Nick

Nick

Significance in the novel
1. Although he is generally passive in the novel and doesn't impact events, he acts as a stark contrast to the other characters and passes judgement upon them throughout the novel
2. He is an outsider to the world that the rest of the characters live in and as a result is reserved and awkward towards the beginning
3. Nick has personal integrity and morals unlike the other characters and has a sense of right and wrong in society
  1. His morals include: staying loyal and faithful to Gatsby, even when no-one else turns up to his funeral and he expresses great distaste for Tom's affair
4. He is the only character capable of change. He comes in search of relief from WW1 but during the novel he realises the harsh consequences of living such lavish lifestyles and forces himself to change his habits
Behaviour and Interaction
1. "turning me around my one arms" suggests he is weak and passive compared to the other male characters and he allows people to dominate him
2. Page 14, "I'm p-paralysed with happiness..." shows how Nick merely observes actions
  1. However he does often pass judgement upon the characters through the actions he observes, specifically towards Tom ("This annoyed me")
  2. However this is not true with Gatsby as he takes a genuine interest in Gatsby's life, e.g. page 50, "who is he? I demanded" "where is he from I mean?". These interrogatives shows his interest in Gatsby as it contrasts his tendency to use back channel features
3. The adjacency pairs between Nick and Daisy on page 15 shows his politeness and always engages in conversation when asked. However he doesn't flout the Gricean Maxim of quantity as his replies are often short, he often allows other people to dominate the conversation
4. Nick doesn't enjoy talking about himself and often uses topic changes to avoid awkward conversations e.g.. page 21 "I suppose she talks, and - eats and everything"
Physical Appearance
1. Very little description of Nick's appearance as he is the narrator
2. He is from a fairly wealthy family and he was earned a small wealth through the bond business suggesting he dresses well
3. However he is a fairly normal man, compared to the grandeur of the other characters, which implies his appearance makes him blend into the background
Character
1. From the beginning, Nick has to try hard to curb his direct and personal attitudes, as he has become unconsciously judgemental and frank about society
2. Nick is self-assured as he is accused of being a politician, he knows his own mind through his life experiences
3. He is strong minded and focused, however his desire for more, shown by his move from Minnesota could show his rebellious side
  1. He is able to maintain morality and his drive for his aspirations presents his as determined and sharp minded
4. His characters differs slightly throughout the novel. He says "reserving all judgements is a matter of infinite hope" suggesting that although he is judgemental, he wants to stop this. However through joint the social group of Gatsby, Daisy etc. he is not able to withdraw judgement. However his first impressions, specifically of Gatsby - "everything for which I have an affected scorn" - are not always right and he ends up falling deep into a friendship with Gatsby
  1. His friendship with Gatsby taught him to make better judgements

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	Erstellt von Beth Muckle vor mehr als 7 Jahre