The Great Gatsby: Why Nick Is Not Your Friend

[Music] like the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan's doc F scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has been an alluring literary icon for film makers but somehow always just beyond their outstretched reach all told there have been five adaptations of Gatsby beginning with a now lost silent film produced in 1926 which only a minute long trailer still exists other films include a 1949 feature 1974 Robert Redford vehicle and a 2000 made-for-tv movie that for some reason gives away the climax of the film before the opening credits even roll best-known adaptation today however is undoubtedly Baz Luhrmann's 2013 production the film has any adaptation of a classic novel might polarized critics upon its release most critiques boiled down to the film's visual and auditory bluster using opulent effects and contemporary popular music to convey the raucous atmosphere of the 1920s to a modern audience this however is not the fundamental flaw of the film it isn't even with Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby as one might be tempted to think the era actually lies with Nick Carraway from whose perspective the entire story is told what we get in this version of The Great Gatsby is a sanitized and uncomplicated version of Nick that ultimately waters down the most important message story is trying to communicate to fully understand this problem it's important to go to the source material and recognize that f scott Fitzgerald is not the author of the Great Gatsby NICUs it's easy to get caught up reading gatsby as a novel simply narrated in first-person and while on a foundational level this is true it isn't the whole picture see Fitzgerald employs literary technique of using an implied author which is to say that the Great Gatsby should really be read as Nick care rays memoir Lerman acknowledges this reality with varying degrees of effort and success included in the film are several sequences in which stylized texts mostly drawn directly from the novel floats on the screen accompanying Nick's voiceover narration a bolder creative choice is bookending the film the scenes of Nick starting and finishing the act of writing the novel but while Luhrmann's film acknowledges Nick is the author its approach to this fact is ultimately more about style than substance more about paying homage to Fitzgerald's masterful use of the English language and exploring the implications of Nick's implied authorship see as an author Nick is responsible for making authorial choices that go beyond simple narration choices such as what events to recount and which to forget what details to include image to omit and perhaps most importantly how to portray himself and others to his readers there's no doubt in the novel that make wants to present himself in the most positive and sympathetic way possible this is true from the opening sentence of the book Nick writes in my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since this line is chock-full of carefully chosen language intended to evoke pathos and sentimentality this goal has only reinforced by the content of his father's advice to be humble and hesitant to criticize others Nick seems to have taken this advice to heart as he declares himself quote inclined to reserve all judgments and for many readers and this seems to be true for Lerman and the producers of the great gatsby this opening passage forms the foundational persona of Nick Carraway he's a Midwestern good ol boy who always tries to see the best in people don't buy it just hear this from Toby McGuire we talked about Nick being a kind of grounding presence and and the the audience's in and being the kind of relatable character who who is you know a very decent kind of Midwestern guy with with you know good morals speaking of McGuire his casting is pretty telling in and of itself before Gatsby McGuire was best known for roles in which he played underdog turned hero characters most significant was his star making turn as Peter Parker Sam Raimi's original spider-man trilogy in 2002 with sequels releasing in 2004 and 2007 also in 2003 Maguire played down-on-his-luck Jackie red Pollard a feel-good horse racing film Seabiscuit McGuire's penchant for playing charming good-natured characters is woven throughout his portrayal of Nick Carraway from his enduring awkwardness among the crowds at Gatsby's first party to his giddy enthusiasm at Gatsby and Daisy's reunion all the way to his earnest offensive Gatsby after his death [Music] but this interpretation of Nick is a far cry from a close reading of the novel reveals let's return to Nick's opening pledge to reserve all judgments within the next few pages Nick undercuts this promise but the very first character the reader is introduced to Tom Buchanan Nick Mintz is no words writing now he was a sturdy straw haired man of 30 with a rather hard mouth in a supercilious manner two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward and Nick's not done yet he says his speaking voice a gruff husky tenor added to the impression of fractious Ness he conveyed there was a touch of paternal content even toward people he liked and the remenant New Haven who had hated his guts now tom certainly confirms all of these despicable qualities through his own words and actions fact he does so almost entirely within the first two chapters especially when he says things like this the idea is that it's up to us the dominant race the watch out or these other races will have control of things and does things like this but Tom's awfulness is besides the point Nick gives this description of Tom before we see him do anything or hear a single word out of his mouth Nick has told us what to think about Tom end of story watching the film the judgment and vitriol that's so apparent in the book is nowhere to be found instead it's replaced with this house the great American novel comes I'm selling bonds now with Walter chases up look at you chummy if you ask me let's return to Nick himself while Nick isn't especially forthcoming with his own personal history within the pages of Gatsby what little he does reveal paints a troubling picture of a man with deep-seated narcissism consider this passage in which Nick describes his budding relationship with Jordan Baker and what course of action he feels he must take in order to justify pursuing her romantically her greysun strained eyes stared straight ahead but she had deliberately shifted our relations and for a moment I thought I loved her but I'm slow thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires I knew that first I had to definitely get myself out of that tangle back home I've been writing letters once a week and signing them love Nick and all I could think of was how when that certain girl played tennis a faint moustache of perspiration appeared on her upper lip nevertheless there was a vague understanding that had to be tactfully broken off before I was free everyone suspects himself of at least one of the carnal virtues and this is mine I am one of the few honest people I I've ever known not only does this passage proclaim Knicks incredible belief in his own honesty which in itself should be a major red flag when it comes to actually trusting a person but he does it in the disturbing context of announcing a thinly veiled intention to cheat on a person with whom he's in a relationship a relationship that's apparently serious enough for rumors of their engagement to spring up and even reach Tom and daisies for wait years of course Nick repeatedly downplays this tangle however it becomes increasingly clear that despite the desire to put his best foot forward Nick still trips over his own projected self-image just enough for the discerning reader to see through his good guy facade now does the film acknowledge this problematic aspect of Nick's backstory Lerman does address it but it's treated as little more than a throwaway line during a quick dinner montage early in the film after this brief exchange subject is dropped completely that's for Nick and Jordan well they're given a romantic subplot that ends up playing as the fish-out-of-water Midwestern guy landing the sophisticated New York girl who's way out of his league it's not hard to see why Lerman would choose to gloss over the troubling threat of Nick's history and personality because well if Nick is supposed to function as an audience surrogate then it's a lot easier to root for a wide-eyed underdog than an egotistical cheater these two examples and others scattered throughout the text are sufficient to shift the audience's perception of Nick and casas trustworthiness and well to be frank likability question perhaps most importantly they alter our view of the role Nick plays in his own story in the novel it's Nick's mo to keep himself at arm's length from the action and consequences that take place around him the desired effect is for the great gatsby to be an account of things that happen to Nick rather than things that happen because of him Nick wants to be understood as a simple observer so that when he tells his readers about the terrible things that happen he can be seen as a victim however this perspective doesn't consistently hold up for example it's Nick who agrees to arrange and facilitate Gatsby and Daisy's reunion happy to do it then runs interference to keep their relationship a secret from Tom you see my wife know not for a while perhaps of even greater consequence after Myrtle is killed with Gatsby's car nick makes two crucial choices that ultimately put Gatsby mortal danger first when Gatsby supposes that no one witnessed the hit-and-run Newark reflects that I disliked him so much by this time and I didn't find it necessary to tell him he was wrong later Nick seems to have changed his mind telling Gatsby you ought to go away it's pretty certain they'll trace your car Gatsby dismisses the idea out of hand of course but Nick chooses not to push the issue and rights in hindsight he was clutching at some last hope I couldn't bear to shake him free through his confessed inaction Nick can reasonably be held at least partially responsible for Gatsby's eventual death the film however largely embraces Nick is victim narrative reinforcing the notion of Nick as an unbiased and reliable narrator who finds himself victimized by difficult even shocking situations but never by his own fault Lerman uses a framing device not present in the book to drive this point home for the viewer in it Nick Carraway has been committed into a sanitarium a laundry list of conditions including alcoholism insomnia anger anxiety depression all caused suggested by psychological and emotional trauma he suffered while living in New York as the audience were compelled to sympathize with him right from the beginning in this scenario Nick is definitely a victim as a means of coping with his past trauma the doctor assigned to next case encourages him to write about his experiences thus the act of writing The Great Gatsby is primarily conveyed as a cathartic experience for Nick moving him towards renewed well-being ironically this framing device actually plants the seed of Nick's unreliability that's rooted so deeply in Fitzgerald's novel could such a psychologically troubled authors account of events even be trustworthy probably not there are other knots towards Nick's unreliability in the film to the handwritten text that appears during Thomas party features a hasty edit regarding Nick's history with drunkenness and several crucial scenes after Tom's party showed Nick either drinking or with a glass in hand so maybe his memory of these events is as clear as he would like us to believe it's both sad and safe to say that all these instances hinting at Nick's unreliability are just coincidence they represent a fleeting and empty shadow of what a complete and faithful adaptation of the character could have been however if such a film were to be made it begs the question would an audience get on board with an adaptation of The Great Gatsby and which Nick Carraway it was portrayed as a bad person it's surrounded by even worse people well maybe maybe not but either way not only would such an adaptation be closer to Fitzgerald's original vision it would also present a more valuable message to viewers we aren't better than these people we too can be corrupted by the flickering light of filthy wealth and fame and even lust see if Nick is the inherently trustworthy moral cop helping audiences to navigate the dark and dangerous waters that run through the great gatsby we run the risk of making the same awful error [ __ ] judging greatness or the lack of it and others on whom he really should be judging as ourselves [Music] everyone thank you for checking out this is not Gro episode of thought and word exploring fascinating ideas and how they manifest in our world I hope that you enjoyed watching this video as much as I enjoyed making it I love The Great Gatsby it's my favorite novels to read and teach so it was right for a video essay

Channel: Thought & Word

Views: 1,261,167

Keywords: Video Essay, Literature, Film, Great Gatsby, Analysis, Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby

Id: TlNOIuXj3hk

Length: 15min 1sec (901 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2018