Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Great Gatsby Test Question 2

   Nick is both part of the action and acting as an objective commentator. What effect does this narration style have on the story and the reader? Why?


19 comments:

Derek Stemmler said...

I think Fitzgerald made an excellent choice having Nick be both the narrator and one of the main characters as well. We learn from the beginning that Nick is the “good guy”, a character we can trust. Nick is an honest guy and a good listener. He has the traits of someone you would want to hear the story from, because you could trust and believe that his account of the story is accurate. This style of writing is very successful because you are able to develop opinions of the characters right away and you can feel the story through the narrator’s perspective. It would be the same if the story was told through Daisy’s mind and eyes. You would feel for her character and learn certain things. That is why I think that this is a great style and technique of writing.

Dan McCarthy said...

Nick being both one of the main characters and the narrator has a great affect on the novel. The whole story is being told from the perspective of this quiet yet very observant man. With this narration it makes the reader feel involved. The way in which Nick tells the story is almost like he is sitting with the reader recollecting the events. We, the readers, get to see what Nick sees and hear what his impressions are. The interesting part is that Nick himself is portrayed as a honest, charming man and as the story is told the reader becomes connected to him and starts to care for him. The style used by Fitzgerald is a very effective one in that it is very inviting to the reader and makes them feel like they are being told a riveting story.

denisgingras said...

In my opinion i thought Fitzgerald made a daring move by making the Narrator the main character as well. In a lot of stories this does not work but In the Great Gatsby it works well. Nick as the main character gives us an inside look at the other characters from his position which in turn helped me make a conclusion on the other characters. Since Nick was related to Daisy and had known Tom in college we could suspect what they were going to be like before the first time Nick meets up with them.

Anonymous said...

I think the author was right to have Nick as the main character and narrator of the story. The style of writing is very succesful because you can see the story through the mind of Nick and the other characters which gives you two different views of the story which is a good style of writing

Kayla Reynolds said...

Fitzgerald did an amazing job in portraing Nick as one of the main characters and also the narrator of the story. I think this is a great writing technique because it is interesting when you get to know one character very well,see the story though his eyes,and judge the other characters on his opinions. Its almost as if you begin to know him personally.

Carolina Veloso said...

Fitzgerald made Nick be somewhat of a person that would not pick sides. For example, when he knew that Tom was having an affair with someone else, he did not tell his cousin Daisy, so he was being fair to both of them and tried to not get in between them. It makes the reader see him as a neutral person, and think that he just wants the best for everyone and does not want to be the cause for any arguments.

Vanessa Domond said...

In my opinion, the authors choice to make Nick the narrator and the main of the book was an excellent style of writing. The reader is able to understand the character much more easily. This style also allows the reader to build an opinion on the character shortly after begining to read. I believe this style of writing gave The Great Gatbsy the large success it has today

larry said...

Having Nick has the narrator and a character was a great idea because it gives us two sides to the story. Since we are hearing Nick's point of view and seeing the events actually take place we get to see how NIck feels about people and how he sees things but we also get to see what is really happening. This way we can make our own decisions about how we feel about characters instead of just going off Nick's version of that person. It is also good because we can see how different Nick is from the people he is around.

Alyssa Sullivan said...

Nick is both the narrator and the main character. This affects the novel because he is telling the story through his eyes and personal experiences throughout the novel. He is also a good choice to be the narrator because hes a a good guy, honest a goo listener and very level headed. He's kind to everyone and always a good friend and doesn't judge them, despite the bad choices they might be making. The characters are described through his personal encounters with them, not from someone else's point of view that does not know the characters.

Ian Conway said...

This narration allows Nick to sway the reader to believe whatever he wants the reader to believe. Nick could convince the reader that he is the greatest guy because he is providing the only perspective. The story can be incredible subjective.

Olivia Fuller said...

Having Nick as both a character and a narrator was a crutial part of the novel. Although the reader is not completly sure wether or not nick was a reliable or unreliable narrator it was still a positive effect on the novel. Having Nick narrate as well as be a character, allowed the reader to hear the opinions of somone else which is always nice, but it also allowed the reader to build some of their own opinions. The reader becomes to trust Nick, and become apart of the novel.

Arianna Miranda said...

Fitzgerald using Nick as both a narrator and character showed the unique writing strategy of the author. Nick is portrayed as a warm character one who is good. He tells the story with total honesty. The writing style enables the reader to understand the story from the narrator's perspective and learn of the characters. If Fitzgerald used another character other than Nick the story would be different.

Lisa Russell said...

I loved the way that Fitzgerald made Nick both the narrator and one of the main characters. It makes the story more interesting as you get further and further into reading it. You get to know him better as the story goes on. Fitzgerald almost makes it so that you actually feel like your there in the story, that's how good of a job he did writing this.

Unknown said...

The style of the narration is different in this book. It provides two points of view. This provides the reader a better understanding of situations in the book. It also gives more input for the reader too. Having Nick as the narrator and then having a thrid person narrator is great to me. I get to see two different opinions in the book. That includes both Nick and the thrid person narrator. That way, I can form my own opinions on matters in the book.

Cam Shepard said...

I think this affect has a great affect on the novel. Nick is a very quite but very involved man. He doesnt always take part in the action but he conveys it in a way you completely understand what's going on.

Jared Ravagni said...

Fitzgerald uses a 2 in 1 narrative in his book. I like that you get to see from the view of a very observant character and the information is also very clear because the narrator was a part of all the events that happened in the novel.

Chuck Barbaro said...

This type of narration has a very deep affect on the reader. When Nick is commentating he seems to have an opinion, which draws the reader to get the same impression Nick gets. Fitzgerald uses this so he can tell us exactly who each character is and what to expect from them through Nick.

Sean Keane said...

Fitzgerald's choice of being the narrator as well as the main character is a great idea. It is such a good idea because he tells us and shows us that Nick is a guy that will always tell us the truth. He won't change the story for any reason. It is also a good idea because it affects the readers veiw of Nick in a way that makes Nick very likeable. Nick's oppinions of characters are just like the opinions of most people.

Josh said...

The way Nick narrates and as action in the book confuses me. It makes it seem as if you are inside his head and it is actually a very nice touch. It does confuse me but it is also a very good way to get all aspects of the story out and for you to understand it entirely. I think it is a good way to do it but Fitzgerald could ahve defined the it a little more when it switches from him narrating to back in action.