It is Nick who makes Jay Gatsby into The Great Gatsby(TM). With close reference to critical view points, discuss Nick's portrayal of Gatsby in the novel.

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Dana Archer                                      Eng. Lit. Coursework                                                        -  -

It is Nick who makes Jay Gatsby into ‘The Great Gatsby’. With close reference to critical view points, discuss Nick's portrayal of Gatsby in the novel.

The ambiguous “greatness” of Jay Gatsby is imparted to the reader through the thoughts and observations of Nick Carraway, a character who is personally involved in the intricate events and relationships featured in the plot. He is therefore an excellent choice of narrator as this participatory role places him beside the ‘great’ namesake of the book, which is essentially how he appears to portray the idealistic, materialistic and yet naïve character of Jay Gatsby.

In using Nick as such a device, Fitzgerald presents an insight into Gatsby which is gradually developed from ambiguity to admiration as he refines Nick’s perception throughout the ‘riotous excursion’- as Nick metaphorically describes the action of the novel - and establishes his often negative outlook on the selfishness, greed and moral corruption of American society. Nick is conveniently able to acquire this personal knowledge of Gatsby through his approachability, causing other characters to confide in him through his inclination “to reserve judgement”. However, his negative judgement of society (from which Gatsby is ‘exempt’) ironically contradicts his initial claim to impartiality, and Nick continues to judge people thereafter. This reveals his viewpoint to be increasingly subjective and lends his character the virtues of being realistic, thus possessing human failings which evoke a more complete persona, and not merely a mouthpiece for Fitzgerald’s thoughts. However, covertly, he also communicates the author’s condemnation of 20’s society as his own, since Fitzgerald has incorporated such judgements into his personality, creating the illusion of an impartial narrator while pursuing his satirical condemnation of the Jazz Age and his apparent admiration of the idealism implicit in the American Dream (represented by Gatsby’s impossible optimism).

Indeed, Fitzgerald’s use of this “intelligent but sympathetic observer” at the centre of events “makes for some of the most priceless values in fiction” (William Troy, 1945). The values of “economy and intensity” are achieved by his central role in events, while “suspense” is achieved through Nick’s personal flaw of not fully perceiving Gatsby’s character, causing revelations about Gatsby’s past and present to be frequent and striking. We think particularly of how Gatsby “came alive” to Nick in Chapter 4 through Jordan’s reminiscing, and of how, in Chapter 9, revelations are still made after his death (such as the schedule brought to Nick’s attention by Gatsby’s father) which consolidate Nick’s respect for his extensive ambition. Nick’s perception of Gatsby is limited in certain aspects as the latter is an ambiguous character, though this incomplete knowledge does not deter Nick’s positive view, which develops from not knowing Gatsby at all to admiring him for his strangely noble, if delusory, dream. Gatsby’s ambiguity simply fuels fascination in Nick, who uses the adulatory adjective “gorgeous” to describe him, and proceeds in his narrative to seek the reason for this attraction in the mystery of Gatsby.

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The apparent bias presented in Nick’s narration may also be due to many connections felt with Gatsby as a result of similarities between both their characters and Fitzgerald himself: many of Gatsby’s characteristics are often Fitzgerald’s own, incorporated into his character alongside Nick’s. Just as the author had fought in the war, so have his characters, a fact which had taken Daisy away from Gatsby and excitement away from Nick’s life as he “came back restless”. They both seek to reclaim these things, Nick by coming East and Gatsby by reacquiring Daisy’s love. Nick empathizes with Gatsby’s longing, and ...

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