Despite the title, The Great Gatsby, Nick is the first character we meet and connect with. His role in the novel is crucial, and without him the book would lack personality and insight.
The first chapter is dedicated to establishing his position in the book, and we as readers get to know who "Nick Carraway" is. Nick is our guide throughout The Great Gatsby. He relates the story as he has seen it and from what others have told him. He strives at all times to be objective and to make balanced comments. For example, Daisy and Tom are ruthlessly practical , where Gatsby is just a dreamer. Nick guides us between these two extremes while being an indifferent observer but still being involved in the action. He serves as a reliable narrator who illustrates the contrast between the different types of people in the novel.
The book is about disillusionment, particularly that of the American Dream, and without Nick, we would be left with a flat, impersonal plot. He personalizes it and gives it a more intimate sense, as the story is seen through the eyes of one who is both among these people and distant from them at the same time. In my opinion, if it were told in the third-person point of view, it would give us too much commentary and would take away the narrative experience.
Nick is unlike the other characters in the book. He is not just another one of those "careless people." He has a conscience, he is not selfish, and he has a decency that is well demonstrated throughout the book. His down to earth character shows just how materialistic and superficial the others are. Contradictory to everyone else, Nick's aim to be truthful and objective makes the reader trust him. He also lends a sympathetic feeling to the story about cruel, absent-minded people who have little regards about the lives of others. He can be thought of as the perfect bridge between the West and East Egg because of the fact that he himself is imperfect. He allows you to understand their feelings and relate them more easily to yourself. The readers have no choice but to become acquainted with Nick. The other characters lack the dimension and personality for us to trust them, which I think is what Fitzgerald is trying to demonstrate. The establishment of Nick's reflective, tolerant personality is essential, so we don't just dismiss him as a character speaking the words and feelings of the author.
While Gatsby and what he stands for is clearly the focus of the book, I still think that Nick is the main and most essential character. He may seem like a side character, but without getting the story from his perspective, the book would fail to achieve its greatness and almost all of the central themes would be lost. Without him, we would only perceive Gatsby as a corrupt mad man trying to disrupt an old girlfriend's life, which is not the whole truth and what Fitzgerald would want us to see in him. Gatsby doesn't speak until the third chapter of the novel and dies about three quarters into it. Nick is in fact the more in depth character and since practically every part of the story is related to us through is thoughts and perceptions, it's hard for him not to be considered the main character. He is the one that when readers leave the story they understand and whose actions and judgments they support. Even though he is just the narrator, his involvement in the events no matter how much he tries to stay objective, make a difference. Fitzgerald sets up Nick Carraway's role as a character in his own right, not just Fitzgerald's mouthpiece.
The first chapter is dedicated to establishing his position in the book, and we as readers get to know who "Nick Carraway" is. Nick is our guide throughout The Great Gatsby. He relates the story as he has seen it and from what others have told him. He strives at all times to be objective and to make balanced comments. For example, Daisy and Tom are ruthlessly practical , where Gatsby is just a dreamer. Nick guides us between these two extremes while being an indifferent observer but still being involved in the action. He serves as a reliable narrator who illustrates the contrast between the different types of people in the novel.
The book is about disillusionment, particularly that of the American Dream, and without Nick, we would be left with a flat, impersonal plot. He personalizes it and gives it a more intimate sense, as the story is seen through the eyes of one who is both among these people and distant from them at the same time. In my opinion, if it were told in the third-person point of view, it would give us too much commentary and would take away the narrative experience.
Nick is unlike the other characters in the book. He is not just another one of those "careless people." He has a conscience, he is not selfish, and he has a decency that is well demonstrated throughout the book. His down to earth character shows just how materialistic and superficial the others are. Contradictory to everyone else, Nick's aim to be truthful and objective makes the reader trust him. He also lends a sympathetic feeling to the story about cruel, absent-minded people who have little regards about the lives of others. He can be thought of as the perfect bridge between the West and East Egg because of the fact that he himself is imperfect. He allows you to understand their feelings and relate them more easily to yourself. The readers have no choice but to become acquainted with Nick. The other characters lack the dimension and personality for us to trust them, which I think is what Fitzgerald is trying to demonstrate. The establishment of Nick's reflective, tolerant personality is essential, so we don't just dismiss him as a character speaking the words and feelings of the author.
While Gatsby and what he stands for is clearly the focus of the book, I still think that Nick is the main and most essential character. He may seem like a side character, but without getting the story from his perspective, the book would fail to achieve its greatness and almost all of the central themes would be lost. Without him, we would only perceive Gatsby as a corrupt mad man trying to disrupt an old girlfriend's life, which is not the whole truth and what Fitzgerald would want us to see in him. Gatsby doesn't speak until the third chapter of the novel and dies about three quarters into it. Nick is in fact the more in depth character and since practically every part of the story is related to us through is thoughts and perceptions, it's hard for him not to be considered the main character. He is the one that when readers leave the story they understand and whose actions and judgments they support. Even though he is just the narrator, his involvement in the events no matter how much he tries to stay objective, make a difference. Fitzgerald sets up Nick Carraway's role as a character in his own right, not just Fitzgerald's mouthpiece.