1.2 The Structure of the Paper

The paper mainly discusses the bystander Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. The paper consists of 5 chapters. Chapter 1 consists of two parts: introduction to the author and the novel and the structure of the paper. In chapter 2, there are two parts: some relevant researches both at home and abroad and the Originality of the paper. Chapter 3 and 4 are the main content. In Chapter 3, it consists of two parts: the evidence and significance of Nick as a bystander. Firstly, the relevant evidence will be found out in the text and classified. Then, when it comes to significance of bystander, it will be discussed from three perspectives: the narrative point of view, the character image and the character relation and plot. Chapter 4 will focus on the importance and its influence of bystander in history and society.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Researches at Home and Abroad on the Character---Nick Carraway

    The thesis will mainly focus on the bystander---Nick Carraway from the perspective of narrative point of view, plot and character image. Following literature information is helpful for my research. 

In Disillusionment and Sublimation of American Dream in The Great Gatsby: A New Historical Reading written by Huang Yanfang, Fitzgerald not only intends to present readers a disillusioned American Dream in his work, but also appealed a sublimed dream (2010). In Analysis of the “Dual Hero” in The Great Gatsby wrote by He Shijie, both Nick and Gatsby emerge as moral symbols: Gatsby as the embodiment of spiritual desolation or waste, and Nick as a hope for moral and spiritual growth. Both of them are the main characters (2003). In The Pattern of Point of View in The Great Gatsby written by Yan Qi-gang and Ren Hu-jun, it explores the narrative features in The Great Gatsby in terms of the point of view and concludes that in The Great Gatsby the first-person narration, though limited in essence, tends to be omniscient or partially omniscient (2003). In the Greatness of Gatsby from the perspective of narrative technique, Xie Liuchun discusses about the greatness of The Great Gatsby from the perspective of theory of narratology. The thesis consists of three aspects: narrative time, narrative focalization and homodigetic narrative. Xie thinks it is his successful use of narrative technique that made this not so romantic story a great tragedy. In this tragedy, Gatsby’s dream was disillusioned and his soul suffered (2011).