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Examples Of Judgement In The Great Gatsby

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In the opening of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald writes, "reserving judgment is a matter of infinite hope." Although this advice is coming from Nick, it seemingly is taken directly from Fitzgerald's lips, meaning those who read his novel should not jump to conclusions of character until they have finished the novel. Reserving one's judgment is beneficial because one may discover what truly makes characters such a Gatsby truly "gorgeous" and special. However, Nick does not follow this idea. He himself is quick to judge others for their actions and choices. Without truly and fully understanding the choices Tom and Daisy made that night, Nick judges them to be "careless people (179)." Nick fails to follow his father and his own words. Nick quickly …show more content…

He is bothered by Jordan's dishonesty yet he becomes dishonest. Jordan is the one to reveal his dishonesty. She informs him that she, "thought you were rather an honest, straightforward person. I thought it was your secret pride." To Nick and to everyone else, he touts himself as honest and riotous, yet that is not the case. Nick is dishonest and hypocritical. While at the beginning of the novel Nick would argue he seemingly stays true to himself and being exposed to and become more entrenched in the affairs of the people of West and East Egg made him loses his sense of self, this is not the case. Dishonesty was always present in his nature. He was willing to set his cousin up with his neighbor so that Daisy and Gatsby can have an affair, he was willing to hide Gatsby's affairs despite it being illegal, and he was willing to hide the truth from Tom yet he still holds a grudge against him and Daisy. Nick fails to reserve his own judgment; however, he seeks to teach us a lesson. By reserving one's judgment, people are holding on to the "infinite" hope that someone is innately good. When reading the novel, one should reserve judgment on Gatsby to fully understand him. Overall, throughout the novel, Nick fails to reserve judgment by quickly creating opinions of other

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