I wasn’t sure exactly what direction to take for writing this blog post, so hopefully it’s not too all over the place. While my mom and I were making dinner yesterday I mentioned I had to get my homework done (obviously that didn’t happen until today haha) and she asked me what it was about, so I started to tell her about The Great Gatsby. She got so exited, when the movie came out in 1974 she was a teenager and she went to see it with a friend. Apparently they fell absolutely in love with the actor Robert Redford (who played Jay Gatsby). That got my attention, it’s always interesting when parents tell you about childhood crushes. So anyway, I printed out a picture and layed it on her pillow this morning, just to be funny: ) I also watched a trailer for the movie, here's the link-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_aAt6kFius
It won quite a few awards and became pretty famous, I’m thinking about trying to find it on netflix so I can watch it with my mom. If you want to know more about the movie, go here.
It won quite a few awards and became pretty famous, I’m thinking about trying to find it on netflix so I can watch it with my mom. If you want to know more about the movie, go here.
To respond a little bit to one of Dr. Kulbaga’s prompts, I decided to go with “Is The Great Gatsby a comedy or tragedy?” I haven’t decided yet, I’d like to hear all your opinions in class first. But here are some thoughts on the subject.
Here's one literary definition of Tragedy: A tragedy is a literary work which tells the events surrounding the main character's fall from greatness. This downfall is normally brought about by some defect or weakness in the hero's character.
Comedy: A play, movie, etc., of light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.
Upon first glance, The Great Gatsby appears to be a tragedy. Gatsby is exposed as a pitiable fraud and his carefully constructed life falls apart, ending in murder. Yet, maybe there is a possibility to read this novel as a comedy. There are certainly many comedic episodes throughout the novel, such as the scene in which Owl Eyes goes to the library because he believes books will sober him up. Here I go again changing the subject, but that got me thinking about something else, symbolism.
I’m really not too great at deciphering symbolism in books, but it seems like the eyes must mean something, I would just like to know everyone else’s ideas on that.
When I was looking into that I came across a website that talks about twenty-five symbols in The Great Gatsby, take a look if you want, it’s pretty interesting.
Christina, I am with you on having a little trouble getting started on this particular blog. As I said in my own blog on The Great Gatsby, I have read this book before, but I really understand it now. I, like your mother, had a crush on Robert Redford - thanks a million for the great picture ;) I think every girl in the 1970's had a thing for him! He's not all that bad now (for an old guy!)
ReplyDeleteThanks, too, for the definition of comedy and tragedy. I think that I would go with tragedy – for many reasons. I think it was a tragedy that Gatsby was killed. I think it was a tragedy that Myrtle and her husband had such a horrible life together, and that Daisy and Tom did as well (even if they were somewhat unaware of how horrible it was). Their daughter suffered a tragedy in not being a part of their lives. The people who didn’t go to Gatsby’s funeral were tragic in that they were “takers” and only concerned about themselves. The entire neighborhood of the Valley of Ashes was a tragedy.
I could go on and on about how tragic the entire book is, but I also wanted to point out that I believe Fitzgerald was making a social statement about how tragic it is that Americans were going in the “money is everything” direction. I think he wanted to comment on how American society was getting away from our roots (values, concern for others, concern for the good of the nation) and becoming selfish and uncaring.
I definitely believe the eyes of Dr. Eckelburg have a meaning. The age of the sign suggests someone who has been around a long time and knows/sees all. The eyes see a lot of misery in the Valley, and see, in Mr. Wilson’s despair, the murder of his wife and who took her away from him.
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ReplyDeleteDamnit, I meant to preview my comment, not post it!
ReplyDeleteAnyway:
I am mostly with Lou on this one. While I agree that there are comedic episodes within The Great Gatsby, I think the overall narrative is leaning much closer towards tragedy. Your definition alone can almost be read as a summary of The Great Gatsby with only slight modification:
The Great Gatsby is a literary work which tells the events surrounding the main character's fall from greatness. This downfall is brought about by a defect or weakness in the hero's character.
Though one could argue that Nick Carraway is by tradition the "main character," I think it is more naturally read with Nick as the narrator and Gatsby the main character. This does bring me to my second idea; the lean towards tragedy or comedy can be swayed slightly depending on through whose eyes you read the novel. For example, if the central characters were made to be Daisy and Tom, I think it would shift more towards a comedy. Fitzgerald writes Daisy as such a helpless, ridiculous charlatan whose every word is a mockery of the rich and famous, that it can be read as a satire. This gets a little shady when you consider that Daisy and Tom's relationship is an abusive one, not lending itself as readily to "comedy," but moreso than following Nick and Gatsby I believe.