"That was always my experience—a poor boy in a rich town; a poor boy in a rich boy's school; a poor boy in a rich man's club at Princeton…I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich, and it has colored my entire life and works."
–F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters

This quote shows that as an author, although Fitzgerald was writing fiction stories, he was still writing about himself. Just as Fitzgerald described himself, Nick Carraway was a man who was in a lower class than those around him.

Before the book takes place, Nick was a student at Yale who was poor considering the other students. Due to this fact, Nick kept to himself, not making many friends. He described himself as quiet throughout life, although the difference in social classes most likely gave him another reason to stay away from the others. They were privileged and knew nothing of the struggles of the poor, and Nick felt no connection to them.

After his graduation, Nick went to the war before coming back to America. He decided to move to New York and settled on the West Egg. Its no coincidence the majority of the residents on West Egg for middle to lower class, save for Gatsby. However, Nick still found himself keeping wealthy company in the likes of Jordan Baker, Tom and Daisy Buchanon, and Jay Gatsby. Throughout the book Nick comes off as uncomfortable, sensing he doesn't belong with this crowd. In the end, Nick decides to move back home, away from the lavishness of the friends he had made.

As Fitzgerald says, he was always a poor man in a rich man's world. As Fitzgerald also says, he could never forgive the rich for being rich. It is interesting to consider this quote when compared to The Great Gatsby, where Nick Carraway always found a way to be surrounded by the rich, and constantly sought a means to escape them.