What is Nick Carraway’s big secret?
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the relationship between the head characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. These two men develop a special friendship throughout the novel and despite it taking place during the 1920s the relationship gives both parts a significant meaning in life, especially for Nick. The development of the friendship is an obvious contribution to Nick’s odd change of behavior, are they just friends or does Nick have another intention with Gatsby? What specific quotes and actions can prove that Nick Carraway might be homosexual? Are the bi characters of the novel secretly inviting the reader to reveal Nick’s big secret?
As mentioned in the first paragraph one of
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Spering refers to Nick’s description of Tom Buchanan as an important piece of evidence due to the strange way of describing a friend. Nick describes Tom as a very handsome and well-built man, but the way that he describes him sounds as mentioned before very suspicious. Despite them being close friends, the description can be seen as a sexual description of Tom instead of a friendly one.
Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body – he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body.
(F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
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All the sentences, quotes, and motivations speak for a complex picture of Nick’s sexuality. The very first sentence of the novel reveals quite a lot about Nick, but the problem is that no one knows what the advice was about. But with further analysis of the novel the reader begins to understand what the advice was about and for that reason the conclusion about Nick’s sexuality can be made, he must be homosexual. The excerpts about Nick’s time with Mr. McKee also speaks for the complexity of his sexuality. Every single situation they are in is described as very odd which based on their behavior and actions. Why Nick might describe the actions and behaviors in a way that seems normal is because of the denial he lives in but also to not expose his mental illness as he calls
Nick was perfectly sane before he was put through this situation, but between the lies, death, and destruction, it left him with a degraded mental state, and a fleeting grip on
This realization marks a significant shift in Nick's perspective and values and signals his rejection of the superficial and empty world
. . I just remembered that today’s my birthday” said Nick just after he realised that he spent most of his 30th birthday listening to Gatsby and Tom Buchanan (Daisy’s husband) fight about Daisy. Nick Carraway shows signs of his codependent personality many times in this Novel. Most of his codependent symbols are for example when he is always trying to take care of Gatsby and puts Gatsby ahead of himself, It’s often called “Caretaking”. Another thing that Nick does is that he has a hard time telling people “No” “I was feeling a little sick and I wanted to be alone.
On the other hand, it seems to be Nick Carraway is Gatsby’s most devoted supporter, being Mr. Gatsby's closest friend. Nick is a significant factor in the journey to win Daisy back, being her cousin. Although it may be true Nick is taken advantaged of by Gatsby. For example, Nick hosts tea with daisy at his house, he is dragged to New York on many occasions, and is Gatsby’s main source for comfort when things go south with Daisy. Nick Carraway is truly disgusted by Gatsby “who represented everything for which I have
As the story begins, Nick says, “...I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me…” (Fitzgerald 1). Although Nick claims he has been taught to not judge others, he does quite frequently. Nick insults Daisy and Tom,
Leah Pope Mrs. Dixon Honors American Literature Class 3B 03/02/17 The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis Essay Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby are polar opposites. Nick is poor while Gatsby is rich, Nick is laid-back while Jay is social and throws extravagant parties every weekend, and Nick is honest and doesn’t hide who he is while nobody truly knows who Gatsby really is or how he got his riches or even what he really does. So, how are the two such close friends?
He rather has the mind of a juvenile. Instead of approaching Daisy in attempt to court her, he instead tries to talk to her through other people. Also, Nick has sort of an aversion towards Tom Buchanan. Nick tends to describe Tom in contradiction
One of the first things we hear from nick in the book is that he will not judge people, that that is how he was taught. On the first page of the book he states “ … I’m inclined to reserve all judgements…” This clearly states that he with holds his judgement for others so he can see people in a different light, but as the story further progresses, it is clearly shown that he does not hold his judgement, he quite clearly lets it show in multiple chapters. It seems to most he does with hold most of his judgement, but is also clearly shown that he does not in most cases.
Scott Fitzgerald is judgmental. In Chapter One, Nick has already formed an opinion of Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan because he assumes they get married for their money and social rank rather than for love. For example, when Nick leaves the Buchanans' home, he notices the facade they maintain to hide their deteriorating marriage, and he wonders why Daisy will not leave Tom. "I was confused and a little disgusted as I drove away. It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the house, child in arms—but apparently, there were no such intentions in her head" (Fitzgerald 1).
Nick is a more reserved character, he keeps to himself, and tries to stay out of drama as much as he can. Nick moved from the Midwest to New York because he wanted to create a new, better life for himself. Although Nick is wealthy, he does not go around flaunting his money like Jay and Tom. Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor and is more of an observer. In “The Great Gatsby” the text states, “They had forgotten about me, but Daisy glanced up and held out her hand; Gatsby didn’t know me now at all” (Fitzgerald 96).
Nick often means more or less that what he says, or his impressionability and fastidiousness alternately swallow each other. The key to Nick’s response is his admission that his “incredulity was submerged in fascination” (Fitzgerald 67). Fitzgerald displays Carraway becoming increasingly convinced of Gatsby, which simultaneously, moves the reader as well. When Nick starts to believe that Gatsby was this wealthy man from Oxford, it left the readers with a feeling with acceptance as
Nick Carraway’s genuine sexual preferences can be assumed in different perspective, although Fitzgerald makes it evident through Nick’s descriptive analysis of each of the characters. Upon Nick’s first occurrence with Jordan Baker, he states, “I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, disconcerted face.”. (Fitzgerald,
Towards the middle of the novel and the end Nick stops going to parties and hanging out with all the rich people, all of the people Nick has been hanging out with are always talking bad about each other and showing no respect towards anyone. So nick remembers what his dad told him .“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone," he told me, "just remember that all the people in
Nick had attempted to escape from this lifestyle but because he was unable to make a complete decision in the beginning, he kept living it through the Buchanans; they were Nick’s window to the past. He witnesses Tom’s affair being “insisted upon wherever he was known” (21) without shame, and Daisy “[turn] out the light” (117) in her relationship with Gatsby, as it it never happened. A quiet bystander, never interfering, he experiences their life of ignorance, one with no repercussions, the one he had. Unwilling to remove himself from them, he instead complies to their wants, their decisions that create a sense of accomplishment. Doing nothing to change and move on from his past, Nick makes his choice to move to the east pointless.
Nick is also very judgmental on the way of Gatsby and Daisy's relationship, like it says Nick sets up Daisy and Gatsby so then Daisy sets Nick up with jordan. Also when nick and gatsby hang out nick makes gatsby show