Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Nick Carraway's role in "The Great Gatsby" is as a foil to the other characters; for instance, Nick's ability to deal the past allows him to cope with life in a way that Gatsby finds difficult. The author points out that Fitzgerald masterfully employs symbolism to emphasize the decline and moral decay of America in the 1920s. The paper relates that the East and West Egg are symbols of social standing in the novel. Tom and Daisy live in the East Egg, which is inhabited by individuals of a high social standing, but Nick and Gatsby, live in the West Egg, which is "less fashionable".

From the Paper:

"Nick also has a firm grip on reality. When he realizes it is his thirtieth birthday, he thinks to himself that the year promises a "decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair" (139). Although this may be a rather bleak estimation, it represents how Nick is actually thinking of the future, which is something Gatsby can never do. In fact, at the hotel, Gatsby tells Tom that Daisy never loved him. Even as Tom rejects this notion and Daisy admits that she loved Tom as well as Gatsby, Gatsby returns home, thinking she will call him."

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