Katie M--Writer
Sanford--Revising and Posting
Matta
Hair
Please place your character sketch of Nick here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Search This Blog
The Prophet
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(21)
- ► 05/16 - 05/23 (3)
- ► 05/09 - 05/16 (5)
- ► 05/02 - 05/09 (1)
- ► 04/25 - 05/02 (1)
- ▼ 04/18 - 04/25 (10)
- ► 03/28 - 04/04 (1)
-
►
2009
(20)
- ► 11/08 - 11/15 (5)
- ► 11/01 - 11/08 (3)
- ► 10/25 - 11/01 (2)
- ► 10/18 - 10/25 (5)
- ► 09/27 - 10/04 (5)
3 comments:
Nick is the narrator for the story. He considers himself to be very honest, and he is a cautious person. Nick was born in the Midwest, but moved the East in order to attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale with Tom Buchanan, who ended up marrying his cousin Daisy. One of the reasons he moved East was that he didn’t like the gossip surrounding him in the Midwest, and didn’t want to feel pressured into marriage. His family is well-to-do, but he still lives in a modest house on West Egg next door to Gatsby, which is the less fashionable of the two eggs. Tom and Daisy live on the East Egg. Nick is an observer who doesn’t take part in conversation much. He follows the rules; he was one of the few people to actually to Gatsby’s party. When he did not realize that he was speaking to Gatsby, he felt badly which displays his manners.
Pg. 4- “I was going to bring back all such things into my life and…”
Pg. 8- “I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology…”
Pg. 14- “This was untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose.”
Pg. 15- “I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one, and yet to avoid all eyes.”
Pg. 24- “Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her”
Pg. 58- “’I hate careless people. That’s why I like you.’”
Pg. 59- “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known”
Thank you for this response. I think that you make some strong observations about Nick and his character--your thought about his character being both honest is cautious is a curious one. I agree whole heartily that he is cautious-but I wonder how this virtue impacts his honesty? Is he cautious because he wishes to reserve judgment and wants the world to stand at a moral attention BUT realizes that he is also human and thus will judge and struggle to be completely honest in the telling of this tale?
Also--does he allows follow the rules, doesn't he get drunk at Tom's apartment? Not only does this break a law but it seems to cloud his judgment and his desire to tell a 'true' story.
I also wish that you would have extended some of the textual support you provided. You hit some key passages, but I believe that they need to be fully extended in order to fully support your first paragraph.
Lastly, I wonder what you would give yourself as a grade in terms of the merit of this response and how well you worked together as a group.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts.
Best,
AK
Grade: 86
Nick is the narrator of The Great Gatsby. He is from the mid-west and went to school at Yale University. It is there that he met Tom Buchanan, the future husband of Daisy, his second cousin. The story he tells takes place while he is living on East Egg. Although he comes from a family with money, he lives in a modest house compared to the mansions surrounding him on East and West Egg. One of his reasons for moving East is that “gossip had published the banns… and [he] had no intention of being rumored into marriage” (19).
Nick tends to be the most morally conscious character in the book. After visiting Tom and Daisy at their house for the first time, Nick was “confused and a little disgusted” (20). He also said that Gatsby “represented everything for which [he had] an unaffected scorn” (2). When Nick goes to Gatsby’s parties, he “was one of the few guests who had actually been invited” (41). Nick is separated from these wealthy people not only by his house, but also by his viewpoint concerning their wealth. He is disgusted by the lifestyle of Tom and Daisy; they live in a huge estate, Tom is having an affair and is physically rough, and Daisy allows herself to live with his behavior. Nick has an unaffected scorn for Gatsby’s lifestyle of huge parties and self-absorption. Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby continue to live unnecessarily luxurious lives even though they have all witnessed the valley of ashes next door. Since Nick waited for an invitation to attend one of Gatsby’s parties, it displays his usual politeness. As Nick says himself, “I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (59).
Although Nick prides himself on his honestly, he is also characterized by cautious traits. At the very beginning of the story he says he is “inclined to reserve all judgments” (1). Although this is usually considered to be a highly regarded trait in itself, it contradicts his supposedly honest character. He admits to his cautiousness when he says he is “slow thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on [his] desires” (58). This contradiction is described when at Daisy and Tom’s house, he says “I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at everyone, and yet to avoid all eyes” (15). Nick has the moral intention of looking at the wealth for what it really is, but he cannot bring himself to do so because he does not want to judge. Knowing that Nick holds this perspective, it is difficult to tell what he truly believes about each of the characters.
Post a Comment