The Great Gatsby: Chapter IV (pages 61-70)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has taken a turn in this chapter when Nick gets to finally learn about Gatsby's past. This chapter, and of course all of the other chapters, are narrated by Nick himself. Furthermore, since Nick narrates the novel from his vantage point, the book is written in the first person point of view. Nick recounts that, "Once I wrote down on the empty spaces of a timetable the names of those who came to Gatsby's house that summer" (Fitzgerald, 61). Nick is able to share his own personal story, and show the reader things like all the visitors of Gatsby's home that the reader would not know otherwise. Sharing this minor detail of who visited the home helped me to picture in my head what hundreds of strangers piling into Gatsby's home would look like. By being in the first person point of view, the novel is able to be written as if it is a true story that actually occurred. I think it also helps cut down on confusion on comprehending the story because it eliminates the possibility of mistaking one character's thoughts for another. The first person point of view makes the novel more enjoyable because the reader gets to be in Nick's head and experience his details and thoughts. Fitzgerald is able to explain minor details that make a situation more interesting because he uses the first person point of view.