically impossible for him to do so due to the fact that everything he says is delivered via his own subconscious biases and filters. For this reason, I do not believe that Nick was consistently a truthful narrator. For example, it is not always the best thing to believe what you are hearing from someone who has been drinking. However, he was reliable the majority of the
novel. A different character narrating The Great Gatsby would alter many things. For example, if Gatsby were the narrator it would change the novel tremendously because he would not die. However, I believe that Gatsby would have been the most interesting person to narrate the story because he kept so many things to himself. If Gatsby narrated the novel, the reader would most likely know specifically what his jobs were instead of just gaining a slight sense of what they might be. Gatsby would have also given the reader more insight regarding his thoughts on Tom and about his relationship with Daisy. Regardless to the fact that Gatsby could possibly be the most interesting person to narrate the story, Nick is still the best-fitted narrator. Although Nick was present at many of the fights and so on, he merely gave advice but never got thoroughly involved. Nick is behind the scenes as to all of the drama that is going on between the characters, therefore he gains the same type of view that the reader does and can relate better. If another character were to narrate the book, it would not be anywhere similar to Nick’s version of The Great Gatsby.
11AP Francis
April 4, 2014
3rd Period
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is told in first person through the eyes of Nick Carraway. The primary story is regarding Jay Gatsby and his devotion to his dream. Other stories, also told through Carraway’s eyes, include Tom’s reconciliation with Daisy, Nick’s own relationship with Jordan, and Nick’s evolving friendship with Gatsby. Nick is only able to tell these stories through his limited omniscience. At times, he is able to narrate scenes despite not being present. Although the story is told in the first person, Nick is able to easily become part of the wallpaper. His major character trait—reserving judgment—allows him to be almost an "invisible" narrator. Ultimately, if the reader were to lose Nick’s point-of-view, there would not be an understanding of the evolution of his character. Nick is the reserved, unbiased character until the end of the book when he suddenly has opinions about everybody. …show more content…
In the novel, Nick writes that he is inclined to reserve judgments, which is a habit that has opened up many curious natures.
However, he has personal connections with the other characters. Therefore, even if he believes that he is providing the reader with an impartial story, it is psychologically impossible for him to do so due to the fact that everything he says is delivered via his own subconscious biases and filters. For this reason, I do not believe that Nick was consistently a truthful narrator. For example, it is not always the best thing to believe what you are hearing from someone who has been drinking. However, he was reliable the majority of the
novel. A different character narrating The Great Gatsby would alter many things. For example, if Gatsby were the narrator it would change the novel tremendously because he would not die. However, I believe that Gatsby would have been the most interesting person to narrate the story because he kept so many things to himself. If Gatsby narrated the novel, the reader would most likely know specifically what his jobs were instead of just gaining a slight sense of what they might be. Gatsby would have also given the reader more insight regarding his thoughts on Tom and about his relationship with Daisy. Regardless to the fact that Gatsby could possibly be the most interesting person to narrate the story, Nick is still the best-fitted narrator. Although Nick was present at many of the fights and so on, he merely gave advice but never got thoroughly involved. Nick is behind the scenes as to all of the drama that is going on between the characters, therefore he gains the same type of view that the reader does and can relate better. If another character were to narrate the book, it would not be anywhere similar to Nick’s version of The Great Gatsby.