《了不起的盖茨比》的叙事风格The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald manifests the various themes of the American Dream and moral values by using the special narrative style. In this essay， I will argue that the first-person narrative style employed in 'The Great Gatsby' strengthens the narrator's idolization of Jay Gatsby， is central to the individual's perspective which is portrayed by Nick Carraway of the American Dream and its disillusionment， and is a useful device to build up suspense and irony. The first-person narrative is a narrative style that modernist works of literature typically employ to highlight subjective experiences， Nick is flawed， following the emergence of Freudian psychoanalytical theories in the early twentieth century. The use of 'I'， a first person pronoun， is indicative of the first-person narrative technique that lends a limited perspective to the story about its eponymous protagonist and lay the full text of an subjective tone. It also makes Nick an unreliable narrator， as his perspective is only one perspective and cannot be completely trusted as it is biased. “For Nick sometimes sees only part of a meaning that a scene carries， sometimes shifts ground perplexingly， and sometimes even strains ‘judgments’ out of inconclusive evidence.”（Cartwright，1984） “Nick suspends disbelief and enters Gatsby’s world， accepting his terms of discourse.”（Hochman， 2010） “And it was from Cord that he inherited money.”（p.97） Nick glossed over Gatsby's shady dealings as a businessman. That’s why Nick is unrealible. This kind of first-person limited perspective can be helpful to combine the content with form perfectly and give us a fresh feeling. By what Nick saw， heard and thought， the novel signifies the luxurious， decadent and indulgent lifestyle at that time and readers have more intuitive feelings about the disillusionment theme of the American Dream. “I began to like New York”（p.57） “That’s my Middle West.”（p.167）We can see Nick's optimism at the start， which changes to a deep pessimism for the American Dream. He finds out that it is a lie and that society is destroyed by it. 'Green light' is the symbolic of the American Dream and is a illusion.“The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American dream. The Great Gatsby is an exploration of the American dream as it exists in a corrupt period， and it is an attempt to determine that concealed boundary that divides the reality from the illusions.”（Brewley，1954） Not only is Nick the narrator， but also he is the witness of the tragedy and one of the protagonists. This narrative mode narrows the distance between the narrator and the story， “distance between the narrator's perception and the reader's perception.”（Boyle， 1969） in other words， the story based on his personal experience makes the fictionality of the story reduce to a minimum， the story showed the greatest degree of authenticity and credibility although his is unreliable narrator. There are four ways to narrate the story， one is Nick himself describes his own personal experiences with Gatsby. Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor， Daisy’s cousin and Tom’s classmate in the university. So he can get some information about Gatsby and witness some dramatic scenes， such as Gatsby’s behavior and manner of speaking， the lavish party， Gatsby’s appointment with Daisy， Gatsby’s quarrel with Tom. As a witness and a protagonist， Nick can observe Gatsby from a distance， listen to others’ gossip and speculation about the identity of the Gatsby in the party. Nick witnessed the sad scene after Gatsby’s death that form a strong and sharp contrast between the lifetime of glitz and death. It deepens the tragic effect of the novel and strengthen the theme. Nick discloses the story of Gatsby to more degree， besides Nick tells his experiences without too much modification. Nick broadly understood some details in this way. Nick was invited to join in the grand party so that he witnessed the luxury and depravity in the society， he gradually knew Gatsby’s characteristics. He was forced to visit Tom’s lover Mrytle. He was brought by Gatsby to visit friend Wolfshiem who told Nick about the sources of his wealth. The second one is others provide the information about Gatsby for Nick. Nick is not the God， he has not the omniscient perspective， he just a narrator， he cannot know about anything. In order to develop the plot， Nick gives way to the other characters， other persons’ descriptions are required to make up for gaps in the narrative process. “Nick repeatedly listens to stories， stories told by Daisy， Gatsby， Jordan， Myrtle. Presented not merely as writer and storyteller， but also as a recipient of other people’s stories.”（Hochman，2010）When the affair between Gatsby and Daisy， the sub-character Jordan Baker helped a lot. In chapter 4， “One October day in nineteen-seventeen （said Jordan Baker that afternoon， sitting up very straight on the straight chair in the tea-garden at the Plaza Hotel） I was walking a。