Through a confession in chapter 1 (regarding his father's
advice) and the party in chapter 3 (in which he meets the "incurably dishonest" Jordan
Baker), Nick says:
Every one suspects himself of at least one of the
cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever
known.
Thus, Fitzgerald
establishes Nick to be:
an unreliable
narrator: Nick obviously thinks he's better than he really is. His
hubris lies in his false ideals regarding himself and Gatsby. He
only sees the good and the possible, the flaw of most romantics. If Nick is so honest,
why is he complicit in all the lies and affairs that Tom, Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan
indulge in? The fact is that Nick is not honest, and any statement otherwise is
self-delusion.
an
observer-participant: Nick mainly observes and subtly critiques the
social mores of Buchanans and Gatsby. He's like a fly on the wall in most chapters (the
parties in chapter 1-3 especially). At other times, he participates, such as arranging
the date between Gatsby and Daisy in chapter
5.
an ally of Gatsby: Nick
says he's not on a side, but he clearly disowns the Buchanans by the novel's end. To
Nick, Gatsby is the ideal American, full of hopes and dreams, a rags to riches story, a
reinvention of himself. Nick wants to be like Gatsby, but he's too self-righteous. So,
he lives vicariously through him.
No comments:
Post a Comment