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The Great Gatsby Timeline: 10th. Journal Entry - July 13th, 2020

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How would the story be different if it was told in a different time period?: 9th. Journal Entry - July 12th, 2020

     How would the story be different if it was told in a different time period? The answer to that is that I think it be impossible to do so. The time period that the Great Gatsby takes place in is very vital to everything the story is built around.

     Fitzgerald was commenting on a new era in American and global history. Where the “old wealth” aristocrats of the post-feudal west were starting to encounter a conflict that could be compared to that of Jacobin France. Never was wealth so attainable, or at least in the perception of general society, as the raging 20’s. Never was the upper classes place in society so questioned in western society, at least not since the French Revolution, as it was during that era. It was this 20′s that let a lot of the amazing irony of the novel be so effective. If it happened 50 years later the whole dynamics of the Old Rich and the New Rich would’ve probably not made much sense. It was also the prohibition era that lead to this immense conflict between the two social statuses. This was a time period that allowed for quick riches, particularly for those involved in bootlegging. Without these factors we wouldn’t have the whole complex dynamics of Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy.  

    The raging 20′s were also a time period of great social change, shaking the values of the Victorian Era and of a good part of western history. The “moral fabric” of the United States was being shaken (or at least people were becoming disillusioned) and a great social paradigm was occurring. Without these events F. Scott Fitzgerald would’ve probably not been inspired to write about them, commenting and criticizing his environment. Also, women were becoming more liberated, which had a great impact on the novel in my opinion.  

     Furthermore, the subcultures of the time really made the book. The Jazz Age and the flapper subculture, which served as great aesthetic and setting for the story. I don’t think it be the same without them.  

     All in all, I don’t believe it be possible for this book to be written in any other time period. This isn’t to say that the book hasn’t aged well, because it’s still very relevant today, but it’s also a wonderful example of a perfect time capsule. If it had been written 50 years later it’d be in the wake of the civil rights movements, gay rights movements, second-wave feminism, the free speech and sexual revolutions; so this may add a lot of interesting dynamics to deal with and comment on, however it would not be the same book.  

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Literary Devices Are Not One of Fitzgerald’s Vices: 8th. Journal Entry - July 12th, 2020

     I like the way the author uses literary devices. The amount of them and their effects have really motivated me to challenge myself to learn more about them, and how to use them as effectively in my own writing.

Irony

     One of my favorite quotes in the book is the following:

"For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes. "

It made me realize the symbolism and subtext behind Daisy’s name and the irony of it all. ��Daisies are often linked with being beautiful and humble. Whereas in his words Nick contrasts what one would presume Daisy to be with her true character, one of arrogance and inner ugliness.  

     There are many other instances of irony in the novel that impressed me. The situational irony of Daisy killing Myrtle by accident is one that ties with the irony seen in Oedipus Rex. A wife accidentally murdering her husband's lover! Myrtle’s death in itself is also ironic. Throughout the novel we see her desperation to hang on to Tom so that he could “save” her from her life, her carelessness to those around her like her husband or Tom’s wife, turns to carelessness towards herself and self-destruction. She runs towards Tom’s car because it’s her last attempt to have him save her, ironically her own actions and that of Tom’s leads to hear death.  

Foreshadow

     Another technique I enjoyed, was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of foreshadow. We can see foreshadow used throughout the novel in a tremendously effective way. The scene where Gatsby is reaching out towards the green-light is very likely one of the most tragic ones, since the light seemed to represent Gatsby’s hope and desperation for Daisy. It foreshadows the eventual unattainability of Daisy for Gatsby.  

     The use of foreshadow is also very interestingly employed in misleading ways. In the beginning of the novel Nick states that “Gatsby turned out all right at the end,” in this quote F. Scott sets us up for expecting Gatsby to persevere in the end, ironically and tragically he meets his doom.  

Symbolism

     Symbolism is the abundant in the novel, I mentioned the green light but one of my favourites is that of “The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg,” the advertisement seen when driving into the Valley of Ashes. One interpretation of this can be said to represent the “Eyes of God,” or that of authority. One of the themes of the novel is the supposed lack of morality in modern American society during Fitzgerald’s era, particularly among the upper class.  Dr. Eckleburg's eyes are a constant reminder of that. Interestingly this advertisement is located in the Valley of Ashes, a place of extreme poverty and marginalization. Here we see the working class and non-Anglo Saxon America in their struggles – contrasted to the upper-class Anglo-Saxon environments of West and East Egg.  The Eyes of Dr. Eckleburg are a reminder to us of the incredible immorality that a capitalist society could lead too. It’s also in the Valley of Ashes where we see the theme of disillusion meet its climax. The inciting incident that leads to the catastrophe of Gatsby’s death, Myrtle running out to the street and getting hit by Daisy, is also the event that leads to disillusionment of most of the characters in the novel. In fact, it's probably better to call Myrtle’s death the main catastrophe of the story as it has the most impact on the characters. Interestingly enough, another symbol I think is very important and linked to the Eyes of Dr. Eckleburg, is that of the “owl eyed man” in Gatsby’s library during the first party Nick attends. In some ways I see the owl eyed man as a manifestation of Dr. Eckleburg and the “divine authority,” instrument as he himself is a source of disillusionment when he reveals to us the books in Gatsby’s library are real. This whole scene is a foreshadow of the falseness of Gatsby’s life and for this reason it also serves as an instrument of disillusion, even though the books are ironically real? Many of these themes really remind me of the Greek Tragedies and the relationship between mortals and gods.  

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Notes About Character Development: 7th. Journal Entry - July 11th, 2020

     In the first third of the novel we’re introduced to Gatsby as a wealthy man yet enigmatic man, that enjoys hosting lavish parties. When he first encounters and begins to develop his friendship with Nick, he begins to reveal parts of himself, most notably the fact that he is an optimist. We learn of his past with Daisy and his desire to win her back from Tom. However, mystery is still shrouded around him, and not much is known about the true Gatsby. This is reflected in the rumors spread by different characters, rumors that not even Nick can confirm to be false.  This is also seen in the encounter that Nick has at Gatsby’s party, where we are treated to the curious inquiries of the Owl-eyed man who states his bewilderment at the fact that Gatsby’s books are real; this is a moment which makes us really ask questions about Gatsby’s identity.

     In Chapter four Gatsby reveals anecdotes based on his life to Nick, while they are on a car ride in New York. Gatsby tells Nick that he descends from a wealthy family with origins in the Midwest, Nick is convinced this is a lie when Gatsby says that the city is San Francisco. He says that he is an Oxford educated many, which is a family tradition. When his parents died, he inherited money from them; this allowed him to travel Europe where he collected jewels, painted, hunted, and tried to escape something that traumatized him. He mentions that he was awarded a medal for heroism in Montenegro after the first World War.  

“If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament.”— it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.”

“He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. “One time he killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil.”

“I’ll tell you God’s truth.” His right hand suddenly ordered divine retribution to stand by. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West — all dead now. I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition.”

     It is in the second third of the book that the audience experiences an anagnorisis when it comes to the identity of Gatsby. Nick reveals to us of the faithful day that Gatsby told him all about himself and his origins. He tells Nick that he was born James Gatz to a poverty-stricken family in North Dakota. It was at the age of seventeen that he changed his name to Gatsby. He paid his tuition fees at a Lutheran college while working as a janitor. One summer while he worked as a clam-digger on Lake Superior he met a wealthy man named Dan Cody. He got a job sailing with Cody who came to like him. Eventually, Dan Cody died, but left Gatsby and inheritance. However, Gatsby never got a dime of that inheritance, because Ella Kaye, Dan Cody’s ex-wife, ended up seizing that money due to Gatsby’s legal illiteracy. On the other hand, he does inherit the education and etiquette related to the upper-class from Cody, which helps him develop his new identity.  

     In this part of the book Gatsby’s character trait of hope, that we see him possesses throughout the novel strengthens even more. His hope and desire to be with Daisy. However, it’s also in this chapter where we see him have doubts and become vulnerable. When Daisy is late to meet him for their first rencounter, he begins to doubt the possibility of a future together. Nonetheless, his hope is restored when the two reunite and only grows from them. We also witness Gatsby’s inferiority-complex towards the rich, which is now understood to be due to him being born in poverty, and eventually being rejected by Daisy who thinks is a student who has yet to make a fortune.  

“James Gatz — that was really, or at least legally, his name. He had changed it at the age of seventeen and at the specific moment that witnessed the beginning of his career — when he saw Dan Cody’s yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior.”

“Nobody’s coming to tea. It’s too late!” He looked at his watch as if there was some pressing demand on his time elsewhere. “I can’t wait all day.”

     In the last third of the novel we finally find out how Gatsby has made his fortune. Tom reveals that a private investigator has found out that Gatsby is a bootlegger, we must remember that this is the 1920’s - the prohibition era. His partnership with Wolfsheim, a questionable character, is what has led to his wealth. This blows the hole in his identity as an aristocrat, and solidifies his status of a new rich person, marginalized by the old rich. We see the development of his obsession towards Daisy, and how dedicated of a person he is to those he loves. When Daisy kills Myrtle Wilson, he is prepared to take the fall for her. And even though it starts to be obvious that Daisy will remain with Tom, he still holds out for her, waits for her phone call to the moment he is killed. Although Nick mentions that, he himself doesn’t believe Gatsby still believed or even cared if Daisy would’ve called.  

     At the end of the novel, during Gatsby’s funeral, we meet his father. It is through his father we learn of who he was as a teen, someone who wanted more, someone who wanted to be a better son. We find out about his aspirations, dreams, and about his drive to fulfill them. We now realize that it was not simply his love for Daisy that drove him, but from a young age he set a goal to leave behind his lower-class childhood; to become great – and so he did. I believe Gatsby’s resilience which we learn more and more about as the book proceeds.  

“He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That's one of his little stunts.”

“Look here, this is a book he had when he was a boy. It just shows you.” He opened it at the back cover and turned it around for me to see. On the last fly-leaf was printed the word Schedule, and the date September 12, 1906, and underneath: Rise from bed................ 6.00 a.m Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling...... 6.15-6.30 ” Study electricity, etc............ 7.15-8.15 ” Work..................... 8.30-4.30 p.m Baseball and sports............. 4.30-5.00 ” Practice elocution, poise and how to attain it 5.00-6.00 ” Study needed inventions........... 7.00-9.00 ”

“I come across this book by accident,” said the old man. “It just shows you, don’t it?” “It just shows you.” “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind? He was always great for that. He told me I eat like a hog once, and I beat him for it.”

     Gatsby is a character who has great development throughout the book. In my opinion, his characterization can be contrasted to that of Daisy. Daisy is a static character; although we see her torn between two men, and seemingly struggling internally, there really isn’t more substance to her than that. She seems to be the same selfish and careless person throughout the novel, how we see her portrayed in the beginning, remains the same in the end.  

“For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes.”

“"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

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Notes on Text-To-Text Connections: The Great Gatsby and Telenovelas: 6th. Journal Entry - July 10th, 2020

     The themes of Great Gatsby hit close to home for me as someone from Latin America. Primarily of the notion of the class divide and the societal supremacy of the old rich, usually families of white colonial background or post-colonial European/Middle Eastern (white) immigrant descendants who married into the colonial families. The attitudes of the divide are still very present to this day among the elite, who often live no different than those old rich families in the 1920s United States. The stories of this very class divide are very present and romanticized in Latin American telenovelas, which I will discuss.

     Latin American telenovelas often have origins in literary novellas of the 18th and 19th century. A time when many countries, especially in the Spanish empire, had a socioeconomic caste system based on race and economic status. Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonial societies were often divided between those who were white at the top, mixed race in the middle, and enslaved Africans and Native Americans at the bottom rungs of the social scheme. However, even among the white population there was a harsh divide between “creoles/mazombos” (those descendants of European colonizers born in the Americas) and those born in Europe known as Peninsulares (Spanish), Reinóis (Portuguese), Grand-Blancs (French).  

     A common theme in literary novellas, particularly in the Spanish Empire, was the prejudice of the Peninsulares towards Criollos (Creoles) and the hoarding of their power. One of the reasons for the prejudice was the notion of purity of blood. Purity of blood laws began in the Iberian Peninsula after the reconquest from the Moors, those Moors and Jews who remained were forced to convert to Christianity. However, they were seen as second-class citizens and their non-Christian ancestry was tracked and it became a part of their status. Eventually these converts were expelled from Spain and Portugal as well. The Spaniards began to apply these purity of blood notions to the descendants of Africans and Native Americans in their colonies. Although Criollos were viewed as completely white, many Peninsulares were very skeptical of those that didn’t have verified lineages, believing that they may have distant non-white ancestors. Many of the novellas mentioned above commented on the anxieties of the Peninsulares and featured stories of a Criolla marrying a wealthy Spaniard, only to find out that she had non-white blood which caused scandal. However, they also commented on racist beliefs that through more mixture with fully white people, that blood could become completely diluted, and the individual could become “redeemed.”

     These literary ideas were very common in colonial society and extended into post-colonial society. After the independence of most Latin American nations, with the exception of Haiti, richer Creoles replaced the European-born aristocracy, and formed their social class in a similar manner as that of the old rich in the United States. With the advent of rapid industrialization and development of capitalist structures poorer white, mixed-race, black, Native American began to mobilize in certain countries. Wealthy whites, still harboring many old and more recent racist beliefs, began to have similar anxieties about poorer and particularly non-white people entering their circles. Much of this anxiety was especially directed to non-white and non-mixed-race people who were from cultural minorities (particularly African descendants and Indigenous people with cultures that differed from the mainstream national culture) or towards newly arrived European and Asian immigrants who didn’t want to assimilate. The new white elite was also having their status as whole question, the late 19th and early 20th century was an era of many “caste/race wars” in Latin America. This marked the advent of pushing post-racial and racial democracy narratives in Latin America. The idea was that Latin America was made up of various races and was “equal,” however much of the underlining factors of the logic behind this was to “Hispanize/westernize” cultural minorities.

     Telenovelas or soap operas became popular in the late 20th century in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries and Brazil. Many of these telenovelas shared common themes with novellas of the colonial era, however instead of race they focused on class, or at least not implicitly (there have been exceptions where the same narratives have been applied to race as well especially in Brazil where the black vs. white racial dichotomy is similar to the United States). One very common narrative in telenovelas is the story-line of a rich man seducing his lower-class housekeeper, with the housekeeper often ending up on the street and dying after giving birth to a daughter. The daughter ends up being raised as an orphan or on the streets. Something that should be noted is that Latin American telenovelas almost always have a predominately white or light skinned cast. Often times in the case of telenovelas in Mexico and Brazil, the orphan is raised in a lower-class environment around various non-white individuals (black or mixed race in Brazil and Indigenous or mestizo in Mexico). However, similar to colonial novellas the story-lines that focus on orphans in orphanages, will often have the nuns or priests taking care of the children being white. This can be linked to the idea that religiously ordained members of the Catholic Church, who were almost exclusively, were supposed to “guide” non-white and poorer people into moral order. Anyways, the orphan girl eventually becomes an adult and ventures into the world by herself. There she will encounter a wealthy man, who eventually she falls in love with. The upper-class characters like most of the elite in Latin America is almost always portrayed as homogeneously white, with cultural practices, manners, and attitudes at odds with the lower class based more on 19th century western European cultural traits. The focus on the story-line is usually the romance between the orphan girl and the upper-class man, and the adversaries of their relationship, often people in the man’s social circle who have prejudice towards the orphan girl due to her background. Eventually, the orphan girl finds out her true paternity, that she is the daughter of a wealthy and influential character in the telenovela. This in combination with her “good traits” of humility, purity, and religiosity win her over and eventually she lives happily ever after with the wealthy man she’s fallen in love with. This is the general synopsis of the rags-to-rich telenovela story-line.  

     This all reminds me of the Great Gatsby for obvious reasons. The dynamics between the rich, the poor, and the economically mobilizing classes. The notion of the American dream, which is the idea behind these telenovelas, that for the poor there is “hope” to leave their conditions. Unlike the Great Gatsby which disillusions the audience and shows them that the notion of the American dream is largely a farce, telenovelas strive to sell an idea to working class masses that this fairytale is possible, that any “lower-class” and “ill-cultured” person has a chance to enter the wonderful world of the “civilized” upper-class. Which in no way reflects the reality of most Latin American societies, where classicism (and racism, even if veiled) has not changed much from the time of the colonial era. Just like Gatsby the character of the Orphan girl tries her best to fit into a world where she merely might be tolerated, if not full-out hated. The Great Gatsby although a class tale is also quite obviously a tale of race. Tom represents the notion of Anglo-Saxon racism and supremacy. In telenovelas and Latin American society, the upper-class although concerned about class matters, represent the descendants of the colonial elite and Hispanic or Latin (I.e. white, European, western) supremacy. The same ideas of the “greatness” of the Anglo-Saxon race and their mission to save the non-Anglo masses, were held by the whites of Latin America except with a focus on Latin, Hispanic, Luso, or Franco identity. Even though Latin American novellas are coded as class struggles, the notions of race are heavily ingrained into the subtext. Similar to novellas the orphan girl comes from a “suspicious” background, with her poverty this only adds to the anxiety of the upper-class characters. It should also be noted that this can be seen in visual representation of characters, the main female protagonist will almost exclusively be a darker-featured white woman OR a light skinned mixed-race woman, on the other hand the upper-class many will almost always be a white man and often with lighter features – representing the unmistakably white European man (peninsulares) vs. The orphan girl (criolla... Who may have “questionable” ancestry). Another fact that should be mentioned is that Spanish colonies, like Mexico, which had large Indigenous populations and were able to develop a “Mestizo” (mixed European/Native American) racial identity unique from white and Indigenous identities, often marginalized Mestizos for their association with being orphans. As in the colonial era many Mestizos were due to being rejected by both their European and Native American parents. So, we can see that although telenovelas focus on class, and the main star is most often white herself, there are a lot of colonial racial notions found in the subtext. One common idea in colonial times was the possibility of light skinned Mestizos or “Mulatos” (a term we use in Latin America for mixed Black/European descendants; not seen as prejudice for the most part as it may be in North America) to become accepted by white society, if she gave up all traces of her past and married a white man in order to dilute her non-white blood. For these reasons, I see a lot of connections between notions of race and class mobilization in telenovelas and colonial novellas and that of many of the class themes in the Great Gatsby. But like I mentioned above, telenovelas purposely try to sell the “Latin American dream” to their audiences, whereas the Great Gatsby seems to try to tell its audience that the American dream is an illusion.  

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Analysis of Novel Using the Socioeconomic Literary Lens: 5th. Journal Entry - July 9th, 2020

     Some of the main themes of the Great Gatsby are criticism of class and the social dynamics between different class groups. The story focuses on three different class groups: the working class, the new rich, and the old rich. For this reason, in order to analyze this text, I would think it be best to look at it through the socioeconomic literary lens.

Who has the power, money, or status, and who doesn't in the text and class interaction

     Within the novel the most powerful class is that of the old rich. They represent the predominately old wealthy Anglo-Saxon families of the United States. Their view of wealth seems to be implicit of old western European aristocratic attitudes towards wealth, linked to divinely ordained blood-lines and family social-status/name – a remnant of feudalism. We can see this also being linked to archaic racial theories, when Tom speaks of Nordic supremacy. Industrialization and capitalism in the United States, has led to the possibility of the working class to become as wealthy as them, shaking the foundation of their hegemonic “social club.” The old rich in the novel include Nick, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom.  

     The working class who is able to achieve similar amounts of wealth are known as the new rich, most notably Gatsby. The new rich represent the conception of the belief in the “American dream” - the possibility of the working class to attain great wealth and prosperity, if they “work hard enough for it.” The old rich are very skeptical of them, particularly Tom, because they threaten the social paradigm of wealth. A lot of the justification for skepticism and marginalization of the new rich seems to be due to the belief that they have achieved their wealth through immoral or illegal means. In the case of Gatsby, this isn’t quite wrong as he becomes a boot-legger. Gatsby obviously has a lot of power and wealth, but it’s clear that due to him not belong to the old wealth, he will never be seen as an equal in their eyes. This is the reason Daisy chooses to stay with her husband Tom, to maintain her social status.

     The working class or the working poor are mostly seen in the Valley of Ashes, those characters living in poverty and destitute namely Myrtle and George Wilson. This group is the most diverse and includes people of poor immigrant and African-American heritage. However, we also see immigrants becoming part of the new rich, such as Gatsby’s associate Meyer Wolfsheim – a Jewish man. This was probably another factor that made the old rich fear and stigmatize the new rich, as this time period in the United States was known for very xenophobic attitudes towards Eastern, Central-Eastern, and Southern European immigrants. The fact that these people were able to attain great wealth very likely aggravated the members of the new rich. This group has the least power and is the most exploited and effected by the other two groups. It should be noted that all of the main characters from the working class and the new rich end up dying tragically. Possibly representing the hopelessness of actually reaching the “American dream.”

What is the social or economic class of the author?

     F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in an upper-middle class family in the Minnesota that later moved to Buffalo, however his father soon lost his job and the family had to move back to the Midwest. From then on, they lived a working-class lifestyle, but his mother’s wealthier family was able to fund his education. He went to Princeton where he began to interact with the extremely wealth. He had a relationship with a socialite from Chicago, but the relationship ended because her father didn’t approve of him, due to him being poorer. It’s very likely that his ambivalent attitude towards the rich began here, he was very resentful of them but also envied their status. This attitude can be seen reflected in the character of Gatsby. Gatsby coming from a humble background was eventually rejected by Daisy, who chose Tom’s social status over Gatsby. Gatsby was desperate to become wealthy in order for Daisy to accept him.  The same desperation was seen in Fitzgerald when he married his wife Zelda, who also desire a life of luxury. Eventually with his writing that luxury did come. The social dynamics of West vs. East Egg and the New vs. Old Rich seem to heavily be based on Fitzgerald’s own experiences living in New York, and on his criticisms towards those born rich and their prejudice towards who became socially mobilized.  

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Notes on a (few) Scandal(s) and Resilience: 4th. Journal Entry - July 8th, 2020

     Elements of resilience are found throughout the Great Gatsby. Most notably it can be seen around the relationship dynamics of different people. I’ll be focusing on the “love-triangle” relationship of Daisy-Gatsby-Tom and how they all showed resilience.  

“For Daisy was young and her artificial world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes. All night the saxophones wailed the hopeless comment of the Beale Street Blues while a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust. At the grey tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor.“

     Gatsby is a young soldier being deployed when he meets Daisy in Louisville. He falls in love with her, but they are parted when he leaves for the war. Daisy ends engaged to Tom, and before the wedding she gets drunk after receiving a letter from Gatsby, telling her not to get married. She does so anyways. In this episode Daisy shows resilience, because she struggles with her emotions to the point of having a breakdown. She struggles to choose between “love” and “money,” but in the end she makes the decision that she feels is best for her. We see that like the fulcrum diagram below, Daisy weight her options. Her choice to sacrifice love for a more economically stable life by marrying Tom shows resilience as she believed it would bring out a positive outcome for herself. The quote above highlights Daisy’s choice. 

"Can't repeat the past?" he cried incredulously. "Why of course you can!" He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.

     On the other hand, Gatsby’s desperation to win back Daisy is an example of how he showed resilience in face of adversity. He morphed from a heartbroken poverty-stricken young soldier to a boot-legging mogul. No matter how rejected he felt or how much time had passed he didn’t give up on the hopeful sentiment of winning Daisy back. He put himself into danger by getting involved in organized crime, and it eventually paid off. He was able to win back Daisy, even if for a short period.  The quote above highlights Gatsby’s disillusion and desperation to return back to what he and Daisy had before, after all the difficulty he put into having that chance.

     Tom and Daisy’s relationship also showed similar strives of resilience. First Daisy questions whether she should marry him, and then eventually convinces herself to do so. Years later when Gatsby returns and wins her back, it seems like her and Tom’s relationship is doomed. However, seeds of doubt start to grow in Daisy’s mind, leading to the New York apartment scene where we see Tom himself showing resilience. Tom realizes he is being betrayed by his wife, which breaks him, but also strengthens his conviction to win her back and make their marriage work. He is adamant on reminding Daisy of how good she has apparently had it with him. Eventually, after Myrtle Wilson is killed, Daisy does choose to return to Tom to maintain her social status. She also forgives him for his affair. Despite all the rockiness in their marriage, they end up staying together showing resilience in their relationship.  

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”    

     One of the themes of the novel is the American dream and hope for socioeconomic mobilization. We can link this theme with the concepts presented above related to Gatsby’s desperation to win back Daisy. Just like the poor in a capitalist society, Gatsby does anything to try to change his economic situation. He hopes to leave his miserable condition and for a while all he has is hope.  This can be said of many people who live in poverty as well. Similarly, in poverty-stricken areas people often become desperate to survive and turn to crime; which is exactly what Gatsby did himself. The quote above focuses on the symbol of the green light that Gatsby would reach out to, the light that represented his hope to be with Daisy again.

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made….”

   One of the things I think F. Scott Fitzgerald says about resilience is that it can come in many shapes. It’s human and animal instinct to want to fight to survive. People may do things that may not seem noble, like turning to crime or marrying for money. However, in the end these actions are still acts of resilience. The quote above reflects on the irony of resilience, what is resilience for one may cause destruction for another. 

[cris-eng4u-journals]

Biographical and Historical Context: 3rd. Journal Entry - July 3, 2020

     What’s interesting about the Great Gatsby is the overlap between the novel its and the author. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author, lived in the same time period as the novel and many of the narrative's settings are based on those, he experienced himself. You can find traces of him and his own life in various characters and events in the story. Fitzgerald paints a picture for us of what life was like during that time; a time of post-war economic growth (the roaring 20s), of prohibition, and shift in socioeconomic and cultural paradigms (the image of the Flapper in the Jazz Age or the dichotomy between the old rich vs. the new rich).

     One thing I’ve realized is the overlap between F. Scott Fitzgerald and two characters: Nick and Gatsby. It seems a lot of his own story became incarnated in these two characters.  

     Like Nick, he was born in Minnesota and moved to New York. Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived in Long Neck, NY which served as an inspiration for West Egg. His publisher Herbert Bayard Swope was known to throw wild parties like Gatsby. F. Scott and Zelda were also known for their wild shenanigans and heavy drinking. Zelda claimed that a lot of what F. Scott wrote was based on “voyeuristic” behavior toward his friends. Much of the tone seen in the novel, or particularly Nick’s narration seems to serve as an analysis of Fitzgerlad’s own peers, criticizing their lifestyles and morals.

     On the other hand, Gatsby seems in some ways to be a self-insert for Fitzgerald. Unlike Fitzgerald he doesn’t drink, this may be an idealized perception of Fitzgerald, possibly desiring that he didn’t drink as much as he did.  Similarly, to Gatsby, Fitzgerald strove to attain wealth and did so through capitalizing on his writing. Both his and Gatsby’s desire to become wealthy were rooted in trying to appease the desires of their lovers, both Daisy and Zelda dreamed of having rich partners. The shaky relationship dynamics of Gatsby/Daisy and Tom/Daisy also seem to allude to that of F. Scott and Zelda, whose marriage was very troubled. There is a passage in The Great Gatsby, which apparently came directly, verbatim, from an interaction between the author and his wife:

"It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about--things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said. 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool--that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.'"

     Fitzgerald does an excellent job at depicting life at the time. The era of Jazz, economic boom, and prohibition are all tied craftily into the social analysis seen in the story. The classicist views of the old rich, reflect many themes of colonial and aristocratic suspicion. For example, in many western European colonies the British, Spanish, Portuguese, French etc. would often view those born in the colonies, especially if they were lower-class as racially suspicious – due to their closer proximity with non-white individuals. In feudal and post-feudal Europe similar attitudes were held by aristocrats towards the gentry. These mentalities can be seen in the dichotomy of the old vs. new rich. The old rich often viewed the new rich as suspicious, because their paradigm of class lines was being shattered. They also viewed the new rich as suspicious because they assumed that their riches came from illicit means, like working in the booze business during prohibition. Although this might’ve been true for many, it ironically didn’t stop the new rich from also partaking in alcohol culture, hypocritically. The novel also deconstructs and disillusions the notion of the American Dream, which was so often believed and is to this day. Despite how rich the “new rich” became, they could never fully get the respect of the “old rich.” It’s possible that Fitzgerald felt this attitude from the members of the upper class he interacted with.

[cris-eng4u-journals]

Why Did I Choose the Novel?: 2nd. Journal Entry - July 2, 2020

   The factor that drew me to the Great Gatsby initially was watching the 2013 film adaptation of the novel. I was very entranced by the cinematography and the plot of the movie. I wanted to compare the movie to the book and judge how they contrast. 

     When I began to read more background information about the novel, I learned that it was rich in literary techniques. I’m very interested in literary and cinematic concepts related to symbolism, deconstruction of content, subtext, and so on. I’m more aware of these concepts when they come to film, as literature has always been more of a challenge for me. So I saw this as a chance to motivate myself in order to become more knowledgeable in these concepts; what other way then doing so by using a text that masters in this art? I find it fascinating to discover how words can have hidden meanings or how words can paint pictures, and so far the novel has been doing a good job at that. The book also gives a good example of how literary techniques can be way more effective than cinematic ones. For example, the presence of the Dr. TJ Eckleburg advertisement, is presented with so many deeper layers in the book than it is in the movie.

     Another factor that drew me to the novel was its historic dissection of American society; the themes of the American dream, the unique structures of class, and classism in the United States. The novel seemed like it set a good framework for commenting on these socio-economic concepts, while still having a coherent and exciting plot. This is most clearly seen in the topics focusing on the old rich vs. the new rich, and the interactions between them and those living in poverty like those in the valley of ashes. 

    Time period pieces are also something that interest me. The 1920 period before the first and second world wars are quite fascinating eras. It interests me to wonder how people lived during that time, especially the wealthy, and makes me wonder what became of them after the Great Depression or the 2nd World War. This period was also one of prohibition, so I’m curious to compare what I know about history with that of the novel. It also makes me wonder about greater society and how legislation doesn’t effect everyone in society equally, or how people can use the infringement of laws to change their financial situation. Since the Great Gatsby was written in 1924, during the prohibition era, it especially drew my curiosity.

[cris-eng4u-journals]

Reading Schedule: 1st. Journal Entry - June 29, 2020

June 2020 - July 2020