At the beginning of the book Nick announces that because of his father’s he doesn’t look at the world or people in a judging way. He also claims that he doesn’t like secret confidences and would often times “feign sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity” when he thought someone was going to express their intimate revelations. Both of these claims I do not believe for a couple of reasons. Throughout the first chapters he describes all parties to the readers in his own perspective. Tom’s description is laced with hostility plus fear when he describes how no one liked Tom in college or that he wasn’t surprised the Tom had a mistress. Also his own cousin Daisy is painted with a warm glow amidst the accusations that she is flighty and fake. In addition in the frequent times that a person turned to him and told Nick a story in confidence, he did nothing to prevent hearing it like he claims he does in the beginning. To me it just seems like he looks at himself in a rosy mirror when in reality it is just as tainted and ugly as those he belittles.
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I don't think that Nick is a character that is really tainted and ugly as say Tom and Daisy and even Gatsby and others he associates with. Nick has many opportunities to convey his thoughts or disgusts of the others around him and yet says nothing. To me this just shows that he is the observer in the book. He is not one of the high societies like Tom and Daisy so I think he feels more obligated to not state his opinions to those he feels are superior to him in social class. Although I find it ironic that he wants to be un-judgmental as you said because of his father. As it states in the first chapter, “Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope.” (2) But, he is constantly making these judgments of the character s for us the reader to make our own judgments on the characters as Nick sees them. Nick’s motives seem to be to be skilled in getting along with everyone and then analyzing them in private. I think that Nick is not tainted but more of a realistic character.
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