Nick in The Great Gatsby is an
unreliable narrator. Fitzgerald, in fact, clearly points this out, although indirectly
(of course, since Nick is the narrator).
Nick's
unreliability is highlighted and emphasized by his insistence that he is reliable. He,
in fact, opens the novel with declarations that he does not judge others, because others
haven't had the same breaks that he has had. He proudly explains that he learned this
lesson from his father.
Of course, making allowances for
others because they haven't had the breaks he's had, demonstrates that Nick thinks he is
better than others. You don't have to make allowances for others if you are not better
than others.
If this isn't evidence enough, Nick is
obviously biased against Tom, and long ago (when he knew Tom at school) made up his mind
about Tom. Furthermore, Nick reveals his first impressions of Jordan: her nose is in
the air and she doesn't condescend to acknowledge Nick, a
stranger.
In short, Nick is very judgmental and is an
unreliable narrator, and this is obviously intentional, since it is stressed at the
beginning of the narration. This, of course, doesn't mean that Nick's judgments are
always inaccurate. It just means that everything in the novel is filtered through
Nick's perceptions. The reality of the novel is reality as Nick sees it, and he is a
subjective narrator, not an objective narrator.
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