Reasons Why I Absolutely Despise The Great Gatsby

        In my last blog post, I talked about a few of my issues with "The Great Gatsby." When I wrote the piece, I only intended to leave it at that, but as I reach the beautiful end of the traumatizing story, I realize that my anger runs deeper than just hate for the white rich characters in the story. No, my main issue isn't with these people (although they are quite insufferable), but with the narrator, Nick Carraway. Yes, the main point of view is quite literally the most disgusting and loathed person in my book. In this post, I will list a few reasons on why I despise him so much, and why that anger led to my ultimate hatred of "The Great Gatsby."      

        1.  He is actually such a bad narrator:

    Genuinely, Nick's perspective annoys me so much in this story due to his unreliability as the narrator. He claims that he is an honest character, yet not even two chapters in, he sits idly while the husband (Tom) of his second cousin (Daisy) cheats openly. Of course, in return, he helps Daisy cheat on her husband with another man (Gatsby). This might seem reasonable in order to get back at Tom, but in all honesty, this just proves how two-faced a person Nick really is, and because of this, it's a big turn off for me. Another reason why he's so unreliable is the fact that he loves Gatsby too much, and because of his bias, some of Nick's words just cannot be trusted. Bias affects opinions, and Nick says his all throughout the story.

        2.  He is a big fat hypocrite:

    While all of us have had hypocritical moments, Nick's just cannot compare. He is absolutely one of the worst POVs in the history of literature to exist because of his hypocrisy. As stated before, Nick only happily accepts the role of the marriage-wrecker. But, if he's out here doing the absolute worst for those surrounding him, then how the hell will he judge other people in the wealthy background for their loss of morale? He's doing the exact same thing! Along with that, Nick judges the wealthy for their extravagance, riches, and the way they secured their large bank accounts, yet he literally comes from a rich family, who, need I remind you, became well off from his cheating ancestors. He can't judge them because he's in the same boat.

        3. He is not relatable AT ALL:

    The thing is, Nick has a stick so far up his butt, readers really can't relate to him at all. He grew up rich, in "something of a clan," as he so put it, and continued to grow in an affluent community. He goes to a prestigious ivy league college and eventually moves to the "West Egg" side of New York (AKA the new wealth side). Basically, he is surrounded by deep pockets, and for him to believe that he is different from all the other rich and tasteless people is stuck up and shows him to have a holier-than-thou personality, leading to my hatred of him.

        4. Again, he's too hypocritical (yes I already said this but I don’t care; it’s a damn good point):

    Nick dates Jordan even though she’s the epitome of everything he despises. She's truly dishonest, especially with her career, and Nick acknowledges this. "... a suggestion that she had moved her ball from from a bad lie in the semi-final round." (Fitzgerald 57). How she is not ashamed? I cannot say, but Nick's response is everything short of perfection. He just completely ignores this, no doubt because she is a beautiful woman. His excuse? He doesn’t have anyone at home, he’s just trying to find love, blah blah blah. Like, no sir, you don't get to weasel your way out of your lies because you're lonely. His ability to make excuses and ignore things also leads me to believe he is selective with what he chooses to share, once again proving he is an unreliable narrator.

        Unfortunately, this would not be a fair review if I only criticize the story, so I will explain one thing I actually enjoyed from the book. Although he is seen as terrible, Gatsby's character is my top favorite thing. Yes, he does cheat with Daisy, and he cheats his way to success, but in all honesty, he is probably the most real person in this horrendous book. Why? Because of what he represents. Gatsby can be viewed as a normal boy who had to do what he had to do to climb the social ladder and get the girl of his dreams. He is quite literally the only character who has any depth, and seeing him progressively change throughout the story made him WAY more human to me. This is a book after all, and with the main characters being white and rich, they are most definitely out of touch with reality. I do not and will never condone Gatsby’s behavior, but as a character overall, Gatsby portrays society as whole when rising to fame, which is why I like him because he is extremely realistic. But, that's all I liked about the book, and even then, I was still annoyed with Gatsby for like 97.97% of the book. All in all, although this book was not the death of me, it made me seriously question my life and what I was doing with it. Anyway, that's all folks. Thanks for reading my Ted Talk.