Describe the use of narrative voice in The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald provides a beautifully constructed 1st person narrative voice in The Great Gatsby, however the voice of Nick Carraway is hard to define and some intepretations of the novel argue that he is unreliable.

A few typical examples of an unreliable narrator are concealing information from the reader, contradicting themselves, misjudging their experiences and in some examples, they may also intentionally lie to the reader. A lot of this is down to the readers own judgement, and perhaps it would be better to describe Nick as a peripheral narrator. The events which structure the book, do not usually affect Nick who describes his position perfectly at the start of the novel: “I'm inclined to reserve all judgement, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.” He has a perfect view of tale which unravels before him and he perches himself just outside of the social circles where the drama unfolds.

However, Nick tells the reader he will not judge the characters he describes, and yet at many crucial moments in the novel he is sharp, disapproving and cynical. Nick describes Gatsby as representing everything that makes Nick feel "unaffected scorn," Tom and Daisy are "careless people," and Jordan is "incurably dishonest". The task for the reader is to conclude where Nicks loyalties lie, why he claims to reserve judgement, but then proceeds to do the opposite, and finally if we can really trust Nicks presentation of the events of the novel?