Gatsby Final

 *A quick note in defense of some of the language in these chapters: this book was written and published well before WWII, so don't hate on Fitzgerald for using words like "holocaust" and "swastika" - they didn't carry the weight then that they do now (I only mention it because I read those and I was like "whoa man slow down that ain't cool" and then I remembered that actually it was cool in his time so yeah)

Congratulations, team, we did it. Far from being a sprint, AP Lit has been a marathon, but we have finally crossed the finish line of eight novels, countless poems, and prose passages which now all run together in our memory. To quote Ms. Meltesen, "ta-da."

As I finished this book, I found myself musing (get it? Like middle school English? Full circle y'all) upon the title - The GREAT Gatsby. What made him great? Was he really all that great?

It strikes me that he's more of a tragic character (with maybe some redeeming qualities) than a gallant hero (with perhaps a flaw or two). More of a Dimmesdale than a Darcy if you will. I mean this man pined after a woman he thought he could never have for like five. years. In that sense, he was a victim of the society which unfairly boxes people into social strata based on generational wealth. But when this same woman actually speaks her mind (which, it feels important to mention, didn't happen until the two men in the room talked OVER HER HEAD FOR LIKE A PAGE AND A HALF about HER FEELINGS) and tells him she's never going to choose him over her husband, he will not let it go. Poor Nick, who has somehow become for Gatsby what a freshman's Stanley cup means to her (i.e. emotional support), must watch as Gatsby pathetically insists that "Daisy'll call too" (Fitzgerald 154). He even leaves his line open all day for her to no avail. 

But you have to admire his persistence. There's something tragic but sweet about his continued belief in his love for Daisy...until we find out that he only really fell for her because she represented everything he wanted in life: houses that "amazed," "shining motor-cars," basically a "rich, full life" (148). It makes Gatsby's "love" for Daisy feel almost narcissistic and entirely self-serving, and perhaps the fact that he never ended up with her is a metaphor for the status he never achieved (evidenced by the fact that he had no friends to come to his funeral). 

I think what made Gatsby great was his ability to dream. Where no one saw anything but "a penniless young man without a past" (149), James Gatz saw the American dream at work. Perhaps his methods were questionable, but I can't fault him for his capacity to dream. It reminds me a lot of the titular character from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if any of you have read that one. She dreams of making it in Hollywood and makes lots of questionable choices in the process. But you always get the sense that she never lost belief in herself or in her dream, a necessary quality for anyone trying to do something new. Just a thought for y'all on a Monday.

Switching gears, I thought it was very interesting how George Wilson's last act on this earth was to kill Jay Gatsby. Now don't get me wrong - I neither expected Gatsby to survive the novel, nor did I expect Wilson to emerge from it anything less than a felon, but I am surprised that it was Gatsby, not Tom, who ended up with a bullet in his chest. After all, Tom was the one sleeping with Myrtle the whole time. I guess it does make sense when you take into consideration that Gatsby's car was the one that killed Myrtle, but it really seemed to me that what broke Wilson first was his wife's affair. In any case, the man was clearly off his rocker when he referred to our friend TJ Eckleberg's eyes as God's. 

I think what I'm trying to say here is that I'm struggling with the greatness of Gatsby. He was a dreamer, but he lost out ultimately. He was ambitious, but he was a bad enough person that someone hated him enough to murder him. He created a life for a woman he loved, but he was too insecure and held back by society to see their relationship clearly at any stage. What do you guys think?

The Great Gatsby Chp 5-7

 These chapters revealed the answers to a number of questions we had in the class prior. Although a number of notable events happened in these chapters, I want to highlight what I found most profound: Gatsby and Daisy's interactions.

After sending over a man to cut Nick's grass, Gatsby showed up for tea with Daisy (which he initiated), obviously very nervous. With some forced conversation and "an abortive attempt at a laugh" from Gatsby, Nick was essentially a third wheel to Daisy and Gatsby's rekindling (Fitzgerald 86). We also learn that it has been "'Five years next November'" since the ex-lovers had conversed, and Gatsby's quick note of this seemed a bit, well, specific and creepy (87). The audience can tell how awkward this time spent is, and it even got briefly emotional when Nick re-entered the room and "Daisy's face was smeared with tears" (89). Despite this, Fitzgerald makes it quite clear that Gatsby was ecstatic over their exchange. He seemed to have a new glow to him, and Nick noticed how he often wouldn't be able to take his eyes off of Daisy. Gatsby proceeds to show off his home to Daisy, which I expected but was also questioning. Is his materialistic house tour a way to impress Daisy, or was it all initially for Daisy?

Gatsby is a strange man in this regard, as it comes across as if he has been pining after this woman and built a life around her. If some man did that to me, I would probably call the police. His infatuation with Daisy is seen in the regular parties that he hosts. After their 'tea' with Nick, Gatsby invites them to one of his infamous parties. When they arrive, Gatsby is noticeably uncomfortable around Daisy's husband, Mr. Buchanan, probably because he is still desperately in love with his wife. Nick is a kind enough 'friend' (are they friends?) that he stays and observes Gatsby's reaction to Daisy at the party, noting how "He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: 'I never loved you.'" (109). Following this party, Gatsby stopped having parties! Oh no! We love parties! So I am speculating that the parties were for Daisy, which I don't love because maybe he should have just tried to have a normal conversation with her instead. Gatsby clearly has unrealistic expectations for Daisy and his relationship because, unlike him, Daisy went on with her life and found a husband. 

Ironically, this husband doesn't stop her from kissing Gatsby at another one of their shindigs. I also always imagined Nick's presence to be one of like a pastor or strict parent, that they kept around so they wouldn't do anything bad, but obviously I was wrong. She just "pulled his face down, kissing him on the mouth", and I was like okay, hold it together for just a minute your husband is in the other room (116). AND THEM PAMMY COMES RUNNING IN THE ROOM AND I AM SO OVERWHELMED. 

Not to mention Tom can notice Daisy and Gatsby's inability to restrain themselves, Gatsby confessing he only went to Oxford for five months following the war, and a car crash?! Everything is unravelling quite quickly and I'm still thinking about how Pammy needs more screen time. 

And then it ends with Gatsby alone in the moonlight once again, and I'm over here like maybe he could host another party, that would be fun. Regardless, these chapters hit a major climax and I am finished writing because I need to study for my two tests. Happy 30th birthday Nick! Hope it was a good one!

 We started The Great Gatsby! So exciting. I probably won’t get to everything that happened in these first four chapters, but I will highlight what stood out to me and what I found interesting. 

The first “event” to happen is that Mr. Nick Carraway goes to dinner at Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s House, where he meets Ms. Jordan Baker for the first time. In these scenes, I couldn’t help but notice how different Nick seems than Daisy and Tom. Tom talks about how he’s a “pessimist” (12) and Nick talks about how he feels “compelled” by Tom, “as though he were moving a checker to another square” (11). In comparison, Nick is described as “[innocent]” (14). Nick may seem to be friends with Tom, but this man seems to be more manipulative and cunning than friendly, and, to me, Nick seems awkwardly out of place with this set of people. 

Nick’s difference from Tom is further revealed as we learn about Tom’s affair with Myrtle, picking her up right in front of her husband’s face and showing her off at the restaurants. Tom seems to be flaunting his dishonesty, which makes me like him even less. He acts above the rules and does not give his crowd of people a good look. Once again, in comparison, later on, Nick remarks that he thinks he himself is “one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (59). 

After the chapter about Myrtle, we start to learn more about Gatsby’s parties. Once again, I get the feeling that Nick is out of place there. He describes fantastic parties, but his descriptions are full of how (at the first one he attends) he feels awkward because he doesn’t know anyone there, and he offers details like “most of the remaining women… now having fights with men said to be their husbands'' (51). Upon giving a list of people who attend the parties, he tells the reader about a man who drowns, a man who strangles his wife, and a man who commits suicide by jumping in front of a train. It seems that the reader is being warned…these people, with their parties and fun, maybe aren’t having nearly as much fun as they seem. There is something amiss. 

I am glad that Nick realizes that something’s a bit off. It seems that he’s still holding out from this whole society he’s slowly becoming a part of. Do you think he’ll be able to keep his own sort of “independence”?

I didn’t even get to talking about Jordan or how many times I saw stuff about “roses” throughout the chapters. We’ll just have to talk about it in class. :)