The "Great" Blog

The Mysterious Gatsby

hrv1023 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:33:50 +0000

Part of Gatsby’s mysteriousness is his constant and ominous phone calls from all around the country. This just confirms for me that Gatsby is a kind of high class mobster and that he is up to no good. Gatsby is constantly and very involved in what appears to be a successful business and yet he keeps it a secret, even from Nick. The phone calls also represent a new modern age the same way that the parties do. The telephone gives people the ability to constantly be connected and able to reach each other, a new and revolutionary idea. This also disconnects Gatsby from the parties the calls interrupt and the world going on around him. Gatsby is very closed off and private about his business and himself, which lead to the many stories people come up with about him. These stories also add to the mysterious Gatsby’s mysteriousness. Throughout the book you often think you know who Gatsby is and feel like you trust him, and then he does something to make you question him yet again. His mysteriousness is almost an appeal to both the reader and the characters in the book, especially his party guests.

Discussion Question from Devon

lrobertson32 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:38:54 +0000

What attracts Gatsby to Daisy? What does he see in her?

so i finished this dreadf…

Autodidact — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:31:08 +0000

yeah just finished the last 80 pages. hell of a sit down read. but i’m still not happy about it. somehow i feel like nick has some phantom knowledge, he shouldn’t know all the he knows… like what happened after they left the garage… im speaking of page 156. its ambiguous how he obtains this info. kind of important… I feel sorry for Gatsby. and his father. but his father seems rather pathetic. and i feel that if Gatsby had really been a moral good man he would have let his father in on his wealth… I don’t think Nick should leave, i feel like its him running away from his past… the end scene is nice, a kind of “the old, unknown world” as if the world were our personal friend… right… all the woman become lyrically constipated towards the end. they don’t speak enough, its mostly observations… Tom is an ignorant fool. High horse much? oh where oh where have all our butlers gone…? my view of the book has lightened. but it still felt like a sorry, cliche read. if you couldnt guess Gatsby was going to die, then i dont know what to say. someone always dies… and someone finds themselves … “green light.”

Jordan Baker

hrv1023 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:30:45 +0000

The writing assignment for monday that I never turned in!

Jordan Baker is the modern woman, but still Victorian in many respects. She is a sportswoman, a well known golfer, and very strong and independent with no family or to to fall back on. However, Jordan is still proper and classy, and not nearly as flirtacious or free-spirited as Daisy Buchannan. Nick is intrigued by Jordan and convinces himself that he loves he despite her less appealing traits. Jordan is described as being, “incurably dishonest,” and is known for both cheating in golf and for leaving a borrowed car with the top down in the rain and lieing about it. Jordan is also rather stubborn, excepting that she is a bad driver, but refusing to do anything about it claiming that, “it takes two to make an accident,” and trusting that others will drive safely for her. She is an interesting character because she is, from my point of view, the only strong female role in the book, but she also gives me a number of reasons to dislike her. Personally, I like Jordan Baker and find her dishonesty to be a sort of comic relief, and can relate to the awkwardness of being caught in a lie and find myself sympathising with her. Jordan is also likeable due to her blatant independence from the femal mold of the time. She is an athlete, single, without a family, and constantly traveling solo, all of which go against the social norm of the 1920′s and makes her a sort of radical.

Nick

emilyannebrown — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:29:34 +0000

It seems like most novels written in first person are written from the perspective of someone deeply involved in the main love story/scandal/conflict. In The Great Gatsby, however, the narrator is sort of like an outside witness. Although Nick becomes involved with Daisy and Gatsby’s story, it remains just that- their story. Nick is mainly an observer. In my opinion, this makes Nick more relatable me as a reader, because just like him, I have the exterior perspective of everything that is happening. I think this adds an interesting edge to the novel by allowing us to see the events through Nick’s lense.

This is a post

tomrathe — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:27:54 +0000

Is a post

names

emilyannebrown — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:27:32 +0000

At the beginning of chapter four, Nick lists the names of guests of Gatsby’s parties during the summer of 1922. He says that the list “will give you a better impression the my generalities of those who accepted Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him.” How does Nick’s seemingly endless list speak to the social superficiality of the 1920′s?

chapter two page 37

andreacolagrande — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:27:10 +0000

“Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”

At the end of the second chapter Tom and Myrtle are at Myrtle sister ‘s house. They were discussing whether Mrs Wilson had any right to mention Daisy ‘s name. Tom advised her to stop and, at a certain point, he did not let her finish the name, and he punches her in the face.

The importance of the passage is that Tom is affirming his male chauvinism. The reason why he did it is because she is not his wife but his mistress.This behavior would not be acceptable in society if she was his wife.

this is my title. iam aing

hrv1023 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:26:34 +0000

hi.

deathstoper003 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:26:08 +0000

does this work?