The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

As I said before, the narrator of this novel is very different from Wharton in The House of Mirth.  Written in first person, The Great Gatsby tells the story from the point of view of Nick Carraway who is close friends with Jay Gatsby.  Throughout the first couple chapters, Nick described his life and acquaintances which set the stage for Gatsby for the remainder of the novel.  Differing greatly, the narrator in The House of Mirth is omniscient and tells the story in third person, giving thoughts and feelings of different characters, not just Lily Bart.  Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald both share some qualities in their writing such as flashbacks, beautiful diction, and varying syntax [but that's for another post]. 
      Now a little about Nick Carraway.  I really liked Nick from the very beginning.  He is really funny, sometimes sarcastic, and intelligent.  I appreciate his decisions and choice of friends, although the novel does not go very in-depth with his various relationships.  Anyway, I love the little "bromance" blossoming between Gatsby and Nick because it seemed like he really needed a close friend, even though he had those huge, extravagant parties seemingly every weekend. I really like Gatsby too because he loves Daisy, even after all those years, and he is cutely nervous and embarrassed around her.  "Oh, God," "This is a terrible mistake...a terrible, terrible mistake," and "Don't talk so loud" (Fitzgerald, pages 87-88.)  This was really sweet as Gatsby seemed so calm and collected all the time except when he was around Daisy.  Nick was also sweet during this scene when he talked Gatsby through his nervousness and really supported him like a good friend should.  [Whoops, I guess this is in chapter 5, so I'm going a little out of order on the posts.]

The House of Mirth Book 2, Chapters 7 and 8

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

Now, I want to discuss the author as the speaker/narrator of The House of Mirth.  Edith Wharton is an omniscient, third-party observer of the story who follows the thoughts and actions of all major characters involved in the plot.  In chapters 7 and 8 specifically, Wharton discusses Lily Bart's, Carry Fisher's, Rosedale's, Gerty Farish's, and Selden's.  For instance, we learn of Mrs. Fisher's motives with taking Lily under her wings and we also see Lily's reactions to her ideas.  Carry wants Lily to get married to either George Dorset or Sim Rosedale, and she finally resolves to marry Rosedale.  Unfortunately, he rejects her this time but with an interesting proposal; he would marry her if she blackmailed Bertha with the letters she wrote to Selden.  "The only way for you to start fresh is to get Bertha Dorset to back you up, instead of trying to fight her" (Wharton, page 209).  I think she should have taken Rosedale up on his offer because it's not like Bertha didn't deserve a little manipulation after what she did to Lily in Europe.  I still don't really understand why Bertha publicly snubbed Lily and blamed her for their marital problems in Europe because she obviously did not ruin the Dorsets' marriage.  Wharton did, however, retain Bertha's thoughts, so we are left to determine her stream of thoughts and feelings throughout this whole ordeal, which was interesting to the audience.
      I personally like this type of narration because it offers the view of every character, and we as the audience are able to know the entire story and how everyone perceives everyone else.  This style of writing greatly contrasts with some other books I've read [the Harry Potter series first comes to mind because J. K. Rowling only displays Harry's thoughts and feelings and how he perceives everyone else], but I enjoy the difference.