Nick Carraway In The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway serves the important roles of narrator and arguably the main character of The Great Gatsby, as he judges the actions of other characters while still playing his own role within the plot. Also, as Nick analyzes the actions of others, he attempts to make judgements using his “cardinal virtues” of honesty and fact. He does so while keeping in mind his father’s advice of thinking before criticizing others, as many “haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” Throughout The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway maintains a prominent sense of objectivity throughout his role as the narrator, such as is present in his analysis of Jordan Baker’s personality, in his interpretation of Gatsby’s story, and in his acceptance of Tom Buchanan’s affair.
As Gatsby elaborates on his grand experiences, a sense of disbelief creeps into Nick’s thoughts and grows until he does not really believe in Gatsby’s story at all, since it seems that his words are really only that of a fictional story. However, even though Carraway does waver from a completely objective point of view, he later starts to believe fiercely in the evidence placed in front of him, because he takes into account not only his own perspective, but that of Gatsby as well. Gatsby talks of his service in WWI, and proceeds to show Carraway one of the medals he received for his accomplishments, which leads him back to a thought process based off of fact. Ultimately, Nick provides an overall unbiased sense of belief in Gatsby’s background story, one that is based off of the facts presented. Even though Nick Carraway eventually finds out the truth about Jay Gatsby, his role as the narrator within that single interaction demonstrates objectivity, since disbelief in Gatsby’s story would have shown Nick’s opinion of the circumstances, rather than a report of the facts