Discrimination

Despite what we may see depicted to us through the eyes of the law, people of different culture are definitely still not treated equally. This inequality comes in many forms, from disputes at work or school, down to even simple social daily interactions. As shown in the first video, A Trip to the Grocery Store, there is still much racism even in places where you wouldn't expect it to be, such as a local supermarket. I personally accept the fact that though everyone may be seen differently by one another (For example no matter what may be depicted as right, I still will not appear white to someone that is white) such extreme action taken solely upon the stereotypes associated with a physical trait just seems both pathetic and silly to me. Especially for blacks, this type of pathetic treatment may be a cause with root from this nations history. For example in the second video, the injustice done to Blacks, in which they were intentionally scammed and treated wrongly and unfairly in the housing system is simply disgusting. The fact that the interviewed man talked about how he had to work significantly more than he should have, and ended up being a "stranger in his own house" is just sad and wrong to me. If the land owners simple wanted money, perhaps they should inflict their prices upon those that can shoulder them, and not try to make some twisted statement that they deep correct by causing an already struggling group of people more harm.

Blindness, or Clarity?

As a class, this week we all picked out and analyzed one of many viewpoints on the Great Gatsby. They were all written through unique lenses and viewpoints, most of which I failed to even recognize as I was reading the novel for myself. By even narrowing down Gatsby's sexuality to the color of his suit that he was wearing on an outing, It made me question if I was not analyzing enough, or if these viewpoints were simply skewed towards their method of thinking. In fact, to question on a different level, I also wondered how much of what we discussed in the viewpoints was truly intended by Fitzgerald. For example did Gatsby truly only feel attracted to Daisy in order to "imagine what it would feel like to be part of her word" or was that simply a stretch by the author of this approach. In fact I wonder if even Fitzgerald wondered of intended any of these secondary meanings that years of analysis and breaking apart of his works have yielded. In fact I feel almost as if we look at a novel under a certain lens for long and hard enough, we can force our own viewpoint to shine though that of the novel. Are we truly analyzing more in detail, or is our attention to detail blinding us?

Favorite part of "The Great Gatsby"

Through the whole novel, “The Great Gatsby,” by Scott Fitzgerald, there was a plethora of both action packed and emotional scenes. Between all of these scenes, I found that my favorite part of the novel occurred on page 110, at the very end of the second chapter. After Daisy had just left Gatsby’s house, Gatsby talks to Nick and is worried that Daisy may not have enjoyed their dance, and Nick sais in his thoughts that all Gatsby wanted truly was to know that Daisy had truly never loved Tom. However in an attempt to talk about the reality of his current situation, Nick mentions to Gatsby that he “can’t repeat the past.” This is my favorite portion of the novel, however, due to Gatsby’s response.

“Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”

This shows a lot of how Gatsby tends to think and shows a lot of insight into him as a character. He has blindly placed his faith, as well as his own well being and happiness in his ability to recreate something he cannot, which is his past relationship with Daisy.

After saying this, he goes on to gesture around him wildly, “as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house” which is ironic as we come to know the placing of his house across the water from Daisy’s house was no coincidence. It also shows that his entire fortune and wealth that attracts so many people was all made with the “shadow of the past” in his mind, as his love for Daisy was all that really mattered ho him, and though it may have made him successful to the eyes of many, proved meaningless to himself, and ended as tragic as the unrecoverable love he had lost.