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Who Is Nick Carraway Reliability In The Great Gatsby

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Reliability of Nick Carraway as an author in The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s protagonist, Nick Carraway, narrates in regards to a summer in 1922 in which he meant a man who fundamentally altered his opinion about people as a whole; consequently, the many inconsistencies Carraway exhibits in terms of his reliability, greatly alters the reader’s perception and comprehension of the work by and large. Carraway is an entertaining narrator; however, his deceptive and undulating personality creates a barrier between what may have actually occurred and how he describes the people and events in the novel. In the exposition of the novel Nick explains a bit of advice his father gave him as to reserving judgment whenever possible, “’Whenever you feel like …show more content…

This is evident when Gatsby is involved with a Mr. Meyer Wolfsheim who according to Gatsby, "Meyer Wolfsheim? No, he's a gambler." Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: "He's the man who fixed the World's Series back in 1919" (73). Nick seemingly denies the assertion that Gatsby’s questionably ethical business association with Wolfsheim could not have much effect on his character. When Nick is evaluating his relationship with Jordan Baker he questions her character by bringing up a rumor that she had, “moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round” (57). Nick reacts much differently to Ms. Baker’s ethical shortcoming and blatantly dismisses her credibility and calls her “incurably dishonest” (58). This leaves the reader in a difficult spot as to interpretation of events, one can either accept Nick’s bias towards Gatsby, or one can judge the characters in accordance with Nick’s descriptions; neither of the two options leave the reader with a full comprehension of the event as it most likely

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