The Great Gatsby Case
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Summary:
In this opening chapter of the book, The Great Gatsby, they introduce the Narrator, Nick Carraway, along with other characters. Nick opens the book reminiscing about his past upbringings and lessons his family taught him. Nick then visits his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Daisy and Tom are very rich and Tom is very arrogant, obnoxious, racist, and seems a bit uneducated. Tom does not try to hide his love affairs, and Daisy tries to set up Nick and her child hood friend, Jordan. At the end of the chapter, Nick sees his neighbor Gatsby stretch his arms toward a green light/ darkness and mysteriously vanish.
Character:
The character I am focusing on in chapter one is Nick Carraway. To begin the book Nick says, “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that Ive been turning over in my head ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, he told me, just remember that all of the people in this world havent had the advantages that youve had.” (Fitzgerald 1). This describes him very well because it shows that he is now a wise man and he is not quick to judge. It also shows that he is “down to earth” unlike his friends that are introduced later in the chapter. Not judging and being down to earth are his best qualities shown at this point in the book.
Nick is the Narrator of the book. Being first person, the narrator is usually untrustworthy. This case is one of the few times we can trust the first person narrator. Nick unlike past narrators we read, is not mentally unstable, immature, or young. In fact, the author adds details about Nick in his “young and vulnerable years” hinting that he is now older and wiser. Nick comes from at least a middle class family that teaches and believes in moral justice which helps the cause that Fitzgerald is trying to support, he is a reliable narrator. The first chapter is set up to introduce the Narrator Nick, to show us that he is a reliable narrator that we can trust with the story that will be told in the book. The first chapter also tells a little about Nicks past, that foreshadows what he will tell about Gatsby. Nicks role in the book is to tell a reliable story from an average, smart, down to earth mans point of view.
Quote:
Early in the chapter Nick states, “As my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth” (Fitzgerald 2). This quote is meaningful and significant to the novel because it shows one of the themes about the rich. This line means that his father and he believe that rich people are born with better ethics, morals, and a better outlook of life then other people. This is important to the novel because in the book all of Nicks neighbors and friends