Nick Carraway’s Sexuality and Why It Matters

After finishing The Great Gatsby for the first time, I had never questioned the sexuality of Nick Carraway – he seemed like a classic heterosexual character with a strange obsession for Gatsby. However, upon reading “Will the real Nick Carraway please come out?: a queer reading of The Great Gatsby,” I was enlightened. It all made sense. The interactions between Nick and Mr. Mckee, and the way Nick described each of the characters all point to one thing: Nick is gay. In fact, the Wikipedia page* for Nick Carraway even states “Fitzgerald scholars and fans of The Great Gatsby frequently interpret Nick Carraway as being gay or bisexual.”

If you still don't believe me, take a look at this quote: 

“First he nodded politely, and then his face broke into that radiant and understanding smile as if we’d been in ecstatic cahoots on the fact all the time.”

Throughout the entire novel, Nick continuously described Gatsby’s smile as “radiant” and “understanding.” Now, there’s nothing weird about describing someone's smile, however, Nick mentioned how great Gatsby’s smile was seven times (a bit obsessive). Furthermore, Nick highlights how his relationship with Gatsby was filled with “ecstatic cahoots … all the time.” For those that aren’t familiar with the word cahoots, it simply means “working together or making plans together in secret.” In this instance, the word ‘cahoots’ seems to be an innuendo for the things Gatsby and Nick did together.

The evidence is striking, isn’t it? Now, I know some people will argue, “but Ray, didn’t Nick Carraway have a relationship with Jordan?” Yes, Nick did go into great detail describing how his and Jordan’s relationship blossomed. However, look at this quote:

“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.”

Nick wasn’t actually in love, he describes that he just had a “tender curiosity.” If Nick wasn’t gay, he would not describe his relationship with a woman as a ‘tender curiosity?’

So why does this matter?

If you were to reread this entire novel, knowing that Nick Carraway is gay, your perspective of the story would completely shift. From the first read, it seems that Nick is simply recounting the life and tragic death of Jay Gatsby. However, upon closer analysis, this novel is Nick trying to hide his sexuality. Nick frequently mentions how he is in love with Jordan’s masculine characteristics, yet feels the need to emphasize that he is straight; at the end of chapter 4, Nick randomly states that he kissed Jordan, “Her wan, scornful mouth smiled, and so I drew her up again closer, this time to my face.” So, to answer the aforementioned question: this matters because the entire meaning of the novel hinges on the fact that Nick is an honest, reliable narrator. If Nick is in denial of his sexuality, then how can readers trust anything he is writing?


*Although this isn’t the most reliable source, it shows that many readers agree with this argument