Nick Carraway as Fifth Business essays

Nick Carraway as Fifth Business essays Fifth business...is the odd man out, the person who has no opposite of the other sex...he is the one who knows the secret of the heros birth, or comes to the assistance of the heroine when she thinks all is lost, or keeps the hermitess in her cell, or may even be the cause of somebodys death if that is part of the plot. The prima donna and the tenor, the contralto and the basso, get all the best music and do all the spectacular things, but you cannot manage the plot without fifth business! It is not spectacular, but it is a good line of work...and those who play it sometimes have a career that outlasts the golden voices. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway plays the role of fifth business. There are numerous examples throughout the book of Nicks role as neither the hero nor the villain. He knows the secret of the heros birth, he comes to the assistance of the heroine when thinks all is lost and he has no opposite of the other sex. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is portrayed as the hero. Nick Carraway, the narrator, befriends Gatsby and quickly becomes the one to whom Gatsby shares many of his deepest secrets. There are many rumours about the mystery of Gatsbys past circulating thorough Gatsbys party. Many people say that hes a bootlegger or that one time he killed a man who found out that he was nephew toVon Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil. Very shortly after Gatsby and Nick meet, they make arrangements to go to lunch together. On the way into town, Gatsby tells Nick something about his past. He tells him about his award from the war, and even shows him proof, a tribute from Montenrgros warm little heart. He also tells Nick he attended Oxford university and offers him a picture of him with half a dozen young men in blazers as proof. Later in the novel, Nick recounts more about Gatsby&apo...