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Can you explain one significant way the narrator from Cat's Cradle (John) is very different from the narrator from The Great Gatsby (Nick) and one...

John and Nick have a lot of similarities. They are both narrators and major characters in their respective stories, for one. Interestingly, though, they are also both a bit on the periphery of the action. Nick is an outsider from the other characters, as he continues to live a moderate life (financially, anyway) and claims to hold Midwestern values while the Eastern characters live lavish, careless existences. Characters are always introducing Nick to people and confiding in him, but Nick himself doesn't do a whole lot to drive the plot and action. Similarly, John comes across as the only sane character in Cat's Cradle, often standing off to the side to allow the eccentricities of the others to shine. Consider Chapter 43, where, after a bit of background information, John simply asks a question and allows Crosby go on and on about his philosophy, putting his "barn-yard clownishness" on full display.


Additionally, both narrators act as a reader surrogates, introducing us to the world and characters of the novel. As a newcomer to the East, Nick is introduced to new people and sees the world of The Great Gatsby through fresh eyes, just as the readers do. His outsider status further allows the readers to identify with him (as most of us aren't lavish millionaires either). Similarly, John in Cat's Cradle acts as an "everyman" type character; there's a reason he has the generic name of "John." The idea behind an "everyman" character is that the reader can put himself or herself in the character's place.


However, these narrators have a few important differences. One of the biggest is their levels of reliability and relationships with "the truth." At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick talks in the very first chapter of his objective honesty and nonjudgmental attitude. He sets himself up as a narrator who will give an unflinchingly honest (but still fair and nonjudgmental) look at the glitzy world of the East. Now, this is certainly a point of contention. As Jordan Baker points out to him, he gets sucked into the life he is "observing" and may be blinded by the glamour. Still, his stated goal as narrator is an honest truth.


This couldn't be further from Cat's Cradle, which begins with the epigraph "Nothing in this book is true." Sure, the quote is from The Book of Bokonon, but it's there for a reason. John is completely upfront about the fact that this story is a lie. He is the definition of an unreliable narrator in that sense. However, he has a very different goal than Nick. Instead of getting a "just the facts" version of the story, John is trying to reach a different, more elusive philosophical truth through the lies. If you've ever read The Things They Carried, there is a similar thing going on here. In some ways, this makes John more reliable than Nick, since John can always be trusted to lie. In short, the narrators' ideas on truth and their reliability are fascinating ways that they differ.

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