Saturday, September 12, 2015

In The Great Gatsby, when does Nick act loyally to Gatsby?

One of the most touching aspects of Nick is his loyalty to Gatsby, which emerges at significant junctures in the novel. For example, Nick allows Gatsby and Daisy to meet at his home for their first encounter after their five-year separation. Not only does Nick open his house to the twosome, he tries to give Gatsby good advice. For instance, when Gatsby follows Nick into the kitchen and tells him that meeting with Daisy was a "terrible, terrible mistake," Nick tells him: "You're just embarrassed, that's all ... and Daisy's embarrassed too." This helps Gatsby get over the first shock of the encounter.


When Gatsby and Tom face off over Daisy in the Plaza Hotel, Tom takes Gatsby apart--but when Gatsby scores points, such as by saying with dignity that his time at Oxford was "an opportunity they gave to some officers after the Armistice," a believable story, Nick shows his loyalty:



I wanted to get up and slap him on the back. I had one of those complete renewals of faith in him that I'd experienced before.



Nick shows his loyalty most profoundly by being one of only two people--Owl Eyes being the other one--besides Gatsby's father and servants to attend Gatsby's funeral. In fact, it's Nick who goes to lengths to contact Gatsby's so-called friends, even travelling to find them when they won't come to the phone:



The morning of the funeral I went up to New York to see Meyer Wolfsheim ...'I know you'll want to come to his funeral this afternoon ... '



Nick says this to Wolfsheim but Wolfsheim won't come. In contrast, Nick braves the rain for Gatsby.


Finally, Nick stays loyal to Gatsby after his death:



Gatsby turned out all right in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams ...



 Nick also praises Gatsby for his



extraordinary gift for hope ... a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person ...


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