Saturday, September 24, 2011
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Faulkner Relaxing after his AP Lang & Comp Exam
Faulkner Relaxing after his AP Lang & Comp Exam
Contributors
- AParrish
- Alex
- Alice Rocha
- Ally
- Amanda
- Anna Burns
- Arjun
- Beth
- Celi
- Claire W.
- Dan A.
- Emma Sweet
- Eric
- Grace
- Kara Donahue
- Kate Walpole
- Katie Coyle
- Keriksen
- Lee Ving
- Lexi Cardenas
- Libbey
- Lord Byron
- Luke Clifford
- Maggie Brown
- Maggie Calcutt
- Maggie
- Maggie
- Maggie
- MeganLanglais
- Molly O'Connor
- Molly
- Nicole
- Rosie
- Sara Darcy Klik
- Sarah Wakefield
- Taylor Peterson
- brooke
- chia
- connor s.
- connor
- emily matis
- emma
- mfrasco6
- rhandler
Sorry, I didn't mean to comment first again, but I'm not going to be home later tonight.
ReplyDeleteI think the weather, connecting to Gatsby and Daisy's relationship is an interesting observation. However, it seems as though the weather reflects the emotional stress of all three characters involved this chapter: Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick. As Nick and Gatsby individually prepare for tea, it's, "pouring rain," (88). But, when Gatsby adopts his reflective absent-minded state, "the rain cooled off," (89). When Nick leads Daisy into the living room and Gatsby had run around the house, there was, "increasing rain," (91), showing Gatsby's mental distress. When Nick leaves them alone to talk, it "stopped raining" (94), as they were calming down and getting comfortable with each other again. It "began to rain again" on page 98, when Daisy is crying over Gatsby's beautiful shirts, this time reflecting her own anxiety and emotional instability. When Nick leaves the two of them and returns home, it is still raining. This could perhaps reflect on Nick's emotions, though he doesn't express them. Nick cannot be sure that he has done the right thing in helping them reunite and is certainly uneasy over several aspects of his life in New York, including Gatsby's asking for a favor.
In this chapter, Gatsby appears very differently than when he acted as the smooth host of glamorous parties in previous chapters. I think his behavior, as reflected in the rain, is unsettled by the presence of Daisy. His lost love and her grace are enough to make anyone vulnerable and self-conscience.
I defiantly agree with Maggie that the weather reflects the changing moods of the character. I also agree that Gatsby’s behavior has changed in Daisy presence, as compared with how he has acted at his previous parties. One of Gatsby’s behavioral changes is how he refuses phone calls when with Daisy, “’Yes....Well, I can’t talk now.... I can’t talk now, old sport’...He rang off” (Fitzgerald 99). In previous situations, when a telephone call came in Gatsby immediately dismissed the company he was with to take it. Gatsby hanging up on the telephone call offers importance to Daisy’s presence. She is more important to Gatsby than business.
ReplyDeleteAlso Gatsby reveals more emotion then he has in the past. Nick remarks that Gatsby had “passed visibly through two states and was entering upon a third. After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her presence” (Fitzgerald 97). Daisy makes Gatsby more human. He loses his collected self in her presence and becomes more open. Also, Gatsby’s image of being friendly and approachable slips when he is with Daisy. When Nick asked him about how he made his money, “he answered, ’That’s my affair,’ before he realized that it wasn’t an appropriate reply” (Fitzgerald 95). In Daisy’s presence Gatsby has lost his ability to be a distant host. She has a personal connection with him that makes him less formal.
I agree with Sara that Daisy makes Gatsby more human. There is, however, irony in this statement; after almost five years of living without Daisy, Gatsby elevated her to a pedestal of perfection. There had been moments during their reunion "when Daisy tumbled short of [Gatsby's] dreams--not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion" (Fitzgerald 101). Because Daisy did not live up to the perfection that Gatsby expected of her, "a faint doubt had occurred to him as to the quality of his present happiness" (101). Thus, because Gatsby's inhuman expectations of Daisy were not fulfilled, he experiences human emotions rather than his forced enthusiasm at his parties.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald uses the light to portray Gatsby's disappointment in Daisy. For example, the green light at the end of Daisy's dock signifies Gatsby's eternal desire to be with her. However, it soon occurs "to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever" (98). Once in Daisy's presence, Gatsby notices only her flaws. It is no longer critical to be with Daisy.
During chapter 5, the readers are able to relate on a deeper level with Gatsby, as Sara and Lexi mentioned, because he is portrayed as more human than usual. Prior to this chapter, Gatsby has an aura of sophistication and mystery. Yet, with the lead up and arrival of Daisy, Gatsby's more human qualities show. He is preoccupied with worry and nervousness; especially when Gatsby believes Daisy isn't coming but Nick convinces him otherwise, "He sat down, miserably, as if I had pushed him" (90). Here, Gatsby shows a sign of defeat, which we never really see before.
ReplyDeleteAnother instance of Gatsby's lack of his usual cool, level-headed self was when, "Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom. His head leaned back so fair that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy" (91). This moment also contributes to the motif of time, one of the list that Ms. Parrish said in class. Gatsby is living off of memories and feelings from the past, hoping that they're still in tact. He believes they have been preserved through time, despite Daisy's life with Tom. He does however have a moment of doubt as, "the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in place" (91). Gatsby struggles with the concept of time and this particular incident illustrates his problem with balancing the past and present. As much as he wishes, Gatsby isn't able to go back in time and bring back the past he had with Daisy.
As Maggie pointed out, the weather, more specifically the rain, mirrors the events that occur between Gatsby and Daisy. I also like what she brought up with the idea of Nick’s conflicting emotions. The past chapters, more specifically the party in chapter 2 have brought up Nick’s thinning moral tolerance and conflicting view on the lifestyle of the New York area, but now he seems to participating in one of these illicit affairs. As he saw Myrtle and Tom at the party, he is now helping to arrange an affair between Gatsby and Daisy, although admittedly the way Gatsby acts, shows that he is quite different from Tom and does not abuse Daisy as Tom does Myrtle, and seems to have genuine care for her. His actions show that although he helps arrange something that he does not necessarily approve that he still maintains his moral stature, as exemplified in his refusal of Tom’s offer. Nick reflects, “Evidently he thought that I was shying away from the “gonnegtion” mentioned at lunch, but I assured him he was wrong.” (88) Although he says that he was not worried about the illegal business of Wolfshiem, it seems that he is trying to convince the reader rather than Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteWell, I digress.
I also really agree with Kate about the motif of time as represented by the clock and Gatsby’s affection with his past relationship with Daisy. The significance of the his head leaning against the clock, shows that he was getting dangerously close to getting caught up in the past, and believing that his relationship with Daisy will be the same as the past. And as the clock fell, the façade was temporarily removed, but not shattered as noted by Nick, “I think we all believed for a moment that it had smashed in pieces on the floor.” (92) But the clock, or Gatsby’s euphoria and obsession with the past has not shattered but has been preserved as shown by his continued behaivior with Daisy over the next two chapters through chapter 6. As has been mentioned by Sara his relationship with Daisy has made Gatsby much more down to earth.
Arjun and Kate made a good point as to whether or not Gatsby is living in the past. Do you think that their love is real or do you think they are reliving the past because they cannot find happiness anywhere else?
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with the notion that Gatsby is living in the past. Going along with Kate and Arjun's ideas, Gatsby even states his preference of the past in claiming that he's "going to fix everything just the way it was before" (117). This clear indication of Gatsby's goal is prefaced by the events that occur between him and Daisy in chapter 5. However, Daisy's overall reluctancy towards any sort of relationship leads me to believe that their love is not real and only exists in the past. We definitely understand that Daisy is unhappy with Tom as a husband, but we get a sense that she favors Nick more so than Gatsby. For example, she asks Nick, "Are you in love with me? Or why did I have to come alone?" (90). She later tells Nick, "If you want to kiss me any time during the evening, Nick, just let me know and I'll be glad to arrange it for you" (111). It is important to note that she makes no attempt to publicize any renewed love for Gatsby, yet she puts Nick under her radar. Though Daisy may not actually want Nick to be her husband, she surely has an open mind in choosing the right man. In refuting the argument that Daisy does secretly love Gatsby, Fitzgerald deliberately gives the impression that Daisy's decision to accept Gatsby as a lover again is ambiguous to her and others. Judging by these two chapters, Gatsby seems to be more of a long-time friend than a potential husband.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maggie that the rain symbolizes the emotional stress Gatsby, Daisy, and Nick are all undergoing. As for the end of the chapter, I think it is important to note that when Nick left he went “down the marble steps into the rain, leaving them there together.”(102). Maggie made a good point that this signifies Nick’s emotional stress about playing a part in Gatsby’s and Daisy’s affair. To add to this point, I believe leaving Gatsby and Daisy in the shelter of Gatsby’s house as Nick walks into the rain shows that Nick will be heavily dealing with the moral stress of the situation going on with the novel, while Gatsby and Daisy will go on comfortably with their love similarly to Tom and Myrtle’s affair.
ReplyDeleteTo comment on how Gatsby has changed, I agree with those who said that Daisy is the major factor as to why he is undergoing these changes. Although I agree that she is making him more real because of the human characteristics she is bringing out in him, I also believe she is making him come across very immature. We first see Gatsby as immature when he asks Nick to set him up with Daisy. Gatsby’s inability to ask Daisy to meet up on his own is comparable to a young boy who is too nervous to ask a fellow peer out on a date so he has his friend do it for him instead. We continue to see him as immature when he runs off as soon as Daisy arrives at Nick’s house. When Nick brings Daisy into his house “the living room was deserted”(90), but following this surprise there was a knock at the door and when Nick goes to answer it he finds “Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically”(91). As reader’s it is natural to feel sympathetic for Gatsby’s overwhelming nervousness about meeting Daisy, however it is also pathetic that he handles his anxiety the way he does, and immature that he would run off because of these nerves rather than dealing with them in a proper way. Nick even comments that Gatsby is “acting like a little boy”(93). Nick continues to say that “not only are you that but you’re rude. Daisy’s sitting in there all alone.”(93). Gatsby’s behavior around Daisy contradicts his previous sophisticated, host extraordinaire image.