There’s this parable about blind men who heard that an elephant was coming to town. These men wanted to know what that elephant was like. Even though they wouldn’t be able to see it, they could still touch it and know that way. They made their way to the elephant and started to touch it. One man’s hands landed on the trunk and said the elephant was like a snake. Another was touching the ear and said it was like a fan. The man who touched the tail said the elephant was like a rope. And the man who touched the tusk said the elephant was like a smooth spear. The men argued about who was right and they didn’t realize until another person came along who could see described to them the elephant in its totality that they were all right. The blind men weren’t wrong about what they described, but none of them had the full picture because their perspective was limited. F. Scott Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby from the perspective of Nick. Nick is only one person, so he can’t know everything about Gatsby. He’s just one of the blind men trying to touch the elephant that is Gatsby. He may be right in what he’s telling us about Gatsby, but it isn’t the full picture. This begs the question, is there any way for us to ever know who Gatsby really is? Or are we always destined to be blind men, trying to touch a different part of the elephant, but never knowing if we’ve been able to get it all?