The narrator in Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is Nick Carraway. From the beginning, Nick’s bias towards the people in his life and the situations he is placed in are present as he clearly gives his opinion and judgments on others when retelling his story. This type of narration is unreliable as we are going off only what Nick is telling us, which may or may not be true and most likely is biased. Upon receiving life advice from his father he says: “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments” (Fitzgerald 1). Nick says that he will be objective, but this is entirely inaccurate, as he instantly shows his biased opinions towards Gatsby: “Only Gatsby, was exempt from my reaction . . . Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (Fitzgerald 2). Although Gatsby is immoral and goes against everything that Nick stands for, he still finds him “gorgeous” and admires his hope and optimism further emphasizing his favouritism towards Gatsby. This admiration progresses, as Nick overlooks Gatsby’s many wrongdoings. When Nick finds out about Gatsby’s side business selling “grain alcohol” over the counter and also when Gatsby covers for Daisy after their accident.
Clouded by his affection for Gatsby, he quickly suspends his judgments and excuses Gatsby’s illegal actions maintaining the illusion that Gatsby is an altruistic character. Even from the first two pages, readers can detect Nick’s biased thinking and his capability to deceive others arising doubt in the authenticity of Nick’s narration. This further continues when Nick follows Tom and Myrtle to their apartment. As they start drinking, Nick says: “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon; so everything that happened has a dim, hazy cast over it” (Fitzgerald 29). This furthers the lack of his trustworthiness, as it gives the readers the incentive to believe that all the events that he narrates were not completely accurate. After he leaves the party he forgets or intentionally withholds information from readers: “. . . I was standing beside his bed . . . clad in his underwear. Beauty and the Beast . . . Brook’n Bridge. . .” (Fitzgerald 38). These ellipses are here to show gaps in time, where Nick has failed to accurately narrate the events prior to the situation where one minute he was leaving the party and next he was in the Pennsylvania Station. In summary, Nick is an irresponsible and inaccurate narrator as he predominantly favours Gatsby and leaves out specifics for the reader. This leaves readers to question the credibility and wonder if all the stories that they read in the past, narrated through a biased standpoint, is completely made up.
If I had to choose one person to tell my life story, I would certainly choose my mother. When I was a newborn, my father would often go to Korean business conventions for approximately 1-3 months at a time. As my mother had to juggle the needs of my two older siblings and a newborn simultaneously, she would tell me how difficult it was to feed, cloth, play, do household chores and take care of errands by herself. So throughout my life, my mother was always there for me, she would understand what I would try to say, decipher my cries, and remember every little detail about me. One event that would frame our familial bond and love would be when I was 5, me and my older siblings made her a card containing our appreciation for all her hard work, where I made household chores coupons so that she can redeem them when necessary, my sister cooked, and my brother cleaned the whole house. One event that she would leave out would be the time that because of the stress she cried herself to sleep. My mother would never allow us to see that she was suffering, as she always put our needs ahead of ours. My mother would be the best person in my life to tell my life story, as she will be able to accurately tell past events incorporating all the small details, the intense emotions and be able to connect with the reader’s nostalgic memories creating a warm and comforting book called “A Mother Like No Other”.
