My Cure for a Gutless Protagonist

The character of Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby is probably one of the most useless protagonists that anyone will ever come across in all Twentieth-Century literature. If F. Scott Fitzgerald really did base the character from himself, I would be highly disappointed. I have never thought Fitzgerald would create a main character like Nick Carraway. Why make him so passive? Fitzgerald has so much reason to not make a useless protagonist. I mean, didn't he fight in WWI? On top of that, didn't he struggle with alcoholism and have a weird relationship with his wife Zelda? I don't know. The history lessons from high school are becoming increasingly fuzzier as I get older. I'm going to have to refresh my memory with some recreational research. Regardless of this, F. Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as a genius who made a difference by writing, so I guess he automatically qualifies as a bold person. To me at least.

Perhaps Nick Carraway is NOT the Protagonist of the novel? Perhaps it is Jay Gatsby himself? That would make a lot more sense if that was Fitzgerald's intention. Compare Gatsby to Fitzgerald for a second. They have a lot of things in common.

Despite the uncertainty of who the main character of the novel is, if I had the chance to jump into the literary world where the pen hits the blank page of creativity and imagination, I would change a lot of things. As it pertains to The Great Gatsby, oh how I would love to step into Nick Carraway's shoes. Right from the beginning. For anyone that has never read the book or seen any of the film adaptations of the novel, this is your warning. SPOILER ALERT!

Despite the novel beginning with Nick telling the reader how he reserves judgment, you see him quietly making judgments of people everywhere he turns. Everywhere I turn. I live in a little cottage next door to this ginormous mansion that is occupied by this mysterious fellow named Gatsby. Nobody knows who he is or what he does. Perhaps, I would walk over and introduce myself to him on the day that I move in? Or I introduce myself to him after being mentioned at my cousin's dinner party. This is not where I deviate from the original plot. Not even at the dinner party where I meet Jordan Baker and have a reunion with my cousin Daisy and my obnoxious pig of a brother-in-law Tom Buchanan. Even after I went with Tom to New York and met his mistress named Myrtle Wilson. Not even then do I deviate course from what the real Nick Carraway does.

Even after meeting Gatsby at his house party, I would spend time getting to know him or at least learning one of his fake personas that he tells everyone that he knows. Regardless if the man honestly desires to befriend me, then I would allow him to do so. Even though he is making it abundantly clear that the only reason he is befriending me and Jordan Baker is to get to Daisy. After learning that he makes his money by the illegal bootlegging of alcohol, all Gatsby wants is Daisy. The man is obsessed, but he still befriended me and he is still my neighbor. He isn't murdering anyone! He isn't hurting anyone, at least from what I know. But despite Gatsby being a good man, he is delusional. The least I can do is help him in any way that I can. Including helping him realize that Daisy is not really in love with him. She loves money more than the man. It is why she didn't leave Tom the moment she found out that he was cheating on her. It is why she aborted her initial relationship with Gatsby the moment she found out that he was a poor boy. Her philosophy of love is misguided and unfair, to both men like Gatsby and especially to herself. I have to make Gatsby see that. Even if I involve myself in reuniting him with Daisy, and allow Daisy to cheat on Tom. I have to help my friend realize the truth.

And here is where I change things up big time!

I attend that lovely little gathering at the hotel. Remember? In the hotel room where is was dreadfully hot, and Gatsby and Tom are arguing and accusing each other of being unqualified for Daisy. The event that causes Daisy to get behind the wheel of Gatsby's car and accidentally run over Myrtle Wilson! Coming to memory now? Well here is where I must act. Myrtle's death will enrage her husband George without a doubt. So I have to save Jay and Daisy from what he could do to them. Also, I have to save Jay from Tom as well. From what I know he is already hatching a plan to have Jay killed. So I have to save both my neighbor and my cousin, but at the same time help my neighbor understand that this obsession with my cousin must end.

So what do I do?

I go to the police!

Like the little goody-two-shoes snitch that I am! I tell them that it was Gatsby's car that ran over Myrtle. However, I do not reveal who was driving the car! I know who was driving, Gatsby knows, and Daisy knows. I just leave that information out because I can surely convince the police that I was unsure of who was driving. If I lead the police to arrest both Jay and Daisy, then they are both safe. Safely behind bars at least.

This will remove George Wilson from the equation. He can mourn the loss of his wife, without the need for revenge. Because he knows that the police have taken care of it. If he intoxicates himself in his own grief, what he does will hopefully not harm anyone.

As expected from all this madness, the Press will surely have a fiesta! They will be all over the story of Myrtle's death and the accusation of Jay and Daisy being murderers. After the initial court hearing, their bail will be posted. Tom can easily bail Daisy out if he wants. If Tom and I interact at all about the incident, what I say to him will be my parting words. My dislike and intolerance of him will be what I make clear to him and that all that I wish is for him to take care of my cousin. He will most likely bail Daisy out of jail, and I will advise him to flee the country with her so that the media will have no trail of them. Then after that, I will visit both Daisy and Jay in jail. I will tell Daisy that Tom will be bailing her out and that they are fleeing the country. If she asks about Jay, I can either convince her that she really doesn't love him. Or, I can lie to her and say that Jay already has plans to bail out of jail, without her. Regardless, I'm sure I can convince her to go along with the plan.

After the meeting with Daisy, I will speak with Jay. My friend will surely be rather lost and confused. Wondering how his "love" for Daisy got him to this point, and doubting that there is really a future without her. This is where I need to convince him that he needs to tell the public the truth. That he needs to move on from Daisy, and the only way for him to do that is by testifying under oath that Daisy was driving his car the night that Myrtle died. That it was his car that ran her over, and that Daisy was the driver that ran over Myrtle. Allowing the truth to have its day in the sun, and he will have no need to lie to anyone.

Whether or not Jay serves time in jail is irrelevant. I am unsure of the vehicular homicide laws that are enforced in New York, let alone in this country. We have a constitutional amendment that bans the production and distribution of alcohol. I am sure that there are more loopholes to uncover and weave around the justice system. Even if Jay does have to serve time in prison, I can help my friend out while he is away. Where I benefit from all of this, is the plethora of events that have occurred during my occupation in West Egg would make a great story. So I will return to my roots of being a writer, and bring this story to life. I can do this, but I will need money to get it published, printed, and distributed. So, what I will do is become involved in Jay's business relationship with Meyer Wolfsheim. They make fortunes by bootlegging, and they have received little to no interference from the police. It is a perfect launching pad for my career as a writer; every novel needs a title.....hmmmm...I got it!

The Great Gatsby

There it is!

Now, allow me to return to the reality of which I am but a man that exists outside the creation of another. Allow me to speak to you as the man who started this forum. The thing that seems to haunt the plot and characters of The Great Gatsby is money. How one makes their money, and the treatment of those who have a lot of money, versus those with little. If I can speak from a philosophical perspective, what money really acts as is a means to indulge in every kind of disobedience. Money is dripping wet with the filth of the world's imperfection. It's sin. Not to say money itself is sin or sinful, but it is the channel an individual can use to fulfill their sinful desires through. Their greed and their lust. Their envy and their unrighteous anger. Their laziness and their gluttony. With their pride that grows more and more. All of this can all be satisfied with money, but NEVER permanently satisfied. What a person does with their money is far more significant than how much they have.

What money has also done, is divide people up amongst themselves. Creating this illusion that people like to refer to as "social classes". You know what I am talking about. The rich people that were the closest to the lifeboats on the Titanic, and all the poor people who were the first to die because they were put at the bottom. Am I to argue that people are equal regardless of their differences in salary and income? Yes, I am! I say the same thing to you regardless of how much money you make. If you are rich, "good for you!". If you are not rich, "good for you!". Let us move on!

In my fantasy version of The Great Gatsby, why not respond to the uncleanliness of it all with the intention of bringing the truth to light, and bring life into a world full of suffering and death? To help the innocent find justice in their accusations and steer them on the right course? The overall reason for this is to remind people that money does not excuse our unworthiness. Money can buy momentary happiness, but it cannot buy eternal joy.