"I"m inclined to reserve all judgments", is a phrase Nick continually refers to throughout the novel, when he meets new people. Fitzgerald has used this technique deliberately to salvage Nick's reputation as narrator. The reader is drawn directly into the novel with Nick's bold statements. However, with hindsight it is evident that Nick is anything but reliable, as a narrator or character for that matter. Apparently, he "reserves all judgments", which is not the case when he first encounters Myrtle Wilson, later on in the novel. Immediately his thoughts revolve around her "thickish figure" and how she "carried her flesh sensuously". Words such as "sensuously and smoldering" have sexual connotations, which is direct evidence of Nick's contradictory opinions and behaviour.
As Nick meets Gatsby and the others, he sees how they behave and it leaves him disgusted. Although he is of the same class of those he initially socializes with, he becomes disillusioned by their actions. "They were careless people" and they made him uncomfortable. By going back west, it shows that he no longer wanted to spend time with them. He wanted some substance to his world after meeting the selfish and self-absorbed people of the east. The reader can hardly disagree with view because of the people he met like Tom. Shown as a bully, he does not love his wife or child but considers them part of his many trophies. Furthermore, he has an affair with a woman who is of a lower class, presenting his dastardly ways. Also, Daisy is no better, although she loved Gatsby; she married Tom instead because he was extremely rich and acted as a safety net. Gatsby, however, gains Nick's admiration in that; through all the attitudes and obstacles he is still a hopeful romantic. Gatsby dared to love, to feel alive. This strength is worthy of great praise from Nick but is ultimately destroyed when he dies. This had made him disheartened because the money driven society, he came across in the east, had killed Gatsby and not the bullet of a widower of Myrtle Wilson.
