The Great Gatsby and the challenge of unreliable narrators

Abstract

An enduring debate in modern literature concerns the reliability of Nick Carraway, the narrator of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. For much of the novel, he seems to be a trustworthy person. He describes his Midwestern upbringing, his education at Yale University, and his desire to buck family tradition and move east to pursue a career in finance. Soon after his move to New York, however, Carraway learns of a love triangle involving his college friend, Tom Buchanan, Tom's wife, Daisy, and an enigmatic neighbour on Long Island named Jay Gatsby.