The Great Gatsby outlines lives embedded along the path of the American Dream, which hit a detour when confronting the social stratospheres that define Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchannan. The Great Gatsby is a story of the haves and have-nots or when carefully examined old money, new money and no money. The three characters mentioned above fit perfectly into F. Scott Fitzgerald's social commentary of American life in the 1920's. When placed in a historical context, the 1920's are a time of prosperity following the ill effects of World War I. America's elite posted great financial gains during this period before the stock market crash of 1929 would send the country spiraling into a depression. But until that fateful day in October many Americans were clinging to their dream of breaking their social chains on the whims of rags to riches stories echoed in the sentiment of a better life.
             This sentiment is what brings The Great Gatsby's narrator, Nick Carraway, from the upper Midwest to West Egg, Long Island. He arrives as an educated man who wishes to extract more out of life than Midwest has to offer. More importantly he sets out to make his fortune. Although in many ways his morality and level-headedness sets him apart from the lifestyle which he can never really digest. Nick elevates himself to a greater position than those who surround him. For this reason among others (also his social standing) he is an outsider who rejects the phony appearances of the wealthy. One example that shows that he is an outsider is in chapter three. Nick waits for an invitation from Gatsby to attend Gatsby's party, and upon attending the party, he then seeks out the host. Nick is clearly different than the other characters in the book that do not wait for invitations and could care less where the host was. He is clearly an outsider.
             Nick doesn't let himself get so wrapped up in his dreams that wo...