Throughout the novel, Nick is the observer and impartial
judge. He is related to the Buchanans and is a neighbor to Gatsby. He goes with Tom to
see Myrtle, and he arranges a meeting between Gatsby and Daisy. He sees Gatsby as
socially awkward and is suspicious of his past. He sees Tom as having a "cruel body"
and living in the past glory of his college school football
days.
But as the novel closes, Nick begins to take Gatsby's
side. He recognizes the Buchanans as careless people, and that Gatsby
is
worth the
whole damn bunch of them put
together.
After the
"holocaust," Nick further distances himself by picking up the "mess" made by the others.
Even though the responsibility of Gatsby's funeral is somewhat thrust upon him, Nick
does a very conscientious job of contacting friends and relatives who would be
interested in attending Gatsby's funeral. He even writes
Wolfhshiem.
As Nick continues in the arrangements he begins
to have
a
feeling of defiance of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them
all.
Earlier Nick claims
that
I found
myself of Gatsby's side and
alone.
Arranging Gatsby's
funeral sets Nick apart from the Buchanans and the guests at Gatsby's parties. By being
responsible, Nick shows his character and prepares the reader for his return to the
Midwest where he would like to command the world
to stand at a sort of moral attention
forever.
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