#ask nick carraway

[ask-nick-carraway]

Dear Nick,

Do you own a motorboat, or enjoy boating at all? I've heard you live near Long Island Sound, on a little bay. In a cardboard box or something like that.

Sincerely,

Matt

Dear Matt,

It is true that I live on West Egg, the less fashionable side of the bay. I do not own any sort of boat however; I prefer using the bay to swim. In fact, my neighbor Jay Gatsby was generous enough to let me use his beach.

I have not seen him in a while. I should remedy that.

Sincerely,

Nick Carraway

[vehiculartheyslaughter]

@ask-nick-carraway currently has an empty ask box. Go bother him y’all.

[femboy-central]

… if you want to read my essay on how gay Nick Carraway is it’s under the cut

Until recent years, very few authors had the courage to express homosexuality in their work for fear of institutional punishment or negative social reaction. With stories like that of Oscar Wilde, writers were accurately terrified to explicitly explore the diversity of the sexual and romantic interests of their characters. Despite this, they were not stopped and authors chose to implement their gay characters with artistic subtlety. F. Scott Fitzgerald's most well known novel, The Great Gatsby, homes one example of this type of character. Although he does not live in a time period where he can be open about it, Nick Carraway is a homosexual man and this fact is crucial to truly understanding his self and his relationship with Jay Gatsby.

Perhaps the most damning evidence of Nick's sexuality is the fact that the only sexual encounter he is implied to have had is with Chester McKee after the party in New York (28), but it is not all. Nick's homosexuality is most casually clear in the descriptions he gives of the people in his life. Although he does acknowledge past romantic relations with women, he does not read as particularly interested in them. When questioned about a rumoured fiancée out West, Nick remarks that he is very opposed to "being rumored into marriage," (15) and in his first meeting with his supposed love interest, Jordan Baker, Nick compares her to a cadet (an exclusively male occupation at the time) and points out her most masculine features as ideal including her small breasts and erect carriage (8). In comparison, Nick's descriptions of the men around him are rich with intrigue; Nick notices how Tom Buchanan's eyes establish dominance in his face and the way his muscles move under his clothing (5). When Nick speaks about the train conductor on the hottest day of the summer, he critiques people who think of kissing flushed lips and laying with a partner in the heat despite no one else in that scene expressing those feelings (87). The suddenness of this flustered complaint implies that Nick is reacting to his own desires; desires he wishes he did not have.

While Nick is at least vaguely attracted to multiple men in his story, there is one he is consistently interested in throughout: Jay Gatsby. From their first meeting where Nick goes on about how pleasant a smile Gatsby has (36) onwards, Nick is very fond of Gatsby, going so far as to emphasise that he is the only rich person he did not end up disgusted by (2) and that all of the East was haunted for him after Gatsby's death (137). In Gatsby's life, Nick even expressed his affections to him in whatever ways he could. For example, when Nick agrees to reintroduce Gatsby and Daisy, he does not allow Gatsby to reimburse the favour (62). Also, after Myrtle's death, Nick only leaves Gatsby's side because he feels like he is intruding (112), returns to a bed he can not fall asleep in, and takes the first opportunity available to meet Gatsby again at dawn (113). Nick listens to Gatsby's story then (114), something nobody else would do in favour of spreading scandalous, borderline slanderous rumours.

Nick claims he is not a judgemental person, but proves himself wrong as the novel progresses in regards to every person he has met but one. Despite remarking that he disapproved of Gatsby "from beginning to end" (118), he was equally endeared to him. Nick also claims to be an honest person (44), which he proves not entirely true either. Realising Nick's true feelings for Gatsby reveals the intricacy of his character and calls into question the reliability of his narration. Although his intentions are always sympathetic, Gatsby is by trade a bootlegging criminal and yet even after meeting Meyer Wolfsheim and being told about his business (54), Nick plays ignorant about Gatsby's involvement. To Nick, the idea of Jay Gatsby is related only tertiarily to the idea of "Wolfsheim's men". Nick makes this clear every time he visits Gatsby after Wolfsheim's men begin working at his house by how suspicious he always is of them, even describing one's face as “villainous" (86). Nick does not judge Gatsby as the same as these people nor the Buchanans despite not being so different in truth because he is already in love with him and truly wants to believe he is a good person at heart. Even Tom Buchanan is aware of this on some level, showing his cognisance after Gatsby's death by telling Nick that "(Gatsby) threw dust into (Nick's) eyes just like he did in Daisy's" (138).

To ignore Nick's sexuality is to intentionally misunderstand his character and The Great Gatsby as a story. On his surface, Nick Carraway is a single objective voice in a world of desires and deceit, but as much of The Great Gatsby does, his character requires the reader to look below to his own human biases if they intend to comprehend him.

[your-blorbos-are-queer]

nick carraway from the great gatsby is gay (headcanon)

submitted by anonymous

[the-great-kazooy]

I had the dumbass idea

So it’s modern day, right? Nick and Jay are roommates (omg they were roommates)

And like— Nick is a fucking gamer. Bc ofc he fucking is. So one night he’s playing Undertale and he’s fighting sans or some shit. But he can’t get past him so he rage quits. Jay is over here like “buddy, are you ok???”

Nick is like “no this stupid skeleton keeps HANDING ME MY ASS”

And so Gatsby’s all like “whyyyy don’t you let me try.”

Let me tell you, Nick is hesitant at first. This is the very same man who was raging at animal crossing but he decides “why not??”

He defeats it on the first try. He was all like “AHA! This how you show a skeleton a bad time, old sport.” And just walks off like nothing happened

[kaptain-pastel]

ok so I don't mind most of the mischaracterization in Gatsby Broadway because I can understand why they did it and how it helps the story that they are trying to tell, even if I don't agree with it. But I really, really don't like what they did to Catherine and the Mckees (and Nick but that's through the whole show) in The Met.

(to clarify, I have only listened to the cast recordings of Gatsby Broadway! I don’t know any of the acting in between songs or anything they are doing on stage because I have only listened)

This ended up being longer than I expected so I put it below the cut :D

The biggest problem for me is that The Met characterizes Catherine and the Mckees like they are evil lustful people set out to corrupt pure and innocent Nick. In the song, Nick sets up a predator-prey relationship with them, even calling Mr. Mckee a vulture. It sets up this divide between Nick, who is our protagonist and Can Do No Wrong, and the people who side with the antagonist that the show makes Tom. It is implied that Nick gets drunk unwillingly, is flirted with by ALL party members unwillingly, and is "on top of" Catherine while being photographed by Mr. Mckee unwillingly. He does not want to be there with these people that his precious pure midwestern morals call "wrong" in any way, shape, or form.

This is not only not supported in the original, but also is a gross way to treat these characters--especially since Mr. Mckee is often read as queer, and his interactions with Nick add to Nick's own queerness. The song itself states that Mr. and Mrs. Mckee have a consensual open relationship in the setting of the show, but it is painted as something that adds to their immoral status. In the year 2024 we are portraying two consenting adults as evil for communicating and agreeing to have an open relationship? Ok yeah sure, if you say so. Mr. Mckee's, and by extension Nick's, queerness is not openly stated in The Met, although some lines can be read as innuendos or implications to this ("[Mr. Mckee, to Nick or Tom] I'd love to do more work on long island, if I could gain entry" "[Mr. Mckee, to Nick] I want to capture your musk" "[Nick, about the party] everyone is flirting now / and they're all coming on too strong"). Again, I haven’t seen what is happening on stage so I can't speak to that or how it effects these lines. Something about turning a character often read as queer into a "vulture" trying to take advantage of Nick (who, according to some reviews, was stripped of most of his queerness) just doesn't sit very well with me.

Changing the nature of the appartment party is not a very new thing, so I wanted to take a moment to discuss what actually happens in the original that contradicts Broadway Gatsby's portrayal. Nick is drinking, and describes getting drunk that evening, before Catherine and the Mckees even arrived to the apartment. When they arrive the conversation is pleasant and not all that harsh, mostly covering Mr. Mckee's photography (which he HAS done on Long Island, though he tells Tom he would've to do more work there who suggests Myrtle sets him up to photograph Wilson) and Mrytle's dress. The only possible implication that Nick is uncomfortable is the fact that he mentions wanting to leave to take a walk but is stopped as he is drawn back into "some wild strident argument" every time. The text does not elaborate much on the nature of this, so I don't know if that was in an effort to trap him there or just Nick getting trapped by social convention as they continued to talk to him. Nick also has no explicitly stated romantic, sexual, or even physical interactions with Catherine--most of their time interacting was Catherine explaining to Nick that Tom and Mrytle both hate who they're married to. Finally, after Tom breaks Mrytle's nose, Nick leaves the party with Mr. Mckee completely of his own (albeit heavily intoxicated) volition.

All in all, I understand why these changes are often made to the appartment party, and specifically the purpose The Met in the show. The Met is what changes Nick's mind about helping Gatsby meet Daisy. The party is used to give a reason to why Nick chooses to help Gatsby because most modern audiences don't want to root for a character who helps his cousin cheat on her husband for no good reason. The audience wants to relate to Nick--which means that they want him to be a fundamentally good person. And therefore we must see that Tom is bad and awful so that we can be ok with Daisy leaving him for Good and Awesome Gatsby. The problem with The Met is that all of that could still happen without villianizing Catherine and the Mckees. Tom is still an asshole apart from their behavior--he still breaks Mrytle's nose for mentioning Daisy and is, you know, cheating on his wife. Nick's decision to organize tea with Daisy in Gatsby Broadway is based mostly on the way Tom treats Mrytle and Nick himself at the party, not particularly on how the other guests behaved. The Met could have come to the exact same conclusion without portraying Catherine and the Mckees as people trying to corrupt Nick's purity and moral standing, and I think that is what makes it so uncomfortable and off-putting for me.

[owocontroversy]

Is there something about your favorite book that you don't like?

for the great gatsby, i didn't particularly like Nick and Jordan's relationship; I felt like they should've stayed friends. I found it too fast-paced and unrealistic, but that might just be me. it was a great book though!

for six of crows duology, i actually loved everything! the worldbuilding, characters, relationships, plot... everything was perfect!

i also remember reading de profundis and the picture of dorian gray and thinking that other authors should just stop trying...

[ask-jay-gatsby]

how are you celebrating nick’s birthday? it is today, after all!

POST: LONG ISLAND, NY. 30 AUG 1922.

Dear Andrew,

Today’s Nick’s birthday? He never mentioned a thing about it! As a matter of fact, I’m going to go confront him right now about it.

All right. I’ve come back to my desk. He claims he forgot his own birthday was today! Can you imagine?

Needless to say, he will be duly spoiled this evening! I only wish I had had more time to plan a party…though there’s nothing I’m really better at, is there?

Sincerely and emphatically,

Jay Gatsby

[heyyesimtrash-whatofit]

People of Tumblr, I proudly present to you the month’s work of confusion, frustration, and almost turning my Apple Pencil into a projectile that is my submission to one of the Gatsby Challenge posts on insta!

This piece took forever and a whole lot of hard work to make sure everything looked as I wanted it to so please, if you can, go like and boost it on instagram. It would mean a whole lot for this piece of all of them to gain traction lol.

[tomatocatcher]

I think it'd be really funny if Gatsby and Nick did the cinnamon challenge

[ask-nick-carraway]

favorite fruit. up to you whether this is a question or not

Dear Anonymous,

I am not sure why this would be anything other than a question. Of course, my favorite fruit to eat are pears.

Sincerely,

Nick Carraway

[ask-the-great-gatsby]

which one is most likely to be a furry

This is like, the third furry ask this blog has gotten. I swear to God??

I'd probably say Jay himself so he can stay hip with the kids. Next

[vessels-for-good-intent]

❤️‍🩹 and 📖 for nick!

❤️‍🩹 - all of mars is really just an angsty headcanon, so i suppose i’ll give more of this au. [SPOILER] he got injured at war and broke two of the bones in his leg.

📖 - i would. uh. matt and a few of us in the gatsbin came up with an idea for an au after seeing photos from Three (an earlier sam waterston movie) that i really like that i think @realnickcarraway wants to write at some point involving tom’s use of the name ‘shakespeare’. @more-than-tender-curiosity came up with it originally so. i’ll let him talk. if he wants

[theegreatgatsby]

permission to steal kidnap borrow your boyfriend nick

ੈ✩‧₊˚❜ Steal- kidnap- borrow who now? Old sport… You have me quite confused here. ❛

Jay laughed a bit,

ੈ✩‧₊˚❜ But I suppose if you’d like to..? I’d suggest you do it nicely though. Ask him out to tea perhaps? ❛

…Gatsby seemed a bit iffy on the topic of asking Nick out to tea. But who knows, maybe he’s just protective over his “friend” his “best friend” his “neighbor” his “totally cool best friend that’s straight….”

[transannabeth]

hi. for people who saw gatsby: an american myth. do you remember mckee asking nick for lunch. and then gatsby in like the next scene inviting nick for lunch. because i remember.

[juliette-cai-enthusiast]

wait can someone explain the autistic nick carraway thing im confused. jay it makes sense but not so much with nick

Well you see, it’s very simple. I’m autistic and like his vibes so therefore he’s autistic too.