Nick Carraway: Character or Camera?

One of The Great Gatsby's most overlooked concepts is Nick Carraway's presence, or lack of, as a character in the story. Being the narrator and one of the main characters, Nick is involved in almost every scene from the novel. He is Gatsby's crucial key in achieving his true love for Daisy Buchanan, allowing him to satisfy the green light. This being said, I couldn't help but feel that his presence in the novel felt void of any commanding input to those who surround him.

I see Carraway as more of a camera than a character. His purpose in the novel is to document the exhilarating story of Jay Gatsby, New Yorks most mysterious millionaire. Instead of being the centre of attention in his own story, he portrays the image of a bystander, diligently waiting to jot down all of Gatsby's actions.

His quote "I Was Within And Without." (Fitzgerald), puts this argument to rest. Though he was inside the apartment, an arms reach away from the other partiers, he felt as if he was watching the events unfold from outside a window. This is a clear sign that he feels isolated from those around him, not in a way where he is alone, but instead in a way where he is not a participant. Later on in the novel he says "I just remembered that today's my birthday." (Fitzgerald). This, being the final nail in the coffin, goes to show how Carraway has been so observant on Gatsby's life over the years that he has completely lost his own identity.

Nick Carraway became mesmerized by the hustle and bustle of New York along with the unimaginable wealth that surrounded him, so much so that he lost himself in the process.