论《了不起的盖茨比》中尼克是可靠的叙述者

【摘要】尼克自身拥有良好的品格，受了高等教育，与其他人物有密切关系，这些使得尼克成为最合适的，最公正的，不偏不倚的叙述者。乔丹作为黛西的闺中密友，非常了解盖茨比与黛西的爱情故事，可以说乔丹是作品中潜在的叙述者，尼克和乔丹是恋人关系，这更增加了尼克作为叙述者的可信度。尼克既是剧中人又是局外人，既是“目击者”型主人公也是圆形人物。尼克在作品中具有不可替代的作用，是一位可靠的叙述者。整个作品通过尼克独特视角的叙述显得真实而又客观。

【关键词】人物关系；潜在叙述者；双重视角；目击者；圆形人物

Why Nick in is a Reliable Storyteller？

Abstract： Nick himself enjoys unique conditions， he has good education and well-connected relationship with other characters which makes Nick be the most suitable， fair and impartial narrator. Jordan is close friend of Daisy， she knows the love story of Gatsby and Daisy very well. It can be said that Jordan is a hidden narrative character， Jordan is the lover of Nick and this increases the credibility of Nick who acts as a narrator. Nick acts as the carrier of a double sight， both a participant and a bystander， both the “I” witness and a round character. Nick’ participant plays an irreplaceable role in the plot development， Nick is a reliable character. The whole work seems real and objective from the perspective of Nick.

Key words： relationship；hidden narrator；double-sight；witness；round character

【中图分类号】I106 【文献标识码】A 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）01-0009-01

The Great Gatsby took place following the World War I. During the Roaring 1920s， American society enjoyed prosperity as the economy soared， meanwhile， prohibition， the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol made millionaires out of bootleggers. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. Jazz and dancing rose in popularity， in opposition to the mood of the specter of World War I. This period is also referred to the Jazz Age. The author Fitzgerald is the spokesman of the 1920s， the particular decade that combined the postwar economic boom and the sense of spiritual disorientation. In the novel？Fitzgerald successfully uses a new narrative point of view with the theme of the disillusionment of the American Dream. Be full of realism， this novel is not only the peak of Fitzgerald’ achievement， but also an important work in American literature. The tragedy character Gatsby； the hallow Daisy Buchanan； the cruel， irresponsible Tom Buchanan； the cynical， conceited Jordan Baker. In terms of these characters， readers can only regret for them. Nick Carraway， the narrator， is the main character and plays an irreplaceable place in the novel.

I. Nick’irreplaceable role

1.1. Nick‘s characteristics

Nick is a young man from Minnesota， after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I， he went to New York City to learn bond business. Honest， tolerant， and inclined to reserve judgment， Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. After moving to West Egg， a fictional area of Long Island that is home to the newly rich， Nick quickly became a friend of his next-door neighbor， the mysterious Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is told entirely through Nick's eyes； his thoughts and perceptions shape and color the story. Nick is also Daisy’s cousin， which enables him to observe and assist the resurgent love affair between Daisy and Gatsby. Because of the relationship with the two characters， Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the story， which functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922. He is tolerant， open-minded， quiet， and a good listener， and， as a result， others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets. Gatsby， in particular， comes to trust him and treat him as a confidant. He often functions as Fitzgerald’s voice， as in his extended meditation on time and the American dream. Nick plays a role inside the narration， and he evidences a strongly mixed reaction to life on the East Coast， one that creates a powerful internal conflict. On the one hand， Nick is attracted to the fast-paced， fun-driven lifestyle of New York. On the other hand， he finds that lifestyle grotesque and damaging. Nick represents another part： the quiet， reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East. This inner conflict is symbolized throughout the novel by Nick’s romantic affair with Jordan. Nick's description of himself in the opening chapter holds true throughout the novel： he is tolerant and slow to judge， someone with whom people feel comfortable sharing their secrets. His willingness to describe himself and the contours of his thoughts even when they are inconsistent or incomplete—his conflicted feelings about Gatsby， for instance， or the long musing at the end of the novel—makes him seem trustworthy and thoughtful.

1.2. Well-connected relationship with other characters

His position in relation to other characters gives him a perfect vantage point from which to tell the story-he is Daisy's cousin， Tom's old college friend， and Gatsby's neighbor， and all the three trust and rely on him. Though Nick participates in this story and its events certainly affect him， The Great Gatsby is not really his story in the sense of being about him. However， it is his story in the sense that it is crucial to him： he defines himself in the process of writing it. Indeed， he struggles with the story's meaning even as he tells it. Though Nick prefers to admire Gatsby's passion as a lover and a dreamer， Nick's own actions in his relationship with Jordan cast an ironic wither over his admiration： with Jordan， Nick is guarded， cautious， and skeptical. Overall， Nick suggests that Gatsby is an exception to his usual ways of understanding and judging the world， and that his attraction to Gatsby creates a conflict within himself.

Jordan is a hidden narrative character， we can observe a bystander in the love story of Gatsby and Daisy， and she knows more about the love story than Nick in terms of the time length. In the love story between Gatsby and Daisy， Jordan also plays an important role. Jordan is a hidden narrative character； her narration not only provided some supplementary to the plots， but also conveys the author’ hidden discourse. The transformation of Jordan’ ideology helps Nick know himself better and understand the social reality better after he witnesses the story of Gatsby and Daisy. Jordan is close friend of Daisy， the lover of Nick， and Jordan helps Nick clarify the hidden facts， then Nick gives up his original life attitude to leave the long expected New York life and goes back to the east.

II.Nick acts as the carrier of a double sight

Nick is a typically dramatic narrative， that is， he is the carrier of a double-vision， and he is both a participant and a bystander. He can not only tell the story， portray the characters from the outside as a bystander， but also he can be a participant to observe other character’s motivation. In the plot development， Nick played an irreplaceable role. Situated in the work， Nick observes and narrates other characters’ intention. Gatsby spares no efforts to meet Daisy， and the reunion is achieved through Nick， and the reunion of the two lovers play a vital role in the plot development. It can be said that the plot cannot further on without the reunion and the reunion cannot be achieved without Nick. He put an understanding attitude towards the reunited lovers. At this point， it can be said that Nick is a participant.

Nick also narrates the story and portrays the characters from the outside point of view. After the reunion of Gatsby and Daisy， Nick undetached with them and be dedicated in bond business. He devoted to his own business. Later， he found that the all-night parties in Gatsby’ house are no larger existed， and the servants are all leaved. Then Nick remembered to have a look at Gatsby’ house. Nick learned that all the changes are for Daisy， she often visits Gatsby but she doesn’t love the talkative servants， and Nick later learned what had happened. Fitzgerald chooses Nick as a first-person narrator makes the whole novel get a very good effect in various aspects. There is one important advantage： Nick acts as a bystander， his narrative makes the reader follows him to see the development of the plot in the reading process. Therefore the readers can realized the objectivity and veracity of the novel.

III.Nick is a“witness”type round character

Fitzgerald uses the first-person narrative point of view using “the witness type”. He describes the whole story in accordance with the plot development； Nick has richer and perfect images. Thus he becomes a typical round character of the whole work. The novel seems more real and objective from the perspective of Nick. Nick acts as the witness. In terms of the first narrative point of view， there are two categories： （a）“I” as witness （b）“I” as protagonist. In the “I” as witness type， “I” is responsible for the task of the narrative. The “witness” is a participant in the novel and has relationship with the hero to some extent. Fitzgerald creates “I” as witness type narrator， Nick narrates the whole story as a participant to witness what has happened. In The Great Gatsby， Fitzgerald used the memories of Nick to narrate all the stories in flashback form. Nick， as a witness， narrates the most scenes of Gatsby before and after his death. Sometimes， Nick cannot witness what was happening； he relied on others’ description about Gatsby. The most important point is， the “I” witness has a broader vision， and be more flexible than the “I” protagonist， and in the most extreme cases， he can describe the characters’ psychological activities through his own speculation. Therefore， Nick can give a full play to the imagination to speculate about the characters’ psychological activities， in order to make the whole story be logical. For example， after Gatsby died， Nick guessed what Gatsby had thought before his death， no one gave a call， and Nick thought that Gatsby himself didn’t believe that there will be a call. Nick thought that Gatsby lives just for the sake of a dream， and Gatsby has paid high price even his life. As the “I” witness， Nick cannot know Gatsby’s psychological activities， but through the cross-border perspective to observe Gatsby's psychological activity. And in this way， Nick gets the readers’ deep sympathy for miserable Gatsby and the reflection for that time. As “I” as witness type character， Nick acts as a narrator coins with this type of character， and makes readers think that the contents that are the narrators’ witness， experience and feelings， that is so vivid， bright and moving. In short， Nick plays an important role in the development of the whole story， that is to say， without his presence the story will be dull， even unable to continue. In The Great Gatsby， the narrator Nick makes the structure of the novel to be quite compact and the novel is actually what he saw and heard in the recording.

As a round character， Nick’ evaluation toward other characters changes under the plot development， including Daisy， Mr. Tom， Gatsby， and Jordon. According to E.M. Frost， the characters can be divided into round characters and flat characters. A flat character is relatively uncomplicated and does not change throughout the course of a literary work. A round character is complex and undergoes development， sometimes reaches the point that the reader is surprised. In The Great Gatsby， the development of the plot drives Nick’s images to develop and be round. Nick acts as a round character and the basis lie in the chapter one； Nick expresses his aloofness attitude toward all people and all things through stating the ways how his father educates him. “In consequence， I’m inclined to reserve all judgments， a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” With these traits， Nick is needed by other characters in the novel， and the complex relationship draws the foreshowing of the ups and downs of the plot development. Throughout the whole story， Nick’ images changes surprisingly， but neither let readers fell abrupt nor discredited， so Nick should belong to the typical rounded figures.

Conclusion

Nick himself enjoys unique characteristics. Honest， tolerant， open-minded， quiet， and a good listener inclined to reserve judgment， Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets. Nick has a good education and from the talking of Nick’ father， Nick is well-formed. Nick has a well--connected relationship with other characters， he is Gatsby’ neighbor， Daisy's cousin， Tom's old college friend， Jordan’ lover. His position in relation to the other characters gives him a perfect vantage point from which to tell the story and all trust and rely on him. Nick’ participant plays an irreplaceable role in the plot development. In The Great Gatsby， Nick acts as the carrier of a double sight， both a participant and an outsider， he can not only tell the story and portray the characters from the outside as a bystander， but also he can also be a participant to observe the other character’s motivation. And in the process of the development of the whole story， Nick played an irreplaceable role in the plot development. Nick is a “witness” type round character， Nick acts both as the witness and Nick is a round character. From the above analysis， Fitzgerald created the new “I” witness type narrative point of view， coupled with the plot development， this makes Nick become an Epiphany of life and an irreplaceable narrator. It is case in the point that this makes the novel full of incredible charm and remained stable and large number of readers in the last two centuries.

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