Nick Carraway

Nick is the narrator of the novel, and it is through him that we discover all of the other important characters. As Gatsby's neighbor and Daisy's cousin, he is the perfect figure to arrange the renewed affair between the pair and he is also the perfect character to narrate the novel. Fitzgerald manages to manipulate Nick's character so that he both participates in the action of the novel and acts as a semi-neutral bystander and commentator. This makes him both a credible character in the book and a good link to the reader, who is looking at the story from the outside.

Nick is by his own account quiet, introspective and a good listener, with a talent for making people trust him. Consequently, most of the major characters in the book take him into their confidence at some point. Gatsby, in particular, becomes willing to reveal the secrets of his past to him, telling Nick his life story “at a time of confusion, when I had reached the point of believing everything and nothing about him” (p. 97). This makes Nick the perfect vessel for the facts of the novel to be revealed in a theatrical fashion.

Like Gatsby, Nick is meditative and thoughtful. Unlike with Gatsby, however, the reader is given an insight into his though...