When I was a girl, I read The Great Gatsby and loved it. When I say "girl", I mean I was in high school. Now I am reading it again, and this time I understand it.
I always thought F. Scott and Zelda were the epitome of wealth and extremes. I think I was right, but in the wrong way...
Lou, I've read Gatsby at least 10 times (dork!), and every time I read it I understand more. It's really a perfect novel. So layered. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteGood job on the blog Lou. You highlight the main symbolic idea that I was thinking of while I was reading the novel. Throughout my reading I kept thinking of how does the Great Gatsby relate to the American Studies until it hit me toward the last chapter that it is really the way Fitzgerald indirectly compares the East Egg and West Egg sections. I fully understood the comparison when we watched the movie today in class. I was really interesting to see the East Egg portrayed as a rotten, beat down part of New York while the West Egg was viewed as beautiful, clean section of the city filled with colonial estates. One interesting connection that I happened to have today during class is how Gatsby and all of the rich who haven't inherited their wealth were defined as the “newly” rich. Back in Russia we label all the rich people who made their wealth of the oil as “New Russians.”
ReplyDeletei really like the connection you had made in your blog about Gatsby being similar to Buffalo Bill because both characters had abandoned their original personality in order to create a romanticized character that other would admire. I completely agree with your ideas because it makes total sense of how both characters dropped their original names in order to erase their character flaws and took on new personalities. Overall I found the Great Gatsby to be a difficult read because at certain parts it is unclear on which character is speaking and where the setting is taking place so I found myself thinking more about that instead of looking for symbolism, however I do think that in the future if I read the book i would most likely really enjoy it after having more life experience. Keep up the good work.