Module: Modern Fictions in English: Conflict, Liminality, Translation.
(ENGL1221)
Reflect on the representation of storytelling and storytellers in
Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Munro’s ‘Carried Away’.
Storytelling is central to the reception of modernist literature, shaping the
readership’s perception of the text, through structure, viewpoints and offering
unique perspectives, often on the periphery of the action. In the case of F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, Nick Carraway is the character selected to
narrate the story centring on the mythical creation of Gatsby. 1 As an outsider,
Nick is well-placed to offer a unique perspective of Gatsby and the Buchanans.
He provides a window that enables the readers to see the fall of Gatsby, the
social stratification of New York and its inhabitants. Storytelling is a human
impulse that enables people to shape their own stories, imbuing them with ideas
that resonate with their fellow human beings. Alice Munroe uses the art of the
storyteller to construct a persona in her short story ‘Carried Away’, focalising the
complex dynamic of relationships and a single woman’s desire to find human
connection.2
The function of Nick as a storyteller is to shape and control the narrative, driving
it forward and influencing the readers’ perception of the titular hero. The reader
can only view Gatsby through the lens of Nick Carraway. As an outsider, who
came from a ‘Middle West’ City, Fitzgerald uses Carraway to offer a unique
perspective of New York society, Gatsby and the Buchanans. 3 As a neutral
observer at the start, he introduces the myth of Gatsby to the readers, building a
reputation of assumed greatness. The range of epithets relayed to Nick are
used to cultivate Gatsby’s mythological status. It is alleged that Gatsby is the
‘cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’, ‘a German Spy’ and even ‘an Oxford man’. 4 Each
epithet serves to solidify Nick’s enjoyment of being a storyteller, exposing his
own initial impressions of Gatsby and how his idolatry is conceived. His role as
1
Scott Fitzgerald, F, The Great Gatsby, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1993.
2
Munro, A, Open Secrets, London: Vintage, 2011.
3
Scott Fitzgerald, F, The Great Gatsby.
4
Ibid.
1
, a storyteller enables the reader to recognise the high status, nobility and
glorification of Gatsby to cement him as a tragic figure who falls as a result of
his relentless pursuit of an empty dream.
In contrast, in ‘Carried Away’, Munro explores the power of a story to shape life
and expose the impact of human connection.5 Receiving letters from a soldier
during the Second World War, Louisa is provided with a narrative which shapes
her view of the world. Acting as a storyteller, Jack Agnew uses the epistolary
form to craft her perception of romance. Seemingly, he writes an anonymous
letter using the second person pronoun ‘you’ to reach out to Louisa. 6 He
reveals, ‘I think of you up on a stool at the library reaching to put a book away’. 7
Effectively, using the opening of the letter his narrative constructs a
romanticised figure, akin to Shakespeare’s ‘Juliet’, as he places Louisa as a
pedestal, signalled by the use of the preposition ‘up’. 8 Moreover, Jack attempts
to further draw Louisa into his fictionalised fantasy, ‘I come up and put my
hands on your waist and lift you down, and you turn around inside my arms as if
we agree about everything’.9 Within the letter, Jack gradually shifts from the first
person pronoun ‘I’ and the second person pronoun ‘you’ to the collective
pronoun ‘we’ at the end of the sentence to construct the narrative of their
union.10 Sopiarz argues that Jack’s letter is ‘deeply manipulative’, drawing
Louisa in and perhaps, controlling the journey she takes through life’. 11 This
manipulation is further reinforced when Jack writes to Louisa, attempting to
charm her further and present her as a heroine in his own romantic narrative.
He claims that she is ‘a cut above the ordinary’. 12 The adjectival phrase ‘cut
above’ post modified by the noun ‘ordinary’ presents Louisa as an extraordinary
figure, who he is idealising in his attempt to enchant her and perpetuate this
romantic façade.13 Arguably, Jack Agnew manipulates her status as ‘the
Librarian’ and her life surrounded by fiction to construct his own story, fabricate
5
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Sopiarz, J, ‘Hostess, Ghost and Apocalypse: Reconsidering Alice Munro’s ‘Carried Away’’. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2021.1907705 (Accessed: 19/01/2025)
12
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
13
Ibid.
2
(ENGL1221)
Reflect on the representation of storytelling and storytellers in
Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Munro’s ‘Carried Away’.
Storytelling is central to the reception of modernist literature, shaping the
readership’s perception of the text, through structure, viewpoints and offering
unique perspectives, often on the periphery of the action. In the case of F. Scott
Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, Nick Carraway is the character selected to
narrate the story centring on the mythical creation of Gatsby. 1 As an outsider,
Nick is well-placed to offer a unique perspective of Gatsby and the Buchanans.
He provides a window that enables the readers to see the fall of Gatsby, the
social stratification of New York and its inhabitants. Storytelling is a human
impulse that enables people to shape their own stories, imbuing them with ideas
that resonate with their fellow human beings. Alice Munroe uses the art of the
storyteller to construct a persona in her short story ‘Carried Away’, focalising the
complex dynamic of relationships and a single woman’s desire to find human
connection.2
The function of Nick as a storyteller is to shape and control the narrative, driving
it forward and influencing the readers’ perception of the titular hero. The reader
can only view Gatsby through the lens of Nick Carraway. As an outsider, who
came from a ‘Middle West’ City, Fitzgerald uses Carraway to offer a unique
perspective of New York society, Gatsby and the Buchanans. 3 As a neutral
observer at the start, he introduces the myth of Gatsby to the readers, building a
reputation of assumed greatness. The range of epithets relayed to Nick are
used to cultivate Gatsby’s mythological status. It is alleged that Gatsby is the
‘cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’, ‘a German Spy’ and even ‘an Oxford man’. 4 Each
epithet serves to solidify Nick’s enjoyment of being a storyteller, exposing his
own initial impressions of Gatsby and how his idolatry is conceived. His role as
1
Scott Fitzgerald, F, The Great Gatsby, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1993.
2
Munro, A, Open Secrets, London: Vintage, 2011.
3
Scott Fitzgerald, F, The Great Gatsby.
4
Ibid.
1
, a storyteller enables the reader to recognise the high status, nobility and
glorification of Gatsby to cement him as a tragic figure who falls as a result of
his relentless pursuit of an empty dream.
In contrast, in ‘Carried Away’, Munro explores the power of a story to shape life
and expose the impact of human connection.5 Receiving letters from a soldier
during the Second World War, Louisa is provided with a narrative which shapes
her view of the world. Acting as a storyteller, Jack Agnew uses the epistolary
form to craft her perception of romance. Seemingly, he writes an anonymous
letter using the second person pronoun ‘you’ to reach out to Louisa. 6 He
reveals, ‘I think of you up on a stool at the library reaching to put a book away’. 7
Effectively, using the opening of the letter his narrative constructs a
romanticised figure, akin to Shakespeare’s ‘Juliet’, as he places Louisa as a
pedestal, signalled by the use of the preposition ‘up’. 8 Moreover, Jack attempts
to further draw Louisa into his fictionalised fantasy, ‘I come up and put my
hands on your waist and lift you down, and you turn around inside my arms as if
we agree about everything’.9 Within the letter, Jack gradually shifts from the first
person pronoun ‘I’ and the second person pronoun ‘you’ to the collective
pronoun ‘we’ at the end of the sentence to construct the narrative of their
union.10 Sopiarz argues that Jack’s letter is ‘deeply manipulative’, drawing
Louisa in and perhaps, controlling the journey she takes through life’. 11 This
manipulation is further reinforced when Jack writes to Louisa, attempting to
charm her further and present her as a heroine in his own romantic narrative.
He claims that she is ‘a cut above the ordinary’. 12 The adjectival phrase ‘cut
above’ post modified by the noun ‘ordinary’ presents Louisa as an extraordinary
figure, who he is idealising in his attempt to enchant her and perpetuate this
romantic façade.13 Arguably, Jack Agnew manipulates her status as ‘the
Librarian’ and her life surrounded by fiction to construct his own story, fabricate
5
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
11
Sopiarz, J, ‘Hostess, Ghost and Apocalypse: Reconsidering Alice Munro’s ‘Carried Away’’. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/02722011.2021.1907705 (Accessed: 19/01/2025)
12
Munro, A, Open Secrets, pp.3-51.
13
Ibid.
2
