Honestly, this book was very challenging for me. What was occurring was not hard to figure out and finding rhetorical strategies was easy enough, yet it was hard for me to find allusions and symbols. This was a strange occurrence because I love to dissect the author’s words and discover what lies behind them; yet analyzing this book was not easy for me. Usually I can find biblical allusions and light vs. dark references very easily, but perhaps not being given the themes for this book before we started reading it contributed to my struggle. However, when I did realize that The Great Gatsby was full of allusions, it was exciting. This book helped to grasp that not every book we read in school is going to be full of Biblical allusions that I can easily write about because I know the Bible so well. Although Biblical allusions are deep, other types of allusions are deeper for me because they are harder and more challenging for me to discern.
The ending of this book was very sad. I think the author’s purpose of revealing that money does more harm than good was poignantly displayed through Gatsby’s character. His hopes and dreams were centered on the love he had for a girl who failed him. Tragically, he found his meaning and his purpose in someone who continually chose money over him. Perhaps Fitzgerald’s underlying purpose, through the tragic character of Gatsby, is to expose that putting all of your faith and trust in things of this world, such as money or people, leads to death. Money failed Gatsby because the reason he obtained so much of it was to bring back Daisy, and Daisy failed Gatsby because she is a human being.
I can definitely relate to your struggles while reading the Great Gatsby, since they are nearly identical to the struggles that I faced while reading the novel. The author's lucid writing style makes for an extremely interesting and gripping book that is easy to understand, however it effectively masks many of the symbolic objects that create a deeper meaning in the text. Because of this, I found myself gliding over many of the important objects or casting them off as unimportant. However, much like you, I found that when I finally was able to find these things, they were more impressive and carried much more of an impact than if they had been obvious.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that Fitzgerald is warning against the evils of money and material things, however I do not believe that this is applicable to all things of this world. Throughout the novel, as Nick and Gatsby's friendship strengthens, we find that Nick's influence rejuvenates Gatsby and keeps him hopeful and happy. Friendship is the foundation beneath Gatsby's erratic and tragic life that keeps him sane and I feel that this is also a lesson that Fitzgerald wants us to learn.