Ok...double posting today! Today is my 'late day' on campus, and I am enjoying the recliner and piddling around with my laptop.
Nick Carroway...the narrator of The Great Gatsby. I like him. He is not only the narrator but a character in the story. Nick is Daisy's cousin, which is why he is involved in the story itself. He is also Jay Gatsby' neighbor, a former college acquaintance of Tom (Daisy's husband), and eventually the beau of Jordan (even though they are not really in the same 'league' which dooms the relationship from the start).
Nick is 'there' at the three parties which begin the novel. He is 'there' during the first meeting between Daisy and Jay after the years of separation. He is 'there' during the final dinner after which the confrontation occurs in the Plaza Hotel. He is 'there' to pick up the pieces after Jay's murder. He is the one who learns the truth behind Myrtle's death. And through him, we learn about the intricacies of the relationships: Tom and Daisy, Daisy and Jay, Tom and Myrtle, Myrtle and George. We learn from him about the American Dream and how it can be shattered so easily--and sometimes misguided. Everything we learn about the characters and their stories we learn because Nick was 'there.'
But also there are many things that we don't know. Because everything is told from Nick's perspective, there are many missed moments for us as readers because...well, because Nick misses them. The actual first time Jay and Daisy realized that they were together again, the first time their eyes met after years of being apart, we missed because Nick was fiddling about with a wet umbrella on the porch. We missed it. How intense did the renewed relationship become between Jay and Daisy? We don't know; we can only guess because Nick wasn't invited to the mansion during all of their clandestine meetings. We only know about the circumstances surrounding Jay's murder because Nick pieced it together from snippets of conversations before and after the fact. It reminds me of the flashbacks on the television shows like CSI that my husband seems to watch endlessly.
Nick never judges, well, rarely does he pass judgment. He presents the scenarios yet does not editorialize the events. We know Tom is sleazy because Nick went to the apartment with him when Tom and Myrtle entertained. Jay and Daisy's "meeting" was in his house and he willingly allowed Jay to arrange the flowers and the food. He was a participant even though he knew it was wrong. He didn't step in and try to advise Daisy NOT to commit adultery or to think of her child. He presents; we conclude.
Some feel like Nick is wimpy, that he should stand up for his beliefs (which he eventually does because he leaves the rottenness of Long Island and returns to his home in the Midwest), that he should have spoken up earlier and done something to prevent Myrtle's death, Jay's death, and George's death. But that wasn't his role. His role was to be there, on Long Island, connecting us to the stories of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Jay Gatsby.
This is more of a test to see if my comment will go through. I had read the Great Gatsby in high school and do not recall much of it. I recall reading several of Fitzgeralds works that were filled with Prohibition times. My favorite within this class was Babylon Revisited. I enjoyed how Fitzgerald demonstrates that money does not necessarily make one happy. The depression brought people together. Hard times often bring out the best in people. Fitzgerald's stories are often the reverse of this and seemingly comforts the people in times when things were sparse. People grew content with what they had and emphasis was placed upon family life.
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