Review (Ch5-7)

Quotation #2

This scene is appeared when Daisy,Nick, and Gatsby were looking around the Gatsby's house. In this passage, the green light symbolizes many things. Gatsby had been looking at the green light at the Daisy's house, and he didn't try to approach Daisy but just waited. The green light was Gatsby's hope and dream that he meets her again. Right before this passage, Gatsby says, "you always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock," to Daisy. He says his hope carefully to Daisy, and she answers through her action, putting her arm through Gatsby. And then, “that light had now vanished forever.” Gatsby’s only hope to meet Daisy came true and to him, the light meant nothing anymore.

To the Class - from Dr. No

To my 3rd period class--

First of all, an explanation . . . my father had a serious heart attack last Sunday, the 10th, and my wife and I drove down to Georgia to see him.  (For the record, he's still seriously ill and will be in cardiac intensive care for some time to come.)

Second, thank you for carrying on in my absence.  I've finally caught up on all the blogs and made comments (most of them brief) on 15 or 16 of them.  It's been helpful to see what you're thinking about the novel, and I'm impressed by the generally high level of commentary.

Finally, here's a suggested plan for the week.  On Monday, the 18th, let's have a final discussion of Gatsby--so I'd like for everyone to bring in one final question or observation about the novel (or you might have a passage in mind to look at).  On Tuesday we'll put together some possible writing prompts, so please be thinking about a topic you'd like to address.  (I find any number of excellent ideas in the posts you've made on the blog.)  For Tuesday night's homework I'd like to ask you to write an introductory paragraph to your essay.  On Wednesday we'll go to the lab and have a work day on Gatsby papers, and on Thursday please bring Death of a Salesman to class, for we'll start reading that play aloud.  Gatsby essays will be due on Monday, February 25th.

Any questions?  Please write.  And thanks again for carrying on in a difficult time.

Dr. No

Question #1

Nick thinks that Gatsby's dream cannot be achieved. The death of Myrtle will anger Tom much more than before, so he wouldn't let Daisy go to Gatsby. Although Daisy killed Myrtle, Gatsby said he want to put all the fault on him. Thus, Tom would think Gatsby as an enemy and never do whatever Gatsby will like. Gatsby has no choice but getting all blame to protect Daisy from Tom. 

Quotation #5

This quote shows that Gatsby is desperate to have Daisy. He thinks all the pasts can be repeated again. Nick tells Gastby to give up since Daisy is married and can’t be divorced. But, Gatsby see nothing but getting Daisy. We could say that he spent at least half of his life getting Daisy. Only to satisfy Daisy and himself, he built a huge mansion near her house. Gatsby held parties in order to see Daisy at his parties. He stayed close to Nick because he was Daisy's second cousin. 

in class blog

All the characters have a disillusion about who they are and what they want. Myrtle for example is on the outside of high class status looking in. She has this hope and dream to get to be at the same level as Tom, she changes dresses to change her persona. Acting all mighty to the people that she thinks are “below” her, when really she is at there exact level. Another character that does this is Jordan she wants to be respected but in reality she cheats at golf and is an incessant liar. The most important character that has this disillusionment though is Gatsby. Nick picks up on it at the end of chapter 5 when Gatsby and Daisy are alone, “Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on the dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” Nick states that Gatsby has always been trying to get Daisy. He believes that once he gets her his dream of reaching the elite class will also be met. Gatsby is reaching for something that is unattainable, the green light; because he doesn’t really want Daisy he wants the image that daisy resembles. Nick says that Daisy has fallen short of Gatsby’s 5 year dream.

-Michael Spinosa

quotation

"i want to wait here till daisy goes to bed. good night, old sport." 'He put his hands in his coast pocketss and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So i walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight-watching over nothing.' This is the last passage summery of chapter seven after we discovered that it was initially daisy who ran over myrtle with the yellow car causing her to die; it was considered an accident. what struck me the most was the fact that gatsby was willing to give up his own life and was ready to take the blame for myrtle's death for daisy's sake. after the night cooled down and it became dark, gatsby decided the least he could do for daisy at a distressed time like this was to watch over her throughout the night. he still somehow managed to grasp on the hope that daisy would decide to leave everything and come to him and in that case he wanted to be at a convinient location and accessible. it is also impressive to see gatsby prove just how desperately he wanted daisy by the physical exhaustion and slomber he would have to endure while waiting all night. this proves that he is ready to do about anything at any measure to acheive his dream. nick describes gatsby's wait as "watching over nothing" because as far as the realistic eye can see, it is not probable that daisy would come around because the odds are too great. gatsby just cannot give the impression of getting over himself and he will not because daisy could not become his daisy and the world cannot function on his favor constantly.

what does gatsby want daisy to do?

the moral of the story is that gatsby wants everything to fall according to his plan and desire including daisy's love and affection. gatsby wants daisy to pick up the left pieces of the long-gone, innocent kentucky romance they shared before his departure for the war. despite all that has happened including daisy's getting married to tom and having a child with him, gatsby wants her to forget it all and relive the past with him. for example, the reunion instance was initially in gatsby's imagination and fantasy but he managed to make it a reality which is why he carries that-if you can dream it, you can live it-motto throughout everything he does and believes. in other words, he wants to pretend that nothing happened in between his departure to europe and his becoming extremely wealthy because he treats the reality of these facts as if their accurance did not matter and the only thing that did is was what daisy thought of him and how he could get her back. he simply wants the world to fade away with its harsh realities and pain and their love to emerge from the horizon growing bigger and more compassionate with everyday that passes by with daisy in his arms .

Gatsby's Idealism

Throughout the entire story, Gatsby truly does possess an “extraordinary gift for hope” and a “romantic readiness” that seems to conquer all worldly cynicism and material corruption. Gatsby’s life’s goal is to return from the war and marry Daisy. Even though she is already married and has a family, Gatsby has the unwavering belief that Daisy will drop everything she has and join him. When he confronts Tom in the hotel room, he tells him that “You’re not going to take care of her anymore.” This shows that Gatsby has the romantic assumption that Daisy’s love for him will conquer her ties to her family and the material world, and she will be able to marry him. Gatsby “wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say, ‘I never loved you.’ After she had obliterated three years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken.” Gatsby believes that he can “repeat the past” and live happily with Daisy without outside conflicts. At the end of the chapter, Gatsby waits outside of Daisy’s house to make sure she is not injured by Tom. In fact, Gatsby may be still clinging to the romantic hope that Daisy will run away from Tom. He fails to acknowledge that Daisy may have conflicting interests and may not be able to leave Tom. Gatsby idolizes Daisy throughout the entire novel, but Daisy seems to be unable to achieve these lofty ideals.