:Valerie’s Blog

“He wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (148).

Gatsby could not possibly leave Daisy even though he knows that he has no chance with her at this point. She was his whole life and all he wanted to do was to relieve their past relationship. His expectations of her were always exceedingly high, there was no practical way that she would leave Tom, especially because Tom wouldn’t leave her. When he was with Myrtle, Tom gave the unreasonable, false, excuse that he couldn’t divorce Daisy because of her religion, which wasn’t even the case. At this point in their relationship, Tom was preparing to go back to his life with Daisy, at least temporarily, because Myrtle was being forced to move west with Mr. Wilson. We do know that Myrtle isn’t Toms only lover that he has besides Daisy, but as of right now there doesn’t seem to be anyone else. It is possible that Tom is done what that business on the side, as he does have severe feelings for his own wife- seen when he punches Myrtle for mentioning Daisys name. This quote is from when Nick is watching Gatsby watch over Daisy in fear that Tom will hurt her, and Nick cannot crush Gatsbys last hope for anything between them, even if there’s no possibliliy now. Nick also says to Gatsby when he leaves him for the last time the next morning,  

“‘They’re a rotten crowd,’ I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from begining to end” (154).

If there’s anyone who knows the secrets of these wealthy East and West Eggers, it’s Nick. He’s been a witness to all of their potentially horrible crimes against their spouces, but has also seen the happiness that they exhib when they are with their (ther) significant other. Here’s the top 10 signs that your spouce is cheating on you, but I don’t think that that is the problem that the groups are having. Daisy knows that Tom has someone in the city, practically everyone does, but we never seem to really see how she feels about that. She doesn’t seem upset, she just accepts it and scolds Tom for talking on the phone as opposed to being with those who are haivng dinner at their house. Mr. Wilson definetly suspects that Myrtle is up to no good, expecially after the day that Tom punched her, and he decides to fix this by going out west. I think that this is a viable choice for the Wilsons because Myrtle isn’t the type to initiate an affair, but things happened with Tom because he was so forward and forceful in a way.

Nick has intentionally made himself an outsider here, maybe to distance himself from the crime, maybe to make us pity him and see he doesn’t fit in, but I think it’s because he knows that these people are indeed “a rotten crowd” and doesn’t want to be involved with a lack or morals anymore. It disgusts him, even if he has put up with it for all this time, and it’s time for Nick to get out.

“I thanked him for his hospitality. We were always thanking him for that- I and the others” (154)

Gatsbys death is a sad thing, but will anyone really miss him? He seems to be a forgotten soul who throws parties and is a source of entertainment, but doesn’t have a significant value to anyone, except possibly Daisy. But we’ll never know.

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“’Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly. That was it. I’d never understood it before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it…High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl…” (120).

Gatsby sees Daisy as beautiful, even in the way she speaks. She is charming, to both Gatsby and Tom, and it is a charm that never dies. Even if Tom has, or had, Myrtle, he still loves Daisy and is visibly upset at Gatsby for disrupting their perfect home life and their marriage, even though he has done the same thing. Gatsby cannot stop loving Daisy either, and she has been the object of his affection for more than five years, even though she has been absent for most of it. The jingle of Daisys voice is just one more beautiful womenly thing about her. It is a word that signifies that she is carefree and without worries. Again, the phrase, the king’s daughter, the golden girl, emphasizes that Daisy has no worries and has everything set for her.

Daisy and Gatsby are different in the sense that although they are both extremely wealthy, and at that point that is not something worth admiring another over, but how they obtained their money warrents different responses. This is an article comparing new and old money, the two types of contrasting money that Gatsby and Daisy have. Gatsby has made his own money, and is a huge success in West Egg, but is looked down upon by many of the East Eggers, including Tom. It is unfortunate that those who have worked hard for success are seen as worse than those who do nothing to earn money, but that is how society worked then.

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“The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (98).

Gatsby had his new name ready for a long time, according to Nick. He refused to believe his poor farming parents were really his parents, and even from the beginning sought to be better than he was. This is a self inspired American Dream, to do better than your parents and to continue to imporve upon your condition. Gatsby takes his second opportunity at freedom with Dan Cody. He first fails at educating himself because he is embarrassed by his job as a janitor. Gatsby cannot stoop to something lower than he wants to achieve more. He assumes that wealth will come to him, and it did to an extent when Cody dies, but then Katz ends up getting the $25,000. This experience with Cody was good for Gatsby in many respects, he learned to appriciate the value of alcohol and the extreme effects it can have as well as motivating him to go out and make his own wealth.

The new, wealthy Gatsby is the greatest thing ever, in his mind. Ishmael also calls Moby Dick platonic, as is Gatsbys image of his created self. As the white whale is all that Ahab can love because of its effects on him, Gatsby loves himself to an unhealthy degree. He lacks manners, and uses his smile to his advantage, but often gets lucky, especially with not meeting Tom for a long time (100-1).

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“A phrase began to beat in my ears with a sort of heady excitement: ‘There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired” (79).

This quote confused me, as did the song, the Sheik of Araby. At first reading of the lyrics to the song, I thought it was describing how great Gatsby was, that he had all the women worshiping him, which didn’t seem to be true. The only thing I could gain from the song is that Gatsby may knwo what love is all about because he hasn’t lost his love for Daisy over all this time without her. To me, although Gatsby is more alive because he has a method to his madness of staring into the sea and throwing parties, he still seems like an observer.

Gatsby has been watching and hoping for Daisy for years, and it’s questionable if he will be able to pull it together when he’s around her and his dream comes true. Gatsby gets whatever he wants with his money, even getting away from the policeman without a problem from the Christmas card, but now will daisy take him?Even at the time of the wedding daisy was obsessed with Gatsby, getting and holding on to a letter from him right before the wedding, but she, unlike Tom, has remained faithful, so what does this mean for Gatsby?

This article compares those who have money to those who are not rich, and what it takes to make them happy. Richer people, like Gatsby, have higher expectations, because they can and are used to getting their wants fulfilled, so it takes more to make them happy. It also says that relationships prevail in happiness over money, and they are more important and can become the focus of ones life.

I’m the Sheik of Araby,
Your love belongs to me.
At night when you’re asleep
Into your tent I’ll creep.

And the stars that shine above,
Will light our way to love.
You’ll roam this land with me,
I’m the Sheik of Araby.

Oh, I’m the Sheik of Araby
And all the women worship me.
You should see them follow me around. Not bad.
Even wives of all the other sheiks,
They beg to kiss my rosy cheeks
And that ain’t bad — in fact, that’s good, I’ve found. I’m a cad!
When I lay down to sleep
I’m counting girls instead of sheep
From my harem I can’t scare ‘em out. Why should I?
They’re beauties from all races,
And some have pretty faces.
I’m the Sheik who knows what love is all about.

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” ‘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.’ ” (17)

Since I read this book the first time, this quote has really stuck out in my mind. This is Daisy talking about her 3 year old child and what she hopes she would become to her cousin, Nick. Daisy knows that a girl with beauty may not do as well in the world, but will be happier in the long run. Daisy is not a fool and knows what is going on, about Tom’s girl in the city, and just has intelligence in general. This is not what most women strive for in society, and those who obtain it are not always the happiest just because it’s not what other want and is thus less expected. A girl who is a fool is better off and will be happier because she can be ignorant, as powerful as knowledge is.  

Looks seem to be everything in the world, and races will always prevail, according to Tom.

”This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.”(13).

Obama is the man who has disproved that the other races, namely African-Americans, are not a race to be controlled or looked otu for, but can control others too, not necessarily in a bad way. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=obama&st=cse 

Obama has been elected by the people of the counrty as a person to lead everyone. He is a race that is actually becoming more of a dominant race, and does have control of things, but he is capable.

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