Question one Luke Knollinger


     The narrator in the novel The Great Gatsby is the one and only Nick Carraway.  Nick is a graduate of Yale and he works with trading and selling bonds to make a living.  He makes good money and lives a mediocre life for the most part.  He does not come from big money but does come from a wealthy family line from their earnings in the wholesale hardware business.  He also has grown up with a huge family as stating,"The Carraways are something of a clan"(Fitzgerald 3).  Nick is also a WWI veteran and served in the Army.  These are the main points of information that we know about Nick and his life previously and leading up to the start of the book.  In the beginning, Nick is very informational and gives us a descent amount of information about himself to get the reader up to speed on himself.  The only downfall is that Nick doesn't take the time to describe the physical features of himself.  Quite frankly, there really isn't any form of way to describe him besides one's imagination.  Due to me seeing the movie of the book beforehand, my mind was already set on him looking like Toby Mcguire and no one else.  I guess that is for most people as well.  For the readers who have not been contaminated by the movie,  I guess it is up to his/her will on his looks.  Aside from that, we are in the loop from the beginning on the Narrator and his life before the story officially begins.

     My personal opinion on Nick stays virtually the same throughout the novel.  I personally believe Nick is a well centered guy who goes with the flow, so to speak.  I also believe that Nick is an honest guy.  In the end of the book, we realize his hatred for Tom after the fact, and that he didn't really care for Gatsby.  Throughout the book, it doesn't seem that he has any negative affliction toward either of the characters or doesn't seem biased with them either.  Even when the story clearly happened well before the story was published, Nick didn't put his bias into the equation.  I believe he is an honest person.  Nick even states in the novel , "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known" (Fitzgerald 59).  Not only this, but I believe that he is honest from what he stated, "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me" (Fitzgerald 1).  Due to him saying these two statements really makes me believe that he is actually an honest person.  He seems down to earth and very revealing from the start by even saying that he reserves all judgements.  This to me shows an honest person, or at least one who doesn't jump to conclusions on someone and how they are with other people.  In conclusion, the novel's narrator is an honest, down to earth guy who gives us The Great Gatsby like no other.