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Name: Martin Meany

Number: 0885223

Module: EH4016 State of the Union: American Literature since 1890

Lecturer: Dr David Coughlan

Date: 14 March 2011

2. Tony Tanner argues, with respect to F. Scott Fitzgerald¶s ¢



that ³we are

aware of a strong tendency on Nick¶s part to identify with Gatsby as well as to make him a

hero.´ Discuss the ways in which the character of Nick, as a narrator, problematises the

representation of Gatsby as a hero.

Throughout Fitzgerald¶ s ¢

  we are reading the story through an

interpretation of a character, Nick Carra way. The objective of this essay is to prove Nick as a

narrator cannot be trusted completely. His unreliability leads to ramifications for events in the

story and the depiction of Jay Gatsby . The essay will conclude by summarising points

displaying Nick to be an unreliable narrator and bias towards a positive view of Gatsby,

hence proving the problematic nature of Gatsby¶s heroic representation.

On the surface, Nick appears to be an honest mangiving an account to the best of his

ability. And until µmodern¶ times, many critics refused to suggest Nick as any thing other than

reliable, with Milton R. Stern going so far as to say ³the book makes no sense ± if Carraway

is repudiated´ (193). However, as with many things time brought a change in opinion, and a

willingness to review the novel. Upon revision of the novel with the understanding of Nick¶s

unreliability, the high degree to which he is unreliable becomes apparen t.

At certain points through the novel, Nick draws unnecessary attention to himself,

inviting the audience to think, and question his integrity. This is blatantly obvious when Nick
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claims he is ³one of the few honest people that [he has] ever known´ (65). It is general

human nature to assume he would be giving an honest account, however by highlighting

himself to be an honest man; he opens the floor for the audience to re -evaluate his writing,

including his depiction of Gatsby.

While many argue that Nick¶ s position is ideal to narrate, as he is close to many

characters and they feel him trustworthy enough to confide in. Nick seems to abuse this

trust, not lying directly but lying through omission. He fails to share essential information

through the novel w hich has detrimental effect on the characters, and can in some part be

held indirectly responsible for Gatsby¶s death. Nick knows the truth of Myrtle¶s death, but

does not inform the police of the truth. This leaves Gatsby a free man, and also allows him t o

lounge by his pool where an enraged George Wilsonto murder him before committing

suicide.

We can now question Nick¶s ethical reasoni ng as his relationship with Gatsby affects

his judgement. He chooses not to inform the police of Gatsby¶ s actions, making him, as

Boyle points out, ³an accomplice after the fact´ (22). This is a vast contrast to an earlier

situation involving Tom and Myrtle¶s affair where his ³own instinct was to telephone

immediately for the police´ (19). This demonstrates Nick¶s bias toward s portraying Gatsby in

a positive light.

In chapter four, Nick hears ladies say of Gatsby that ³he¶s a bootlegger´ (66), but he

does not stop his observations there. They also comically converse about how he once

³killed a man who had found out that he was a nephew to von Hindenburg ´ (66). Alone, this

seems little more than humour, but when considering Nick¶s admiration of Gatsby, it hints at

his want to guide the reader away from Gatsby¶s illegal activity, for fear it could sully his

name. It is also clear that Nick¶s demeanour only changes with regard to Gatsby. When he

observes

Nick, in the opening paragraph of the novel, takes it upon himself to mention that he

is ³inclined to reserve all judgements ´ (4), but as I have proved above, this does not apply to
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Gatsby. Nick in fact idolises Gatsby, as the life he lives, that of glamour and µwealth¶ is

attractive to Nick. Nick chooses to live a life more clean -cut so to speak, wanting ³the world

to be in uniform and a sort of moral attention forever´ (4). Gatsb y is a surrogate for Nick,

embodying the desires and dreams of Nick. From this it is fair to deduce that Nick would not

speak lowly of his idol.

This can be supported through Nick¶s less than convincing language used throughout

the novel, with a lack of rhetoric stifling the reader¶s ability to truly buy into every facet of his

tale. His constant uses of unconvincing terms such as ³as if´, which features fifty times in the

novel does little to convince the reader of anything other than Nick¶s dominant opi nion in the

story he is telling. We see in another instance this directly affects his portrayal of Gatsby. In

chapter four, Gatsby tells Nick of his past including the death of his family members. Nick

initially ³suspected that he was pulling [his] leg´ (7 1), but despite Gatsby¶s significant

Geographical error in the tale, stating San Francisco was in the middle -west, Nick chooses

to believe him. This shows Nick¶s willingness to overlook both his instincts and facts, to

instead buy into Gatsby¶s tales due t o his infatuation with him.

This infatuation continues to see Nick compromise his own feelings, choosing to live

through Gatsby instead. Boyle contends that ³Nick too, is in love with Daisy´ (25). He then

replaces Daisy with Jordan Baker and has a fleeting affair with a girl from New Jersey. To go

to the point of quelling ones heartfelt feelings, displays the significance of what, to me,

becomes evident to be Nick¶s obsession with Gatsby. It can be argued that at one specific

point in the novel, Nick cares m ore about Gatsby than Gatsby himself. Upon finding Gatsby

in the garden following the car accident, he informs Nick that Daisy ³stood it pretty well´

(153). At this point Nick is concerned that Gatsby ³spoke as if Daisy¶s reaction was the only

thing that mattered´ (153). This is continued evidence that Nick¶s portrayals of Gatsby must

come under scrutiny as his narrative credibility is low.

Although Ni ck does idolise Gatsby, there is one thing I contend which overpowers

even this infatuation. Nick seems to retain contempt for all mankind. Nick, as many critics
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describe him, is the voice or irony in the novel. On the surface, and to many early critics of

the novel, this seems to be an attempt to introduce more humour. Nick¶s ironic tone in fact

depicts his true nature, one of hatred for all mankind. It is seem almost immediately as the

novel begins, undermining his claim to ³reserve all judgements´ (3) , by saying this has

³made [him] the victim of not a few veteran bores´ (3).

Nick gives another glaring hint that he cannot be completely trusted in his tale. He is

very aware of the fact that he is the narrator, quite early on. He is actually revising his story

as he tells it, as he ³[reads] over what [he] has written so far ´ (61). Perhaps even more

damning is his desire assumption of the reader¶s interpretation of an ³impression´ (61), and

then trying to promote a far grander image into the mind of the aud ience of a ³contrary´ (61),

image.

If we look at Nick as a person, not just a narrator, we can judge his character also,

and derive whether or not he is reliable. I argue that his personality is that of a man who is

unreliable. For want of a better word N ick is an elitist. Donaldson notes that Nick¶s father had

³detected in his son a somewhat disturbing propensity to find fault´ . He derives this from the

opening page when Nick, mistakenly thinking he was talking about others and not him,

quotes his father to say ³whenever you feel like criticising any one [«] just remember that all

the people in this world haven¶t had the advantages that you¶ve had´ (3). As Nick has

misinterpreted his father¶s meaning, he is actually boasting of his tolerance. As Boyle poi nts

out Nick is far from tolerant of others as he seems shocked when he sees a ³ limousine

driven by a white chauffer, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl«

anything can happen now« anything at all´ (22). Considering he is so quick to pass

judgement on others, we can see his restraint with Gatsby, thus furthering the problem of his

depiction, and supporting earlier points.

Many modern critics of Nick speak of a distance between the interpretation of events

in the novel in Nick¶s e yes and those the audience make, emphasising that when such a

distance exists the tale is being told by an unreliable narrator. This is most severe while
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Gatsby is arguably at his most heroic point in the tale. Gatsby, while not considered the

protagonist of the novel, represents the chase of the American Dream, and in modern times

has himself become an embodiment of the nineteen twenties themselves (Beckerman, F01).

His final trek towards the American Dream for Gatsby is Daisy, as Gatsby has desired her

for many years, but as Cartwright notes, ³Nick wants to argue that the dream is unachievab le

at the very moment that Gatsby is achieving it´ (226). This creates the distance. Nick is

describing one event from two perspectives, ³a man describing what he sees, the other of a

man pleading, instead, his own view of life´ (Cartwright, 227). This is apparent as he takes

leave of Daisy and Gatsby¶s company :

As I went over to say goodbye I saw that the expression ofbewilderment had come

back into Gatsby¶s face, as thougha faint doubt had occurred to him as to the quality

of his present happiness. Almost five years! There must have been moments even

that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams²not through her own fault

but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. (103)

It is clear that what is unravelling in front of Nick is not what he wants, or imagined. He has

been the embodiment of ruination for Gatsby¶s dream. We see again that not even his idol

can avoid his insurmountable hatred of mankind.

Throughout ¢

 , Nick tells the tales of the journey for the American

Dream. For nearly forty years following the publication of this book, critics were embroiled in

the tale, blind to Nick¶s true character , one of contempt, jealousy and deception. To have a

man as such tell the tale of our novel¶s hero, Gatsby, leads to a division. We are in fact

seeing Gatsby through a filter in Nick, a Gatsby which Nick can accept, a Gatsby who

ultimately fails. Thomas E. Boyle concludes my opinions on Nick Carraway poignantly when

he says of Nick ³On the level of the plot he knows more than he tel ls, but on the level of the

novel¶s rhetoric he tells more than he knows´ (26).

*
 


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