Narrator Lies -- to Himself:

¶ … narrator lies -- to himself: The Great Gatsby's Nick Carraway

Nick Carraway is not simply the narrator of the Great Gatsby -- he is also a participant in the actions of the novel. Daisy Buchanan, the title character's lover, is Nick's distant cousin, and without this family connection Nick would never have become intimately attached to Gatsby. Gatsby is his neighbor, but only because of Nick's connection with Daisy does Gatsby take such an interest in Nick. Although Nick is from the Midwest, Nick's background and occupation make him very much part of the world of the novel. "My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations" (Fitzgerald 6). In fact, this connection to Midwestern aristocracy makes him further connected to, and less objective about Gatsby, as Gatsby is himself from the Midwest. Nick is thus both a part of the world of Eastern privilege and materialism that is at the heart of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, even while he tries to present himself as a detached observer, yet also has ties to Gatsby in terms of his origins and attitude towards love and romance.

Nick, despite his staid occupation in finance, admits to a certain amount of romanticism in his character, early in the book, a trait that will give rise to his eventual lionization of Gatsby. "Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction [of disgust] -- Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn" because Gatsby had "was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again" (Fitzgerald 6). It is a tribute to Fitzgerald's skill as a writer that Gatsby's tackiness and the foolishness of Gatsby's love for Daisy shines through the romanticism that clouds Nick's reporting of events. Nick occasionally views Gatsby, and frequently presents other characters, with a great deal of irony, but Fitzgerald also subjects Nick's perspective to the same sort of ironic judgment.

The beginning of the Great Gatsby largely unfolds as a fact-finding mission about Gatsby, conducted by Nick. When he attends one of Gatsby's parties, Nick is alternatively told that Gatsby is a spy, was in the army -- and also that Gatsby is a fraud, a claim that seems born out by Gatsby's choice of the less fashionable West Egg in Long Island, the 'new money' section of town. Gatsby's lavish parties and unread library of books all indicate he has more wealth than class, despite his protestations he went to the best schools and his family once had money. Nick eventually becomes enamored of Gatsby's pretentiousness and overtures of friendships. Nick seems desperate to believe in Gatsby, to the point he accepts Gatsby's claim of being graduate of elite schools. The reader can see through Gatsby's persona more easily than Nick. Gatsby, who comes from poor circumstances, always has a ready answer as to how he made his money, and his apparent lack of class. "I thought you inherited your money," says Nick, to which Gatsby (in a panic) responds "automatically" that: "I lost most of it in the big panic -- the panic of the war" (Fitzgerald 72)

Gatsby's vagueness about his true origins and his ready excuses raise the reader's suspicions, even though Nick, now taken in by Gatsby's allure, wants to believe his friend. However, Fitzgerald creates a narrative conceit whereby Carraway praises Gatsby, but Gatsby's ridiculousness as well as his charm shines through. For example, Gatsby attempts to seduce Daisy with his collection of shirts bought in London by his "man" -- the scene is both touching and ridiculous as Daisy says "It makes me sad because I've never seen such -- such beautiful shirts before" (Fitzgerald 74). Daisy is clearly weeping because she understands how hard Gatsby has tried to impress her, and how much she has lost by marrying Tom.

Fitzgerald does not censor the scene and make the two lovers seem better than they are, while Nick clearly romanticizes their affair: "Possibly it had occurred to him [Gatsby] that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her" (Fitzgerald 74). Fitzgerald presents Nick as a skilled observer, suggesting that Carraway leaves nothing out in terms of the details of Gatsby's courtship of Daisy, including Gatsby's foolish focus on consumer goods, and Daisy's fickleness. But Nick is only fascinated with these characters, to the exclusion of the other individuals in the novel, and often makes excuses for both of the lovers. Fitzgerald makes no excuses, and lets the reader make judgments. The reader also has the ability to reflect upon the past details of Gatsby's lavish life, as reported by Nick, such as Gatsby's fresh-squeezed orange juice every morning, and lavish swimming pool he does not even swim in, until his tragic end, details Nick chooses to forget after befriending Gatsby.

The fact that the above-cited phrase about the significance of the light begins with the term 'possibly' also subtly suggests that Carraway is projecting thoughts into Gatsby's mind, rather than recording Gatsby's actual thoughts. Nick cannot know what Gatsby is truly thinking, the idea that Daisy is the true love of Gatsby's life is likewise Nick's romantic projection. At the end of the novel, when Nick meets Gatsby's father and gains a truer sense of how far Gatsby has gone in 'making himself up.' The reader is given documented evidence from Gatsby's own journals of Gatsby's written efforts for self-improvement: "Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he's got about improving his mind? He was always great for that." (Fitzgerald 138)