The Great Gatsby is a novel about the empty and fruitless nature of wealth and high society. The narrator, Nick Carraway, is descended from a wealthy family, yet chooses to live a life of moderate privilege; however, he is constantly surrounded by rich and powerful people of both old money legacies and new money beginnings. Throughout the text, the author eludes to the false and dishonest nature of the privileged class. This concept is especially prevalent in Nick’s narration: “The instant her voice broke off ceasing to compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said” (17). Nick finds himself bogged down in a marsh of artificial and inherently false people and soon finds that he has “had enough of them” (142). This situation is highly relatable to that of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye since Holden finds himself perpetually stuck in a world of “phonies.” At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick proclaims himself “inclined to reserve all judgments,” unlike the bulk of his acquaintances, casting himself as a benevolent and truthful person in the midst of other dishonest characters. Holden’s situation is starkly similar since, in his eyes, he is the only truthful person to walk the plant. In both of these novels, the narrator struggles to overcome the fraudulent nature of the surrounding people in order to tell the story of their experiences as truthfully as they can.
This is a great text-text connection. Holden and Nick are very similar because of the feeling they share of being stuck in a world full of phonies (as you said). In addition, both Nick and Holden are very pessimistic, virtually untrusting people. Both come from relatively wealthy families, yet don't seem to find their niche. They are both observers, cynical observers that, despite their riches, have not had the best life. Although their point of view is the only one the reader has access to, the reader never knows for sure if what they are both retelling is reliable.
ReplyDeleteWonderful text-to-text connection! I haven't even thought of that. I definitely agree that Nick Carraway and Holden Caulfield have many similarities in their honesty and opinions of the "fake" people. Holden emphasizes the "phoniness" of the world he lived in, while Nick talks about Gatsby and how he is "worth the whole damn bunch put together". Both describe the fraudulent lifestyles of the people that surrounded them.
ReplyDeleteYes, they both believe they are the most honest people in their society, which makes readers question if the text is reliable.
Lastly, Holden's biggest insecurity in Catcher in the Rye was his loneliness. Whereas Nick was lonely, but he was never insecure about it... I believe that's the only thing they were dissimilar in.