In "The Great Gatsby", who narrates the story?

In "The Great Gatsby," the story is narrated by Nick Carraway.

Nick is a young Midwesterner and World War I veteran who moves to West Egg, Long Island, in 1922 to work as a bond salesman. He rents a modest house next to Jay Gatsby’s mansion and becomes an observer of Gatsby’s parties, ambitions, and doomed reunion with Daisy Buchanan.

The novel is told in the first person, so readers encounter events through Nick’s memories, judgments, and changing understanding. He is not simply a detached spectator: he is Daisy’s cousin, knows Tom Buchanan from Yale, becomes Gatsby’s friend, and helps arrange Gatsby’s meeting with Daisy. His personal connections draw him into the story.

A common misconception is that Gatsby narrates his own novel because the title centers on him. Gatsby is the central mystery and emotional focus, but Nick controls the narration. Critics also debate whether Nick is fully reliable, since his judgments are shaped by his own moral standards and retrospective reflections. George Wilson and Tom Buchanan are important characters, but neither narrates the book.