The Great Gatsby Character Summaries

Nick Carraway: Nick provides the voice of the novel, documenting his companions exploits in the summer of 1922. Raised in a wealthy middle-western family, Nick graduates from New Haven, the college he attended with Tom Buchanan. After serving in World War I, Nick -- at age 29 -- moves east to learn the bond business, and becomes involved with the affairs comprising The Great Gatsby. Eventually, Nick acts as a liaison between Gatsby and Daisy, setting up …

…one of Jay Gatsby's shadiest associates. Nick leaves the relationship between the two men vague, although when he goes to see Wolfshiem the morning of Gatsby's funeral, the old man tells Nick he raised Gatsby "up out of nothing, right out of the gutter" (179). Despite their former partnership -- most likely in the business of stolen bonds -- Wolfshiem twice declines Nick's invitation to attend Gatsby's funeral, stating he "can't get mixed up in it" (180).