The Great Gatsby (Chapter 1)

Now that you have finished Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, respond to the following questions:

1. Who is the narrator? Describe his perspective, biases, character traits, etc.
Nick Carraway is the narrator. He is an average (measuring by wealth) man with rich roots in his family. He doesn't have his own wealth, but parts of his family are rather high class. He is observant, polite, quiet, and a little sarcastic. He doesn't seem to go out of his way to speak up, and it almost seems as if he's afraid to speak out of term.

2. What do you think F. Scott Fiitzgerald accomplishes by choosing this specific narrator versus another choice, such as a different character or 3rd person?
F. Scott accomplishes a sort of balance between the life of a high classman, and the life of a lower or middle classman by using Nick as his narrator, because Nick gets a glimps into both worlds. This is better than the using a third person narrative because it gives you a more personal take on what's happening (for example, when Nick has the little "heart to heart" with Daisy on the Veranda). Had F. Scot taken the perspective of one of Nick's rich family members, we'd only be able to get one side of the story.