Outer circle members, please post your thinking here. Remember to be respectful and focused. Use the blog only to discuss The Great Gatsby. You are either use the leaders' questions OR you can start your own discussion based upon questions, connections, and themes.
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In order to receive full credit, you should post at least three times with textual evidence, ie "Quote" (Fitzgerald 20).
Happy Blogging!
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ReplyDelete“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 162). Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to use the word holocaust to describe Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths?
ReplyDeleteI think the usage of the term holocaust is used to illuminate how Gatsby and Wilson were not deserving of their deaths. Daisy is the reason for Myrtle's death not Gatsby. Myrtle's former lover, Tom, and Daisy are empty of any remorse as they are described to be conspiring right after Myrtle's death at the end of chapter 7. "Anybody would have said that they were conspiring" says Nick as he is peeping into the window to reassure Gatsby that Tom will not harm her. While Gatsby is having Nick spying on Daisy because he is concerned for her safety, Daisy was conspiring with the man who was cheating on her with the women she just killed. Tom and Daisy are painted as the real villains here, but Gatsby and Wilson, the victims, are the ones who tragically die.
Deletethe quote is on page 145 end of my chapter 7
Delete“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 162). Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to use the word holocaust to describe Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths?
ReplyDelete“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 162). Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to use the word holocaust to describe Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths?
ReplyDelete“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 162). Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to use the word holocaust to describe Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths?
ReplyDelete“It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete” (Fitzgerald 162). Why do you think Fitzgerald chose to use the word holocaust to describe Gatsby’s and Wilson’s deaths?
ReplyDeleteThe second definition of the word holocaust means "a Jewish sacrificial offering that is burned completely on the altar". Since there were only three deaths (in a way that could be a lot so I can see why Fitzgerald used this world) I don't think it means the first definition where it means mass destruction. On the second to last page of chapter 8, it says "...and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass (Fitzgerald 161)." It describes how the sun was hot on the ground and I think that Fitzgerald meant this as a representative to the Jewish offering burning on altar. Although I don't know how Wilson's death could be a sacrifice.
DeleteI think that he would bring up the controversy because he knows that he is better than Tom and is confident that Daisy is going to stay with him although they are married. I also think that other people's perception of Gatsby are still very unknown since he was mysterious early on. They think so highly of him because nobody really knows him, they just know the idea of him.
ReplyDeleteThis was on page 164 of my book.
DeleteOn my page 164 when Gatsby said, "She never loved you, do you hear?"( Fitzgerald 164) Gatsby seemed very defensive. If he knows that Daisy loves him why does he feel the need to have to prove it to everyone else. I think he did this in order to prove to Tom and everyone else that he is better than all of the "old money" people that live around there and the idea of taking Daisy away from Tom was what he was really fighting for.
ReplyDeleteAfter Myrtle was hit by the car and everyone was back in West Egg, we learned that Daisy was driving the car when Gatsby said, "Yes,' he said after a moment.'but of course I'll say I was."(Fitzgerald, 181). What would have happened if Daisy would have taken the blame for the incident?
ReplyDeleteGatsby is hands down more obsessed with Daisy's wealth than actually being in love with her. He is more obsessed over the idea of her than actually having a relationship with her. Gatsby always comments on the rich/lavish life that she had, "She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby -- nothing," (pg. 149). In a way, Gatsby only admired what she had other than her personality. This was his motivation to become a rich man, to somehow win over Daisy and become a status symbol.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I believe Gatsby's love for Daisy, while obsessive, was a love for her not her money. At the end of my chapter four Jordan tells Nick that Gatsby wants Nick to have Daisy over for tea. Nick has a realization, 'He [Gatsby] waited five year and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths-- so that he could "come over" some afternoon to a stranger's garden" (78). Gatsby had through extravagant parties to common goers in his enormous house for months simply to catch her attention. He was willing to shell out extensive amounts of money with a goal to have afternoon tea with her. He valued his time with her so much that it could not be bought by any amount of money.
DeleteTo the question about Gatsby bringing up controversial topics, I agree that it helps Gatsby believe that he is a God. However, Gatsby seems to start falling apart when Daisy admits to loving Tom at one point. Gatsby wants to believe that Daisy only ever loved Gatsby by continuously saying "You never loved him" to her (Page 132). Once Daisy starts crying and admits to loving Tom at one point, Gatsby seems to fall apart saying "I want to speak with Daisy alone (Page 133). In a way, it starts to show Gatsby's downfall. When the reader first meets him, he is well controlled, but in this scene, Gatsby loses control and cannot contain himself. Later on in chapter 8, he is killed, showing that Gatsby fell really quickly from being a well controlled man to a messy man with a bad temper.
ReplyDeleteGatsby not using his pool is a pretty important idea. A pool is a decently expensive thing to run, but Gatsby didn't seem to use it, as he stated on page 153. I believe this pool seems to show Gatsby's wealth. Before then, Gatsby didn't use his wealth at all and would only use his money to throw parties with hope that Daisy will come by. However when Daisy and Gatsby get in a fight, he goes to rest in his pool. He might have realized that although he didn't get Daisy to love him, he still has an immense amount of wealth to live on, with or without Daisy.
I agree that Gatsby is portrayed as wealthy like all of the Old-Money people, but he seems to not care much about his money like the other group. He only likes his money because Daisy might like Gatsby more because of his wealth. Gatsby was said to be a great captain in WWI (150). But, this ended up making him upset since he wasn’t able to get back home to see Daisy. Daisy is his most important possession, yet he hasn’t been able to possess her himself. He started loving Daisy, but no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to ever win Daisy over.
The biggest loss of The Lost Generation is meaningful relationships. Every character throughout this book has had a broken relationship such as Daisy and Tom, Tom and Myrtle, Myrtle and Mr. Wilson, Daisy and Gatsby. I believe this was a personal connection between the novel and Fitzgerald considering that he had a somewhat failing marriage with his mentally ill wife.
ReplyDeleteNick says to Gatsby "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together" then continues to explain that this is the only compliment that he ever told Gatsby because "I {Nick} disapproved of him form the begging to end" (154). Nick also says in the begging that Gatsby an extraordinary gift for hope. How can Nick disapprove of Gatsby so strongly but observe such a strong sense of hope from him?
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