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
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
Nick has personal integrity and morals
unlike the other characters and has a
sense of right and wrong in society
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
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
"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
Page 14, "I'm p-paralysed with
happiness..." shows how Nick merely
observes actions
However he does often
pass judgement upon the
characters through the
actions he observes,
specifically towards Tom
("This annoyed me")
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
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
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
Very little description of
Nick's appearance as he
is the narrator
He is from a fairly wealthy family
and he was earned a small wealth
through the bond business
suggesting he dresses well
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
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
Nick is self-assured as he is accused of being a
politician, he knows his own mind through his life
experiences
He is strong minded and focused, however his desire for
more, shown by his move from Minnesota could show his
rebellious side
He is able to maintain morality and his
drive for his aspirations presents his as
determined and sharp minded
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
His friendship with Gatsby taught him to make better judgements