Below is an excerpt from a review of The Great Gatsby. Read the entire passage and pay close attention the parts in bold. Agree or disagree with claims made by the author and give your opinion as to why (Extra credit if you use evidence from the book to support your opinion!). I know I said you had until Friday for this post, but since I posted it late I will give you until Saturday November 12th at 5pm.
Thanks,
Ms. K
Nick Carraway had known Tom Buchanan at New Haven. Daisy, his wife, was a distant cousin. When he came East Nick was asked to call at their place at East Egg. The post-war reactions were at their height-every one was restless-every one was looking for a substitute for the excitement of the war years. Buchanan had acquired another woman. Daisy was bored, broken in spirit and neglected. Gatsby, his parties and his mysterious wealth were the gossip of the hour. At the Buchanans Nick met Jordan Baker; through them both Daisy again meets Gatsby, to whom she had been engaged before she married Buchanan. The inevitable consequence that follows, in which violence takes its toll, is almost incidental, for in the overtones-and this is a book of potent overtones-the decay of souls is more tragic. With sensitive insight and keen psychological observation, Fitzgerald discloses in these people a meanness of spirit, carelessness and absence of loyalties. He cannot hate them, for they are dumb in their insensate selfishness, and only to be pitied. The philosopher of the flapper has escaped the mordant, but he has turned grave. A curious book, a mystical, glamorous story of today. It takes a deeper cut at life than hitherto has been enjoyed by Mr. Fitzgerald. He writes well-he always has-for he writes naturally, and his sense of form is becoming perfected.
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Although while reading the book you would agree that the characters are careless and have no loyalty, but as you read and complete the book you would realize that each character was caring and loyal in there own way. It may have been different from others way of showing loyalty and care but it was the same in there own way. For axample although Nick may have seemed fake towards Gatsby in the end he was all Gatsby really had. " But all this part of it seemed remote and unessential. I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone.
ReplyDeleteDevin NeShay Davis
AP English and Compositon
Period.2
I agree/disagree with the author because while reading the book , you can see majority of the character have loose morals to say the least , no one is hardly honest but each of them hold a significant part to the story told and as well , they all meant well in someway or another, wether it was benficial to themselves or not.
ReplyDeleteJaisha Martin
Per.2
I have to agree with Devin. There is dishonesty with each character in the book, but within each character you realize that they all have a unique story that in some form ties them back to each other. They have there own flaws but they try to do the right thing is some form.
ReplyDeleteKhalia Price
Period 2
I disagree with the fact that the author said that the charachters were not loyal. This is false because Gatsby has devoted five years of his life just to find material posession to impress Daisy. He became a millionare and moved just accross the lake fom her, just so he can be closer to her.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI disagree/agree because there is so much loyalty, and devotion distrubited to each and every chanracter. But also everyone was wrapped up in what they wanted and how they were going to get it no matter how long the wait.
ReplyDeleteHow Gatsby waited 5 years to get rich and have Daisy, How Tom wanted Daisy and Myttle the best of both worlds.
Denesha A.
per2.
I agree and disagree with the authors opinions about the people of this time era because he describes them as being "dumb in their insensate selfishness, and only to be pitied." i feel like like these people are not dumb there just ignorant because they feel as though what they do is morally corrected, and haven't truly been taught the right way, however i do agree with the author when he says they should only to be pitied, because u almost feel kind of sorry for these people by just the simple fact that they don't understand how negative there actions tend to be. Ignorance is bliss for the time of the roaring twenties. In the end agree more with F. Scott Fitzgerald opinions
ReplyDeleteI agree that the souls of the characters decayed over the course of the story. I also agree that the charcters do act careless at times but I don't agree that they all lack loyalty. All of them are loyal to something. For example, Gatsby is loyal to his belief that Daisy loves him and they will one day be together.
ReplyDelete-William Rhodes
Per. 2
I agree with the author. Throughout the entire book, the main thing I was sensing from the characters was selfishness and disloyalty. The only person in my opinion who was loyal was Nick, when he stayed with Gatsby after he was shot “I began to have a feeling of defiance, of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all” In this quote Nick is basically saying that he’s sticking with Gatsby, against the rest of the world. All the other characters were loyal to one thing-their own selfish desires. Throughout the entire book you see them doing whatever it took to get what they want. Gatsby is a little complex because in away he was loyal to Daisy, but then we sort of have to wonder what his true motives are. So I definitely agree with the author. Next to self-deception and moral decline, dishonesty and selfishness are definitely the next important themes of this book.
ReplyDelete-Jamil
I agree with the authors claim about the characters on The Great Gatsby. He claims the characters are carelessness, lack loyalty, and ignorant to their selfishness. It is true because all the characters have either shown one or the entire characteristic he mentions. One example in ignorant to selfishness is how Daisy cheats on her husband, Tom, with Gatsby who loves her and she loves him too while at the same time Tom is thinking she loves him and is faithful to him. She is Ignorant to the problems she is causing until Tom and Gatsby are once arguing over whom she really loves when she finally, “realized at last what she was doing.” (132) To have two men believing you only love one truly is a selfish move by her not thinking of their feelings, but she cannot be faulted for her lack of knowledge of what she was doing. Tom is the main culprit of lack of loyalty, because he seems to always be cheating on his wife. His latest mistress is Myrtle Wilson, wife to Mr. Wilson. It seems he is always cheating and never truly loyal to his marriage and there fore not loyal to his wife.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with his statements about the book. It saying how this book represents the world in its rawest and deepest form, and also recognizes the author as having “natural” writing styles or in other words a very flow way of writing. The author is able to get his point across plus more. He is able to explain in detail the setting, the characters features and even the tone and feeling of the characters. An example of this is when explains a dirty area that would call no where as, “ a valley of ashes-a fantastic farm while wheat into ridges and hills grotesque gardens; where ashes take forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (23) Just after this one sentence I get a clear idea of how this place looks, feels like, even smells like. This kind of language and clearness and used through out the entire book. Although his word choice sometimes is confusing and need more analyzing then others it still captures what he tries to say.
Leilani Jefferson
Period 2
I agree with the author's claim that all the characters should be pitied because to a certain extent they all exhibited qualities that made themselves vulnerable all in the name of love. This can be seen at its highest potency in Chapter 8 when Wilson kills Gatsby because he thinks that Jay Gatsby was the one that murders and i shaving an affair with his wife Myrtle.
ReplyDeleteI also disagree with the author's claim that the character show no loyalty because obviously if you are willing to kill another man because you think he killed her, that clearly some form of loyalty.
DaVeon Smith
AP Lit
Period 2
I have to agree and disagree because certain characters should be pitied more then others. I admit that they were all vulnerable to love, but they slowly began to morally decline as the story went on. The character that I really do not pity is Tom Buchanan because he is partly the reason that Gatsby was killed by leading Wilson to believe that Gatsby killed his wife, Myrtle.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the author's claim because the characters do show loyalty. Nick shows loyalty by staying by Gatsby and trying to get his friends to go to Gatsby's funeral. Although, Nick could have have been like everyone else and not want to get mixed in with the Gatsby situation. He could have made an excuse to not go to the funeral or skip town, but he chose to stay and be a true friend.
Chanelle Green
Period2
AP Lit
I agree with the author’s claim that the characters are selfish. Throughout the novel, we witness the characters going through a series of moral decline. Their only goals in life are for their own selfish motives. From the beginning we learn that Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle. However once he discovers that Daisy is in love with Gatsby he suddenly wants to be faithful just so she will stay with him. He wants Daisy to stay because she comes from wealth and needs to have a wealthy wife that will make him look good. Tom only married Daisy out of convenience and wants to keep her for his own selfish reasons, not for love. Gatsby used Nick in order to get closer to Daisy. He didn’t care who got in his way or what he had to do, to get to Daisy. Gatsby demonstrated selfishness by only caring about himself and letting his desire to be with Daisy take over his life.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the author when he claims that characters show no loyalty. Nick went above and beyond what was expected of him when it came to reuniting Gatsby and Daisy. He kept their secret for he knew Daisy was not happy with Tom. Nick was a very loyal friend to Gatsby even despite Gatsby lies. However I do agree there are some instances when the characters do display disloyalty. Daisy let Tom believe that Gatsby had driven the car and together they had conspired against him to have him killed.
I agree with the author's claim that the characters have an "absence of loyalties". Almost every character in the book backstabs another or simply doesn't care about the affect their actions will have on the people around them. They all act like they didn't mean to hurt each other but truly while they were all taking part in their seperate schemes they were all worried about what they would gain not what the people around them would lose.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with the author's claim that they should be pitied for their dumb insensate selfishness. Severeal characters in The Great Gatsby knew their actions were not smart and selfish. Since they were aware of this I believe they sould not be pitied for it. When Daisy and Tom were cheating on each other, their decisions weren't smart but they knew exactly what they were doing.
Dominique Smith
Period 2
AP Literature
I agree with that claim that "He cannot hate them, for they are dumb in their insensate selfishness, and only to be pitied" A great example of a characters selfishness is Daisy. When Daisy first reconnects with Gatsby She starts to think that her love for Tom is non existent but in chapter seven she realizes that she loves Tom more the she loves Gatsby.
ReplyDelete"her eyes fell on jordan and me with a sort of appeal, as though she realized at last what she was doing and as though she had never, all along, intended doing anything at all. But it was done know. It was too late. " I never loved him," she said, with perceptible reluctance."(132)
this shows that she certainly does love Tom, and that Daisy never intended this affair to be carried quite this far. Daisy was to selfish to think of how Gatsby would feel once he realizes that she still has feelings for Tom. And how Tom would feel once he realized that she was having an affair. No one in the book thought of how their behavior would hurt the people around them. They were blinded by love. Which is why I agree with the claim, that they are selfish and can only to be pitied.
Tellis J. Frank III
Period 3
A.P. Literature
I would definitely have to agree with the author. The main feelings i picked up from the characters were selfishness and disloyalty. There was only one person in the book that was loyal, and that was the biased hipocrite narrator, Nick Carraway. After Gatsby had been killed, he stayed loyal to him (maybe even more loyal than when he was alive). "I found myself on Gatsby's side, and alone." (164) Nick is saying that no one else seems to really care that Gatsby's been shot and killed and he's the only one. The next to moral decline, disloyalty is the next major theme.
ReplyDelete--Devyn Anderson-Stover