Analysis of the Role“Nick Carraway”in The Great Gatsby

Huan+Qianwen

【Abstract】This paper attempts to concentrate on the often-neglected character Nick in The Great Gatsby from the aspect of his structural and thematic roles in the novel. Nick is confronted with the struggle of two kinds of moral values. His attitude is shifted from the tolerance for the rich and contempt for Gatsby to the contempt for the rich and sympathy for Gatsby. Fitzgerald makes Nick to play the significant role among all leading actors， the link in the structure and the revealer of the theme.

【Key words】The Great Gatsby； Nick Carraway； Role； Link； Revealer

Introduction

The Great Gatsby is the masterpiece of Scott F. Fitzgerald， the publication of which brought immediate success and fame to the author. No one can deny that Nick plays a significant role in this great novel， both in the structure and theme.

1. The link in the structure

Nick， as well as Fitzgerald， was born in a wealthy family in the western of Central America. After the WWI， he came to New York for bond business. After the arrival， he kept in touch with his cousin Daisy， and her husband Tom；at the same time， occasionally with his neighbor Gatsby. Thats to say， he contacted with various characters of different social classes， which constitutes the unique and non-substitutable role in the novel. In this novel， he is both inside， for he is the connection of all major characters， and important role of the story and outside， for he has only indirect connection with the conflicts and paradoxes， an objective， sensible judge.

As an outsider， who also keeps a distance with the Buchanans and Gatsby， its possible for him to stand out of the event and make a comment objectively. On the other hand， he isnt an outsider completely， while he is an important participant in all events of the story. He joins in the carnival of Tom and his lover. He helps Gatsby to contact with Daisy and contributes in their togetherness. He experiences the drastic fighting between Tom and Gatsby and Daisy drives unconsciously with the alcohol effect and kills Toms lover on the scene. At the end of the novel， out of responsibility and consciousness， Nick deals with Gatsbys funeral. For all of these， Nick， as a participant， comments from the ethic and emotional aspect. He expresses his opinion to every reader honestly， considering this its undoubtedly to say that Nick plays an indispensable role in the construction of this novel.

2. The revealer of the themeendprint

Nick played as a link in structure， more than that， his double identity made his judgments on the major characters comprehensive and objective. His comments constituted an indispensable effect on developing and deepening the theme. This works theme is dream and reality， innocence and worldliness， which thoroughly represented through Nick. “In the face of new world， the last or greatest dream is likely to come into being.” Nick gets tired and disappointed about the life of the East Coast of American. This is exactly the idea of the writer： Nick serves with the tongue of the writer；he tells readers all the details about Gatsby by reminding his memory with his sighs. Readers can easily realize the tone of sadness and idleness in the seeming just narration of Nick. That is the measure Fitzgerald took to pass on his own opinion of the change of Gatsby： he is polluted by the adoration of material and the addiction of sex， wine and drugs， which are the three marks of the Jazz Age.

3. Conclusion

The Great Gatsby is not only a novel of Gatsby， but also a story about Nick Carraway. He explained the characters in his own way， without outsider feeling but objective. Fitzgerald ingeniously taking advantage of Nick， immerged himself in the narration， and keeping a distance with the work to analyze objectively.

References：

[1]F.Scott Fitzgerald，The Great Gatsby，Three Great American novels.New York：Charles Scribners sons，1953.

[2]林蕓.诚与真：《了不起的盖茨比》中尼克的自我探寻[J].解放军外国语学院学报，2013，（2）.

[3]隋亚男.浮华阅尽别见天——《了不起的盖茨比》中尼克的成长解读[J].中南林业科技大学学报（社会 科学版），2012，（5）.

作者简介：浣倩雯（1992-），女，汉族，湖南长沙人，湖南农业大学外国语学院外国语言学及应用语言学硕士研究生，主要研究方向：外语课程教学论。endprint