The Great Gatsby debate changed my mind about Nick Carraway

For years I thought Nick was this honest narrator who just got swept up in rich people drama. But then our book club spent 3 whole meetings dissecting one line where he admits to being 'inclined to reserve all judgments.' That phrase took me 2 hours to really sit with at home. I realized he's actually super unreliable because he picks and chooses what details to share (like skipping over the wedding ring from his time in the war). The way he describes Jordan's cheating in golf vs his own silent approval really convinced me. Has anyone else's opinion on a narrator flipped after a deep dive?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_miles16d ago

Heard a podcast that backed up what @richard_young80 said about Nick hiding stuff.

richard_young8016d ago

yeah that line about reserving all judgments is basically him admitting he's a liar. he's totally unreliable.

emma_wells8316d ago

Started reading that book Slaughterhouse Five the other day (random, I know) and it got me thinking about unreliable narrators. There's this part where Vonnegut straight up says he was there during the bombing but then mixes up dates and names on purpose. Makes Nick's "reserving judgment" thing feel like a total cop out, like he's trying to sound fair but really just wants to dodge telling the whole truth. My book club buddy brought up how Gatsby's parties are this huge mess and Nick somehow misses half the shady stuff going on. He's basically curating what he wants us to see.