Nick feels soiled by the events he has witnessed, especially the careless disregard Tom and Daisy have towards the lives they wrecked. If they retreat into their money, he retreats to the winter purity of the Midwest. What stands out to him as rising above the sordid events of his summer is the character of Gatsby, a person who strikes him as an emblem of the American Dream in all its grandeur and delusion.
I feel Nick is an unreliable narrator with too much faith in his own honesty. Anybody who calls honesty one of their "cardinal" virtues probably is not all that honest, if only from being blind to places where unintentional dishonesty might creep in. At the same time, I cannot help but like Nick; he is a poetic soul through whom Fitzgerald writes beautifully, and he has a sincere appreciation of Gatsby (even if he sometimes pokes fun at him) that allows the reader to see Gatsby as a sympathetic and tragic figure rather than just a criminal huckster.
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