In chapter nine, Fitzgerald writes with both positive and negative diction. When he refers to the past, he uses happier and more hopeful words, like "flowered", "enchanted", "fresh" "green", "dream" and "wonder." The past is told like an optimistic person would talk about the future, "the old island here that flowered once for the Dutch sailors' eyes-- a fresh, green breast of the new world." There is also the recurring reference to money whenever something is described as "green." "the green light at the end of Daisy's dock." The past is portrayed as positive and hopeful like, "Gatsby's wonder."
In contrast, the way the present and future is depicted is negative, dreary and bitter. There are negative words such as, "brooding", "beat", "failure", "incoherent", and "obscene." When he writes about the present, it seems boring and uneventful, "I went over and looked at that huge incoherent failure of a house once more." He also writes the future as if there is no foreseeable future to look forward to, "to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... and one fine morning--- So we beat on, boats against current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." This is written as though we are all just moving into the future chasing the past. How is the reader supossed to feel at the end of this chapter and book? How do you understand Nick's attitude toward the past and the future?
At the end of the book, I believe we, as the readers, are supposed to use what Gatsby and Nick have learned, and be aware of their social addictions.
ReplyDeleteGatsby worked his entirely life around Daisy, to do so he had make money, but in the end, he lost daisy, and the money became worthless, even more so in death.
Nick needed to be led, he half-mindedly wandered through most of his life, and when he lost his leaders, (Gatsby,Jordan, and Daisy) he lost himself as well.
The way I understand Nick's opinion on the past is: It was great while it lasted, but no one can return to it, and trying to is foolish.
Meanwhile, the future may or may not be as we knew the past, but we should follow it, as opposed to resisting it, or end up like Gatsby, forgotten and alone.
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ReplyDeleteLex said...
ReplyDeleteNick's attitude towards the past is very much the same as Gatsby's: both of them are holding on to something great that they left behind. For Gatsby it is his days with Daisy where they were in love and Daisy had her beautiful "white" car and nothing could have torn them apart. This is why all of these times are written with such joyous diction. What Nick misses the most are his days with Gatsby and his time in New York. Nick recalls this past life as "gleaming" (179), "dazzling" (179), and so "vivid" (179) that he can "still hear the music and the laugher" (179). Both Nick and Gatsby have spent their lives living in the past, and these perfect memories are what cause the present and future to seem dismal and uneventful.
I must agree with Milo. I think the whole book seemed to revolve around social addictions. You were either rich and stuck up and got to live at the end or you were not so well off and murdered. This is sending out a strong social message about the times and how much money and a good social status mattered. One can work so hard for something and end up loosing it completely or the other way around and one can barely work for something and end up with everything they desire.
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