Nick

• What role does Nick Carraway play in The Great Gatsby?

  • Narrator and observer of events
  • Represents moral compass
  • Critiques the excess of the 1920s
• How does Nick perceive the future in The Great Gatsby?

  As a portentous menacing road
• How does Nick describe the characters in The Great Gatsby?

  As Westerners seeking fortune
• What advice does Nick's father give him?

  Not to criticize others without understanding
• How does Nick perceive Tom Buchanan's character?

  As a has-been living in the past
• What does Nick's family history reveal about his social status?

  He has ties to old money but works
• How does Nick's desire to go East reflect the trends of the 1920s?

  It shows the shift towards chasing wealth
• What does Nick say about the middle-west in The Great Gatsby?

  It seems like the ragged edge of the universe
• How does Nick describe his family's business?

  As a wholesale hardware business
• What does Nick's role as a narrator reveal about his character?

  He is both inside and outside the elite social sphere
• How does Nick's family history complicate his social identity?

  He has ties to both old and new money
• What does Nick's role as a middleman between Gatsby and Daisy signify?

  His connection to both old and new money
• What does the phrase "ragged edge of the universe" imply about Nick's view of the middle-west?

  It suggests a sense of disillusionment
• How does Nick frame Tom Buchanan's character?

  As a has-been who can't move on
• How does Nick describe the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg?

  Blue, gigantic, and without a face
• How does Nick's perception of the fixed World Series change?

  He realizes it was manipulated for personal gain
• What does Nick's defense of Gatsby reveal about his character?

  He respects Gatsby's hard work
• What does Nick observe about the houses as the moon rises?

  They begin to melt away
• How does Nick's perspective on Gatsby's dreams change?

  He elevates them to an epic stature
• What does Nick mean when he says Gatsby's dream was "already behind him"?

  Gatsby's past relationship with Daisy
• What does Nick suggest about the boats beating against the current?

  They symbolize futile attempts to reach dreams
• What does Nick mean by "borne back ceaselessly into the past"?

  It indicates a pull towards history
• What realization does Nick come to after Gatsby's funeral?

  It has been a story of the West
• What does Nick suggest about the characters' common heritage?

  It binds them despite their differences