JenniferDiFulvio

I agree, being that he is writing the story he is going to try to make it sound good on his part and he is not going to make himself out to be a bad guy in the novel either.

Jennifer,
I do not think that he wants us to think that he is the bad guy. No author wants to make himself look bad and usually they want to be the hero not the bad guy. However, you do have a good point and thought about it. But the quote on chapter 1 that I picked caught my attention and that is the one I wrote on. See my blog.

I have discovered that honesty, or at least the appearance of being honest is a very difficult facade to keep in tact. It's often an "all or nothing" proposition.

I think, (Brenda C. must have been reading my mind!) that we see ourselves as being honest people.

And really, what is the litmus test for that? Didn't rob a bank? Didn't lie on your taxes? Never been unfaithful to your spouse? Those, to me, are easy qualifications (though some are challenged by them, ha-ha!).

Do I lie? Not intentionally, for certain. Do I lie by omission? Probably, once in a while. Am I a hypocrite - that is, do I say one thing and then a week later, do the opposite? Again, sometimes. But through all this I like to think my intentions are good. I never set out to do the above, but my actions from one week to the next are sometimes in conflict. I think that happens to everyone.

So to be considered "honest" do we have to be completely honest all the time, without fail? I don't know anyone who can do that. Maybe all we can do is try to conduct ourselves in the best way possible, try to do the right thing each time there's a choice and hope that's good enough.

Based on that standard, which is attainable, I think I'm an honest guy too.

I agree with Matt -- Nick believes he is generally honest and trustworthy. That might be why Gatsby takes such an interest in him.