Nick's Loss of Innocence and Growing Awareness
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, the narrator Nick Carraway's loss of innocence and growing awareness is one of the significant themes. Nick moves to West Egg, Long Island, an affluent suburb of New York City, where millionaires and powerbrokers dominate the landscape, from his simple, idyllic Midwestern home. In his new home, he meets Jay Gatsby, the main character in the novel. Throughout the novel, Nick's involvement in Gatsby's affairs causes him to gradually lose his innocence and he eventually becomes a mature person. By learning about Gatsby's past and getting to know how Gatsby faces the past and the present, Nick finds out about the futility of escaping from the reality. Nick also learns how wealth can corrupt when he meets the upper class people. Nick is aware of Gatsby's pursuit of the American Dream and the destruction that the dream has brought Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great GatsbyIn The Great Gatsby, Nick's loss of innocence and growing awareness is demonstrated through Nick's realization of how the upper class people are, his recognition of Gatsby's failure in facing reality, and the destruction that the pursuit of the American Dream has brought Gatsby.
Nick meets many members of the upper class and learns about the corrupting power of great wealth. When Nick moves to the West Egg, he always sees the big parties with many wealthy people attending. He thinks that the parties and the people must be amazing. However, when he gets to know those people, Nick learns that the upper class society is full of lies and the abuse of power. People with great wealth have more power than people who do not. They lie and they can get away with all their faults. When Nick meets Jordan Baker, he is...