Gatsby Essay

I'm not entirely sure if we were expected to just simply answer the questions of the Gatsby Essay prompt or if we were to respond to it. I chose a response in an essay format and i feel as if i executed the questions asked in the prompt correctly. Please feel free to comment any remarks or suggestions, i welcome other's insight and i feed off of ways to improve.

Thank You for your time,
~Jasmine D. Beebe

Prompt: 

In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much “the reader’s friend as the protagonist’s.” However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes as well.

What are the various ways Nick Carraway functions in The Great Gatsby?  How does he help give us the tour through Gatsby's world?  How does he help us get to know Jay Gatsby?  How does his presence change the course of the plot, the interactions between other characters, and/or the reader's understanding of the tone and theme of the novel?  What else (if anything) do you think Carraway's character accomplishes?  How would the book be different if the narration was provided by an anonymous, omniscient voice?

Essay:

A confidant is a character whose role is to be present in when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is considered to the not only one of the main characters in the novel, but he also plays an important role as Gatsby’s confidant. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald has many different situations and conflicts in which Gatsby is involved in that often result in Gatsby turning to Nick to confide his problems in.  Due to this character set up, Nick plays a very valuable role in Gatsby’s character development in the novel.

As stated earlier, there are many situations in which Nick is the one Gatsby turns to in his time of need. Setting up a date with Nick’s cousin Daisy was Gatsby’s first step into becoming close to Nick. Though at first it appears as only a favor, before meeting Daisy Gatsby experiences a nervous breakdown about seeing Daisy.  Nick handles Gatsby’s problems very calmly regardless of the raging mental comments about Mr. Gatsby surging through his mind when these problems arise.  This aspect benefits the reader in the sense that it also informs them of Mr. Carraway’s perspective on Mr. Gatsby. Having a character who is involved with Mr. Gatsby instead of a regular Narrator gives a feel of understanding to the thoughts formed by Nick.  These thoughts not only bring the readers closer to the narrator but give the readers a different outlook on the characters that the narrator is thinking about, in some cases it can make the reader form a type of bond with the narrator that makes the story more pleasant.   “The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths so that he could “come over” some afternoon to a stranger’s garden.” This quote is one of the thought’s Nick was thinking when Jordan Baker mentioned Gatsby’s request. Though it may not appear as an important thought, it puts Gatsby’s request into perspective. Some readers may not have considered Gatsby’s request rather odd before reading this quote. It emphasizes Nick’s opinion and also questions the readers on who Gatsby really is. This could be considered a helpful asset in the terms of figuring out who Gatsby is and what he’s about.

                Gatsby is far from the only one to confide in Nick Carraway, though these characters may not be considered hero’s in the eyes of some readers, their characters are very essential to the novel. Daisy, Jordan and even Tom all have their moments of confessions to Nick. Referencing back to first chapter Nick states how he was “unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the grief’s of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought-.” Fitzgerald clearly states Nick’s position as the confidant to a majority of characters within the first few sentences of the beginning of the novel. It’s as If he was writing an essay, he stated his thesis and backed it up with the confidences of Gatsby, Daisy, Tom and Jordan into Nick’s character.  Through these confessions, different points of view on each main character were practically handed to the readers of The Great Gatsby.  With so many different ways to view each character every reader was given the opportunity to pick and choose their outlooks on each character without any of their personalities already being completely provided. Bits and pieces of each character were dished throughout the novel and through the eyes of Nick Carraway, readers were given the glue to piece each character together based on what the facts and Nick’s opinions they had read about throughout the story.

Nick’s importance in the story is rather significant to the reader, due to the fact that he has one on one interaction with the characters to the novel; his opinions can be considered more valuable compared to the typical narrator.  Nick’s character not only provides a confidant to the characters in the story but it also gives some level of a confidant to the reader. Due to his lack of judgment readers may form a connection to Nick’s character that brings a certain realistic feel to the story. Opinions have a tendency to bring a more realistic feel to stories, it’s like when a acquaintance is discussing a frustrating experience for them, the details help the listener understand but it’s the feelings in the acquaintances that capture and help the listener better understand not only how the teller of the story felt but it also aid’s in giving the listener an opinion and a sense of relation to the topic as well. In the case of The Great Gatsby, Nick the story teller and we as the readers are the ones listening to his story.  Nick’s involvement and emotion in the novel is what pulls readers in. As a result, his feelings and descriptions become the readers as well.

“The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece. The best reason to read literature is for pleasure.” (Matthew J. Bruccoli). The pleasure in Gatsby is not sought through the content of quality of the story; it’s the character’s that accompany the readers along the way. That is what makes the Gatsby experience so pleasurable.