The name that someone is born into dictates more in their life and personality than one thinks. Names can convey more significance than the interpretation of a story. The mysterious role of names can be seen throughout The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is the story of a millionaire, Jay Gatsby on the pursuit of love. The story is told by Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner who recently moved to New York City. Nick becomes friends with Gatsby and guides him through the maze of love, anger, and drama. The various characters and their names play an important role in the success of the novel. The Great Gatsby’s significance can be adequately seen through its use of names to compliment the characters and represent their personalities and morals. The …show more content…
Nick Carraway is an ordinary name and has no special strengths to it. His life revolved around Gatsby, becoming involved with Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. Nick envied Gatsby and the mystery surrounding him. “Their close relationship finally results in Nick 's decision to have Gatsby 's story told in the first place. His caring personality is very visibly reflected also in Nick 's first and last name” (Avsenak). Nick is the ‘carr’ taker of Gatsby; helping him during and after his life. Nick feels privileged to be friends with Gatsby since he does not have as much wealth as him. Nick came from the Midwest and lives in a nice house with a good job; there is really nothing special or exciting about him. Nick is sensitive and simple. He is an ordinary guy living an ordinary life until he becomes involved with Gatsby.“I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all, Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life” (97). He dislikes the complicated, unruly life in the east. He blames all the misfortune and drama on the east. He misses the calm, cool feeling of the Midwest. Nick’s name is well represented in the desire for simplicity and an ordinary