Describe Nick's childhood. How has it helped shape him into the adult he appears to be today?

Nick's childhood is never really addressed, outside of the fact he grew up in the Midwest. In Chapter One, we learn that Nick has graduated from Yale and fears he will be misunderstood by those who have not enjoyed the same advantages. He attempts to understand people on their own terms, rather than holding them up to his own personal standards.

Nick fought in World War I; after the war, he went through a period of restlessness. He eventually decided to go east, to New York City, in order to learn the bond business. At the novel's outset, in the summer of 1922, Carraway has just arrived in New York and is living in a part of Long Island known as West Egg.