Nick Caraway was a man who grew up in Minnesota to a middle-class family. He attended Yale just as his father did and graduated in 1915, 25 years after his father. After graduation, he went to serve his country in World War I, which he enjoyed, and then upon coming back travelled East to pursue selling bonds as he thought the middle-west now “the ragged edge of the universe” instead of the warm centre of the world he thought it when he left.
I am inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.”- Chapter One This is him stating that he prefers to keep all judgement he may have to himself and present himself as someone free of bias. He also shows that this trait he believes he has drilled into himself has gotten him into many different situations, some that he maybe wouldn’t like to have been in.
“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. “ – Chapter One This shows that his time in his East had been an enlightening experience that in turn exposed him to new aspects of humans and life that ultimately scarred him. He left the East disgusted and wishing for the world to all be neat and tidy and rid of all that Nick disapproved of, contradicting his said free of bias character.
…wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.”- Chapter One This shows the enforcing characteristics of Tom and how he believes himself better than most people. The analogy of moving a checker is showing how strongly he forces others to do his bidding and shows how he thinks that they can’t do anything without his help.
I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” – Chapter Two Explaining how Nick feels about the people who’s lifestyle he was immersed in during his time in the East. He finds it intriguing as it is something he has never seen or comprehended but he is disgusted by the actual details of it.
“Most of the time I worked…I knew the other clerks and young bond salesmen by their first names…I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City and worked in the accounting department, but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction…” – Chapter Three Shines light onto Nicks personal affairs. Briefly shows that he is reasonably close to his co-workers. I think this information is used to further enhance the image of Nick but also to contrast Nicks work life to his out of work-life as there is a very blatant difference.
“I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”– Chapter Three I find this quote very interesting as there are many indications that Nick isn’t honest especially since the story is from his point of view. Though this is true Nick may truly believe he is telling the truth. This quote also shows that Nick seems to not think very highly of the majority of people he meets.
They’re a rotten crowd…You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together!’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.”- Chapter Eight This too is a very interesting comment as there are different ways it can be interpreted. This is as what he says after the “compliment” can be read to contradict the quote before it. His compliment can be read as a white lie especially since Nick said he disapproved of his from the beginning. Nick also says he is glad to have said it. This can be viewed negatively as he is glad to have given a compliment which was a lie or positively as maybe he actually meant it. He could’ve meant the comment as though he disapproved of Gatsby, he even more disapproved of Tom and Daisy. I am unsure if Nick truly believes that Gatsby is “worth the whole damn bunch put together” as Gatsby has down his share of shady things during his lifetime. This compliment is also the only compliment Nick says he ever gave to Gatsby which further shows what sort of friendship they had.
I shook hands with him. It seemed silly not to for I felt suddenly as though I was talking to a child.”- Chapter Nine Shows that Nick fins the whole situation almost childish and finds himself in need of hauling the whole ordeal back up to their age level even if its something as simple as a handshake.
I sat there brooding on the old unknown world…” –Chapter Nine. I believe that the old unknown world is another analogy for the American Dream. The use of the work unknown hints at the fact that the American Dream is beginning to fade and becoming unknown to those who once chased it and in turn got sucked into the darker sides of the dream and viewed the parts that weren’t included in the details of what the American Dream is.
Nick does, in fact, change a great deal after his stay in the East. While living in the East he was exposed to many different aspects of life that he had never even thought of. He was slightly naive and oblivious at the start of the story. An example of this is when Gatsby is telling him that Mr Wolfshiem was the one who fixed the World Series. “The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World’s Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people.” I think this excerpt perfectly catches Nick and his beliefs. He never thought or could’ve thought that one single person could do something of such an immense scale which many characters he meets prove to be wrong. Nick leaves the East being more enlightened on how humans act at different ends of the spectrum when placed under situations he never would’ve thought one could be in.
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