Nick Carraway, the famous narrator of "The Great Gatsby", claims to be one of the most honest people he knows. But how true is his assumption?
In reality, Nick is a liar. In the beginning of the book he states that he is "inclined to reserve all judgement" and yet he spends most of the book judging the other characters. He is also dishonest about his family heritage and choses to not live with the glamorous life of wealth, but at the same time he choses to live in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city.
Nick is also biased in favor of Gatsby and doesn't have much say in the outcome of the book. He is more of an observer than a participant in the events and his only real contribution as a character was the "setting up" of Daisy and Gatsby. As a character, Nick is already inclined to be slightly biased in favor of people he likes by default. Such natural errors in perception are human nature and Nick's observation of the events are mostly accurate despite his predisposition.
In conclusion, Nick is a relatively reliable by comparison to other narrators. The truth is that he is dishonest and biased and this can slightly impact his perception of events; and his opinion of certain characters may predispose the readers to think the same way about them, However, these flaws are not significantly detrimentall to his reliability as a narrator because he relays the events logically and completely.
Nick Carraway. Reliable?