The Great Gatsby 2012

Looks to be an amazingly done rendition of The Great Gatsby! All credits to the uploader, ClevverMovies on youtube.

 Great Gastby Movie 2012 Trailer

Nick Carraway in Society

When I think of Nick Carraway and how he relates to people in American society I can only imagine that American society varies so drastically from one place to another; being a resident of the very diverse city of Toronto and having traveled to many places around the world, I understand that social and cultural "norms" vary greatly from place to place, more so across such a vast nation. Nick sets out with ambitious goals and his eyes set on his American dream or "green light", and by the end of his quest he sees his dream and his society as something different than what he had envisioned. I believe that Nick Carraway represents the everyman of society, the typical Joe. He seems to me to be a middle class figure with a well rounded education and personality, with whom I can relate to quite well.

Nick Carraway, Continued

He learn that Nick comes from a rather well off or wealthy Midwestern family, who's patriarch arrived in the United States in 1851. Nick attended Yale, which shows some degree of family wealth or status. He moves east to New York after serving with the American Forces during the first World War, planning to begin his career in the "bond" business. Nick sees him self as a well rounded man or "jack of all trades" as some would argue, and holds a good amount of ingenuity, common sense, and experience in life, as opposed to other characters in the novel who've experienced nothing but glorious, excessive wealth their entire lives. Nick evolves quite a bit from beginning to end during the course of this novel; he begins as an ambitious Midwestern man who is no longer interested in seeing the small lonely world of his home after having seen the "outside" world during the war, and looking to enter a society that he believes is powerful, wealthy, and utopian to some degree. By the end of the story, Nick has had enough of his dream society's corrupt and savage nature, and moves back home, leaving all his connections to power and wealth behind, for old-fashion values and morals (and perhaps simplicity) back home. After having read the novel it becomes very apparent that while Nick holds tremendous involvement in the story, his character is always kept rather subliminal, as if he is an invisible entity observing the story from above. Fitzgerald places our narrator exceptionally well to not only take part in the story but also give the themes and overall mood of the story the essence that make this novel one of the greatest pieces in American literature.

Main Characters

We begin this story with Nick Carraway, the narrator, a soft spoken but keen man from a prominent, well off Middle Western family. Nick moves to Long Island, NY, and plans to meet up with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy introduces Nick to her husband Tom Buchanan, and a friend of hers, Jordan Baker, with whom Nick develops a brief romantic relationship throughout the course of the novel. Soon, Nick writes about his fabulously wealthy neighbor, one Mr. Gatsby.
We first see him as an intriguing but mysterious figure, and the center of many varying rumors. Next, Tom Buchanan ends up taking Nick to go with him and meet a woman named Myrtle Wilson, with whom Tom holds an affair. He meets Myrtle and her husband George Wilson, a poor working man who owns an auto garage along the Valley of Ashes. Eventually, Nick meets his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Nick and Gatsby get along well and become friends. Last but not least, we are introduced by Gatsby to one of his business associates, Meyer Wolfsheim. A rather shady figure, he claims to have partaken in the fixing of the 1919 World Series. This briefly summarizes the main characters of the novel and how by they are encountered.

Nick Carraway, our Narrator

The story begins by jumping right into Nick Carraway's thoughts. He tells us that his father once told him; "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,... just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." Looking back on this after having read the novel, I've realized that throughout the story Nick maintains this sort of reserved, "slow to judgement" personality, as he encounters all these vastly different characters.

Theme and Purpose

In this blog I will be examining main characters throughout the novel The Great Gatsby. I will search for the characteristics and behaviors that each character possesses and create a character analysis unique to each. I will use this data to relate major characters from The Great Gatsby to the real world, as they relate to specific people, populations, societies, classes, or groups.