Nick Carraway is a young man who leaves the Middle West, travels East so as to get a job on Wall Street working with stocks and bonds. Although he comes from a wealthy background, he chooses to earn his own living.
Following his fathers advice, Nick is the sort of person who hesitates to judge others before knowing all the facts. His moral structure is firm but flexible. Although Nick at certain times becomes directly involved in the action (i.e.; his relationship with Daisy, his having gone to college with Tom, Gatsby using him to lure Daisy to West Egg), his role as a narrator is that of an outsider looking in. But his sense of decency is strong enough to feel the pain of others. He is outraged by Tom's brutality when he breaks Myrtle's nose. He is outraged by Tom's behavior in general. .
Although he is not the hero of this book, Nick has all the qualities of being a hero. He finds it difficult to lie and is disappointed with people who lie to him. Gatsby tells more than his share of lies, some of them white lies, others quite big ones. Perhaps Gatsby is more guilty of exaggerating than lying, but in either case, Gatsby is Gatsby, and Nick forgives him. In Nick's opinion, Gatsby is worth more than all the people that he, Nick, meets when he comes East. .
His relationships with women are brief and fragmented. He has an affair or two with some women in the city. His relationship with Jordan Baker runs through much of the book. One never feels that Nick truly loved Jordan, but he liked and admired her a great deal. In the end they become very good friends because Nick is the sort of guy that a woman, even a woman who loved him, can become good friends with.
The events that take place in the book turn Nick into something of a philosopher and a moralizer. The friendship that develops between himself and Gatsby is unique. Gatsby confides in him and he eventually tells Nick the truth about his past.
