The Storyteller: Pages 147-158 (The Great Gatsby)

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

As anyone who has read at least a page of this novel knows by now, the story is narrated in the first person by Nick Carraway.  For whatever reasons Fitzgerald chose Nick to narrate the novel, a result of that choice was that the reader got a glimpse into the inner conflicts of the wealthy characters and that those glimpses came from a character who is most likely in a financial standing that is similar to the reader's.

By choosing Nick to narrate the novel, Fitzgerald allowed the reader the opportunity to view the other characters in an intuitive and understanding manner because Nick himself has a unique quality of understanding.  Even though Gatsby tended to hide his plans with stoic silence at his parties, Nick is able to pick up on what Gatsby wants.  For instance, Nick notes, "He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn't bear to shake him free" (Fitzgerald, 148).  This social intuition of the narrator allows the reader to pick up on the dichotomy between wealth and happiness.  The reader sees how the wealthy feign happiness like anyone can, but he also understands how truly unhappy and conflicted the wealthy are vicariously through Nick's empathy.

Fitzgerald could have chosen a wealthy character to be the narrator, but he purposefully relegated Nick to a modest income.  The relegation created a tie between Nick and the reader who, even at the time, was more likely to be in the middle rather than upper class.  As a result, Nick's perspective as an outsider looking in on the upper class shenanigans is more appealing.  In other novels about the shortcomings of wealth narrated in the third person (let's say The House of Mirth), the reader feels little obligation to view the story of wealthy tragedy as a tragedy.  In The House of Mirth, the middle and lower class readers view things objectively and place much of the blame on Lily.  However, in The Great Gatsby, the narrator's empathy easily becomes the reader's empathy.  Fitzgerald's message that everyone, regardless of social status, requires acceptance and companionship goes unmarred by the reader's resentment.