Nick Carraway/The Great Gatsby

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An 8 page essay that focuses on the character of Nick Carraway as the narrative voice in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The writer argues that Nick Carraway, as Gatsby's friend and Daisy's cousin, is the ideal choice for providing the narrative voice of the novel, for a number of reasons. First of all, because the reader learns about Gatsby as Nick does, this gives the novel a definitive structure, which concentrates on the illusion that Gatsby has created in the opening chapters and then slowly reveals pertinent details of Gatsby's life as Nick discovers them. Nick's character also provides Fitzgerald with a means of commenting, interpreting and evaluating the action of the novel. In this manner, Nick's narration gives the reader insight into both Gatsby and Daisy that would otherwise be unavailable if Fitzgerald had chosen either one of these characters for providing the main point-of-view. Furthermore, Nick gives the reader someone with whom they can readily identify, as his emotional progress throughout the novel offers a hopeful template for reconciling the negative features of the era with a traditional past. Bibliography lists 6 sources.