In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a specific portrait of American society during the roaring twenties and tells the story of a man who rises from the gutter to great riches. This man, Jay Gatsby, does not realize that his new wealth cannot give him the privileges of class and status. Nick Carraway, who is from a prominent mid-western family, tells the story. Nick serves as our guide and/ or path finder in The Great Gatsby; he relates the story as he has seen it and from what others have told him. Because Nick viewed as a non-judgemental character, his comments are balanced, therefore allowing the reader to gain insight and "judge" other characters based on the information Nick has provided them.
             Nick is in a perfect position to tell the story. He is a cousin of Daisy Buchanan's, Tom Buchanan's colleague, and he has rented, during the summer of 1922, a house right next to Jay Gatsby. He knows all the characters well enough to be present at the crucial scenes in the novel. The information he doesn't have but needs in order to tell his story, he gets from other characters like Jordan Baker, the Greek restaurant owner Michaelis, and Gatsby himself. Nick knows things because people confess to him, and people confess to him because he is tolerant, understanding, and sympathetic. He has that capacity, which Fitzgerald felt was so terribly important, of holding two contradictory opinions at the same time. He not only admires Gatsby and but disapproves of him as well. He admires him both because of his dream and because of his basic innocence but disapproves of Gatsby because of his vulgar materialism and his corrupt business practices.
             His aim to be truthful and objective makes the reader trust him. When he says Gatsby has a ' rare smile with a quality of eternal reassurance in it' we know Nick isn't being charmed by his riches or parties; but is telling it to us straight. His contempt for much of what Ga...