Q:
In the first two pages of the novel, Nick Carraway claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgment." Do you find that this is true so far? Please provide textual evidence to support your position.
A:
In the book we meet our narrator, whose name is Nick Carraway. On the first page he tells us that "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements" but he does not keep this statement true. Only one page later, Caarraway says this when addressing Gatsby: "Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." Carraway tells us that Gatsby was a visual representation for Carraway about everything he deeply hates. This is a judgement because Carraway judges Gatsby's character. A couple pages later Carraway has another judgement, not of a person, but of a place. He says: "It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America." This isn't necessarily about a specific person, but he does judge his entire community. He judges his community when he calls them one of the strangest in North America.
It's really odd that Nick makes such a big deal about not making judgements, yet he judges very often. You found some things that he judged that I didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteI would have to take an opposite stance. Except for a few minor cases, Nick sticks relatively true to his claim that he reserves all judgment. This is assuming that all of the statements he makes about the characters are true, and the way he describes them is through an unbiased eye. He never makes a negative comment about Tom having a mistress. Even when Tom breaks her nose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew, it's really weird that Nick says he will reserve all judgements. Usually when people say that they don't judge, they do. I also think that it's just how humans are, they judge people so I don't think it's fair to say that he won't judge but I haven't noticed a significant amount of bias
ReplyDeletemost of these cases are when nick describes something "bad" but what happens when he is inclined to like a character and does not tell the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think that Nick is being very controversial at the end of chapter 3 when he says he is one of the few honest people he knows, because as Teja mentioned it is human nature to judge, and when he claims that he wont, I really thought it wasn't necessary. Although Jadyn makes a good point about how he is being unbiased towards MOST of the characters, However the way he portrays Gatsby makes his statement completely untrue.
ReplyDeleteI think that Nick tries to refrain from passing judgement, but inevitably fails. There are several instances in which he judges the characters in the story. Take for instance at the end of chapter three when Nick calls Jordan "incurably dishonest".
ReplyDeleteNick's role as the narrator conflicts with his apparent (but unfollowed) virtue of not passing judgement. He must provide descriptions of characters and give insight into their personalities. The examples you gave perfectly exemplify this.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Nick truly believes that he doesn't pass judgement?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you, it makes sense that he doesn't stay true to not stating any judgment because he is going to have feelings and judgments about a thing or person no matter what. I don't think it's a bad thing for him to express them, as long as he's doing it in such a way that it doesn't create a bias in the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, because although he says that he is "inclined to reserve all judgement", he does nothing but judge people, which I understand is how a narrator is supposed to be, but he didn't have to introduce himself as this great non judgmental person.
ReplyDeleteNice post! yeah I totally agree with you because all he really does is judge so basically he is contradicting himself
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