Was Gatsby Great? The Great Gatsby Part 2: Crash Course English Literature #5
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Date: 2022-04-04
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Comments and reviews: 10
Stefanie
I mean, I agree that the book does a great job of reminding us all how hopeless life in america is. I mean, it's very very difficult and one would have to either be very lucky or very privileged to have a chance at perusing The American Dream.
Also how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor and the rich prey on the poor without much care or consequence.
As far as Gatsby. at first he was easy to love, he was very charming and everything. But when he starts to lose control of Daisy (she won't tell Tom that she never loved him(Because surprise! Daisy is a human being and not an object -wife- trophy to win/keep/control) he. becomes unrecognizable. He becomes a desperate controlling manipulative person and honestly it is a bit scary and I didn't blame Daisy for being upset.
So I don't know. I think it's charming that he wanted to better himself and make his dreams come true, but I think it's important to remember that people have their own autonomy and probably shouldn't be to involved in dream planning because they're not really controllable. merpaderp
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I mean, I agree that the book does a great job of reminding us all how hopeless life in america is. I mean, it's very very difficult and one would have to either be very lucky or very privileged to have a chance at perusing The American Dream.
Also how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor and the rich prey on the poor without much care or consequence.
As far as Gatsby. at first he was easy to love, he was very charming and everything. But when he starts to lose control of Daisy (she won't tell Tom that she never loved him(Because surprise! Daisy is a human being and not an object -wife- trophy to win/keep/control) he. becomes unrecognizable. He becomes a desperate controlling manipulative person and honestly it is a bit scary and I didn't blame Daisy for being upset.
So I don't know. I think it's charming that he wanted to better himself and make his dreams come true, but I think it's important to remember that people have their own autonomy and probably shouldn't be to involved in dream planning because they're not really controllable. merpaderp
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Natalie
Is Gatsby great? Well, first you would have to define what greatness is to you. To Fitzgerald it seems like greatness is defined by your compassion as a human being rather than the wealth you attain. As much as I wish Gatsby was great, I have to say that he ultimately isn't according to that definition.
Everything Gatsby did wasn't for Daisy herself- it was for this unrealistic idea of her that he had. In fact I would say that all the riches he obtained just to get her attention was SELFISH. The way he demands Daisy to admit that she didn't love Tom is a perfect example of how far this insensitivity extends. Is it really true love if you are trying to manipulate how another human being has felt in the past? That doesn't sound like empathy to me.
It is not all black and white though. I guess each person can have some amount of greatness/compassion in them. So, Gatsby can be said to be great or not so great depending on how you define it.
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Is Gatsby great? Well, first you would have to define what greatness is to you. To Fitzgerald it seems like greatness is defined by your compassion as a human being rather than the wealth you attain. As much as I wish Gatsby was great, I have to say that he ultimately isn't according to that definition.
Everything Gatsby did wasn't for Daisy herself- it was for this unrealistic idea of her that he had. In fact I would say that all the riches he obtained just to get her attention was SELFISH. The way he demands Daisy to admit that she didn't love Tom is a perfect example of how far this insensitivity extends. Is it really true love if you are trying to manipulate how another human being has felt in the past? That doesn't sound like empathy to me.
It is not all black and white though. I guess each person can have some amount of greatness/compassion in them. So, Gatsby can be said to be great or not so great depending on how you define it.
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Tina
I agree with you in you're take away. Gatsby was great with dire faults. I didn't read the book, but saw the movie, I saw it when I was 13, but didn't pay much attention. When I saw it again at 15, I found many messages. I admire Gatsby for building himself from the ground up, but the only mistakes he makes are lying about his true origins and sticking with the selfish, useless, and goldigging Daisy. The only innocent person in this story is Nick. I believe this because he is Gatsby's true friend, he arranges his meet up with Daisy and Gatsby as a friendly favor rather then payback and the only one who cares and showed at his funeral. He like Gatsby suffers for the sins of the rich, he is cheated on by the successful golfer Jordan Baker, and his alcohol problem was started by Tom. I love this story and I love your lesson on this.
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I agree with you in you're take away. Gatsby was great with dire faults. I didn't read the book, but saw the movie, I saw it when I was 13, but didn't pay much attention. When I saw it again at 15, I found many messages. I admire Gatsby for building himself from the ground up, but the only mistakes he makes are lying about his true origins and sticking with the selfish, useless, and goldigging Daisy. The only innocent person in this story is Nick. I believe this because he is Gatsby's true friend, he arranges his meet up with Daisy and Gatsby as a friendly favor rather then payback and the only one who cares and showed at his funeral. He like Gatsby suffers for the sins of the rich, he is cheated on by the successful golfer Jordan Baker, and his alcohol problem was started by Tom. I love this story and I love your lesson on this.
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Content
I just think of this novel as a very elaborate representation of few rather privilged whimpers. Who had opportunities and ample success but were driven blind by their unrealistic grasp of reality and thus tumbling down lower than the before.
It is in all its magnificence a first world problem rant entry.
As long as people control themselves they are fine, as soon as they try to evade or hijack other's sense of perception and attempt to dictate by replacement of self-centered perspective. Things went off the hook.
I sympathize with Gatsby but he is total whack-job. He is so presumptuous by his past and insecure in his present that despite coming very close to realizing his dream, he practically shuns it out by introducing unwarranted expectations and conditions to it. I mean come on dude. Chillax!
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I just think of this novel as a very elaborate representation of few rather privilged whimpers. Who had opportunities and ample success but were driven blind by their unrealistic grasp of reality and thus tumbling down lower than the before.
It is in all its magnificence a first world problem rant entry.
As long as people control themselves they are fine, as soon as they try to evade or hijack other's sense of perception and attempt to dictate by replacement of self-centered perspective. Things went off the hook.
I sympathize with Gatsby but he is total whack-job. He is so presumptuous by his past and insecure in his present that despite coming very close to realizing his dream, he practically shuns it out by introducing unwarranted expectations and conditions to it. I mean come on dude. Chillax!
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davdin2
One might think the Great Gatsby is a tragedy. But it is not. For at a brief moment in time, he knew, with all his heart, that his love was waiting on the other side of the phone. Nothing could have saved him from his truth. All his desires, ambitions, efforts, and pain were realized and worthy for one brief moment in time. And as he reached for the phone awash in elation and desire, for once in his life, he was complete, satisfied and happy. In the selfish and cold world of Gasby, there could be no more other happy ending than this.
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One might think the Great Gatsby is a tragedy. But it is not. For at a brief moment in time, he knew, with all his heart, that his love was waiting on the other side of the phone. Nothing could have saved him from his truth. All his desires, ambitions, efforts, and pain were realized and worthy for one brief moment in time. And as he reached for the phone awash in elation and desire, for once in his life, he was complete, satisfied and happy. In the selfish and cold world of Gasby, there could be no more other happy ending than this.
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Luis
I very much agree that we don-t the characters because we or the people we know share their traits. I also a gree that Gatsby-s initial attraction to daisy wasn-t entirely based on daisy herself. However i disagree that the book masterfully portrayed the themes of america. I mean sure it did included a basic understanding of the economic happenings of the roaring twenties, however, i feel that Fitzgerald just tried to create a story to reach the economic support he claims to despise and that story just so happened to be in that time.
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I very much agree that we don-t the characters because we or the people we know share their traits. I also a gree that Gatsby-s initial attraction to daisy wasn-t entirely based on daisy herself. However i disagree that the book masterfully portrayed the themes of america. I mean sure it did included a basic understanding of the economic happenings of the roaring twenties, however, i feel that Fitzgerald just tried to create a story to reach the economic support he claims to despise and that story just so happened to be in that time.
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Javan
I always felt that Gatsby was the American version of a Greek Tragic Hero. He is after Ithica, the Golden Fleece or immortality in the vision of what he thought Daisy to be. It didn't really exist and he couldn't see that til the end. Just like many ancient heroes (like Iolus to Hercules) Gatsby had someone to pass on his tale with Carroway. Mystical all seeing eyes, journeys to near magical lands (Underworld. New York. Olympus. East Egg. so many comparisons could be made.
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I always felt that Gatsby was the American version of a Greek Tragic Hero. He is after Ithica, the Golden Fleece or immortality in the vision of what he thought Daisy to be. It didn't really exist and he couldn't see that til the end. Just like many ancient heroes (like Iolus to Hercules) Gatsby had someone to pass on his tale with Carroway. Mystical all seeing eyes, journeys to near magical lands (Underworld. New York. Olympus. East Egg. so many comparisons could be made.
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Jd
I believe Gatsby is great because his intentions were the most pure. Gatsby just wanted to become what he aspired to be. A rich high class man with a high class lady. He worshipped the idea of Daisy, he couldn't see past what she truly wanted in him and it wasn't love, she really just wanted attention and a man to get back at Tom and make him Jealous. Gatsby and Myrtle were blinded by what the idea and epitome of being an American is.
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I believe Gatsby is great because his intentions were the most pure. Gatsby just wanted to become what he aspired to be. A rich high class man with a high class lady. He worshipped the idea of Daisy, he couldn't see past what she truly wanted in him and it wasn't love, she really just wanted attention and a man to get back at Tom and make him Jealous. Gatsby and Myrtle were blinded by what the idea and epitome of being an American is.
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Emily
Idk if this was done intentionally, but the fact that -young- John Green was wearing a Holden Caulfield shirt while naively saying Gatsby was a bad person is really fitting. Holden immediately judges without giving a second thought, which is kinda what-s happening there. It-s also slightly ironic, because in the novel, Holden says he admires Gatsby
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Idk if this was done intentionally, but the fact that -young- John Green was wearing a Holden Caulfield shirt while naively saying Gatsby was a bad person is really fitting. Holden immediately judges without giving a second thought, which is kinda what-s happening there. It-s also slightly ironic, because in the novel, Holden says he admires Gatsby
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TheRatt96
Gatsby (can't remember reading it, been a few years) was stuck in the past too much and even if he succeed in getting Daisy then what? What personality or interests does he have, hes stuck in the past and never learned to love the present. The Daisy he knew is dead, will he love the present Daisy if he succeed in getting her back.
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Gatsby (can't remember reading it, been a few years) was stuck in the past too much and even if he succeed in getting Daisy then what? What personality or interests does he have, hes stuck in the past and never learned to love the present. The Daisy he knew is dead, will he love the present Daisy if he succeed in getting her back.
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