Nick Carraway plays as the narrator and a main character of this novel. He moves from Minnesota after fighting in WW1 and studying at Yale to New York to pursue in the bonds business. Carraway can be described as very passive, honest, tolerant, reserved and a good listener. He lives in a small simple house in the area of newly rich, West Egg, next door to our protagonist Jay Gatsby. Nick is cousin of Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s love interest although she is married to Tom Buchanan. He lives alongside and engages with members of the upperclass of society throughout the story and is mostly responsible for the rekindling of Daisy and Gatsby’s romance. The Great Gatsby is entirely told through his eye’s and recounts of experiences.

I am inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.”

Nick is basically saying that during conversations he is more likely to listen quietly and not give his judgement and opinions on their statements. He claims that because of this tolerance towards he has spoken to many boring people and many interesting people. This makes the reader question wether he is a good narrater or not as we can’t tell if he in reliable or not due to his passive nature.

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.“

Nick is stating how when he came back to the Midwest after spending his summer in East Egg/West Egg he had been disillusioned by the elite higher class members of society, the extravagant parties and wild lives that lived there. He realised how disgusted he was with all the corruption, lack of morality and selfish, reckless people. Nick mentions how he longs for a ‘uniform’ world with no ‘riotous excursions’. He believes everyone should be doing the right thing and not have an upper hand on the law and basic morals just because they are higher class.

“…wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.”

Nick is shown slightly intimidated and sort of helpless and weak compared to Tom in this scene. Tom guides Nick out of the room with such physical strength and importance, comparing him to a game of checkers. In the board game checkers the main objective is to move the checkers forward, which in this simile describes Tom, as the player of the game, moving Nick (the checker) forward in the room (the game board).

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.“

This shows Nicks role as the narrater of the story as he passively observes and recounts what happens to the reader yet is still engaged with the characters. He explains how he is drawn (‘enchanted’) to the excitement and outrageousness of the up-beat experiences of the higher society, although at the same time feels repelled and disgusted by their actions and ways of life. This particular quote is when he is drunk at Toms party, staring out the window and imagining himself looking back up at him. This can be interpreted that he even though he is present at the party he doesn’t really feel like he belongs there and is an outsider.

“Most of the time I worked…I knew the other clerks and young bond salesmen by their first names…I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City and worked in the accounting department, but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction…“

These quotes explain how when Nick was not engaging with his friends, he mostly worked. This detail is included to show that Nick was unlike the other wealthy main characters and had to actually work hard to survive. To know and call someone by their first name in the 1920s would usually describe that you knew them well as it was only common for close friends or family to do this. Nick states that he knew “..clerks and young bond salesmen by their first names” meaning he must have engaged with them often and built strong relationships with them. He mentions a small affair he had with a woman but decided not to continue after the “woman’s brother began throwing mean looks” towards him. By saying this it furthers our knowledge on him being very passive and easily intimidated by others if he left this woman so easily because of a few judgemental looks from her sibling.

“They’re a rotten crowd…You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together!’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.”

Nick exclaims this to Gatsby towards the end of the story. He is saying how he believes Gatsby is a much better person than Tom and Daisy and all others who live their entitled, superficial, and immoral lifestyle. This is fairly true judgement as everything Jay did was for the pursuit of love to Daisy. Nick notes the nobility of taking the blame for Daisy in the death of Myrtle, which eventually causes Gatsby’s own death. This quote also contrasts to at the beginning of the book when Nick claims he is “inclined to reserve all judgements”. We learn that throughout the novel Nick actually does develops strong opinions and judgements on all the main characters, especially those of the upper class.

“I shook hands with him. It seemed silly not to for I felt suddenly as though I was talking to a child.“

In this incident Nick runs into Tom on the streets and Tom attempts to shake his hand. Nick is very reluctant to do so as he has realised how much of a selfish, arrogant man he is and wants nothing to do with him. Tom tries to justify why he told Mr Wilson that Gatsby was responsible for Myrtles death which caused Gatsby’s tragic death. This expresses how truely ignorant and careless Tom is with no remorse for any of his actions. Nick now now has a very strong low opinion of Tom and says “I felt suddenly as though I was talking to a child.”

“I sat there brooding on the old unknown world“

In this passage Nick recounts sits in Gatsby’s empty house and reflects on his death. To brood on something means to have a deep think about is. We learn that Nick the observer often does this throughout the novel and likes to pick apart experiences and people in his mind.

He grew up being taught well of morals, unlike a lot of the other characters which is heavily reflected in the story. He came into the story with a naive innocence, by the end of the book he has became aware of the corruption of wealth and the American Dream. Nick made a conscious effort throughout the novel to not be judgemental and remain neutral in most events. Towards the end of the book he has strong opinions on all the characters, especially Gatsby, being the only one he praised. He develops a realisation on the East and how much of an immoral, terrible place it is full of selfish, superficial bad people.