what are Nick's outstanding qualities?

says that
his "cardinal" or chief virtue is honesty, but it is not. Just prior to making that
statement, he mentions that he has not been entirely honest with his girlfriend back home in
Chicago, writing her letters when he has no longer has feelings for her. However, if he doesn't
see himself entirely clearly (and few of us do), Nick nevertheless has many redeeming qualities.

First, he is a good listener, the kind of person, as he notes, to whom
people reveal themselves. Second, he has the sensitivity to appreciate . Rather than simply
dismissing him as a lower class grifter and criminal, he can see beneath the surface to the
yearnings inside Gatsby's heart that drive him to try to start over again and make things right
with . Nick appreciates and admires Gatsby for daring to have such audacious dreams. He also
fully feels the pathos when Gatsby's dream fails.

Nick is commendable, too,
for having a moral center. He is genuinely distressed at the unfeeling behavior ofand Daisy,
people he refers to as "foul dust," and he believes he has to return to the purity of
a snow-covered midwest to regain his equilibrium after his brushes with their corruption. Along
with his sensitivity and his lyrical way with words, his moral indignation at what he witnessed
makes him a good narrator of Gatsby's story.