The narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway. Nick is a boy from Minnesota who moves to West Egg, New York, to learn about the bond business. Nick stands out from all the other characters in the novel because he’s honest and not pretentious. He’s respectable in origin and considers himself a moral man. Throughout the novel, Nick acts as an observer. He sees the world of the wealthy people he is surrounded by, especially his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby.
Nick is cousins with Daisy’s husband, Tom. Through Daisy, he gets involved with the dramatic and complicated lives of the Buchanan’s and Gatsby. Though he does not necessarily agree with what they do, he typically keeps quiet and watches things unfold. As the novel progresses, Nick finds himself noticing how selfish and irresponsible some of these rich people are, and he becomes disillusioned with their lifestyle.
Nick looks up to Gatsby’s idealism and desire to reclaim Daisy, even though it is improbable. Nick sees Gatsby as a man chasing an ideal, whereas everyone else is just living life. Only at the end of the novel does Nick truly care about Gatsby when he dies. He’s left to ponder everything that happened and sees just how messed up the world around him is. In the end, Nick decides to leave New York and return home, disappointed but a little wiser, due to everything that happened.