A Class Blog exploring American literature and the American experience.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
which society do you prefer?
So now that we have finished reading "The Great Gatsby", which society between Archer's and Nick's do you prefer, which one would you rather live in and why?
If I had to choose a society to live in I would choose Gatsby’s because Gatsby’s society is just a little bit more relaxed then in The Age of Innocence. There are still some social codes in Gatsby’s society of what is acceptable and what is considered inappropriate. But when you compare it to the social codes of The Age of Innocence it is easy to see that the age of innocence is more strict and rigid. In The Age of Innocence women are not supposed to draw attention to themselves and are expected to act properly. While in The Great Gatsby there are many examples of women saying things like they "Do not care" and I think that this can reflect the fact that women in this society are less scrutinized compared to The Age of Innocence. Being a female I would rather be apart of Gatsby’s society were it is a little more open minded than in the Age of Innocence were societies values are stricter.
I Agree with Nicki if I had to pick as society. The society in The Great Gatsby is more relaxed then the society in The Age of Innocence. There are less rules that need to be followed and it seem as though the people of the higher class have more freedom then they do in The Age of Innocence. However I would not like to live in either one of them because both societies don't seem that great. In The Age of Innocence there are so many rules to follow that you can really live your life in the way that you would want to. In the Great Gatsby's society people don't really seem to care about about each other. They take advantage of Gatsby and his house and Daisy and Tom don't seem to care about anyone other then themselves. It is a hard decision because both of them have flaws but if I had to pick I think I would pick The Great Gatsby.
I agree with Nicki and Lauren in siding with Gatsby's society. The society we see through the Great Gatsby is a bit more accepting then Archer's in The Age of Innocence. The unspoken rules in The Age of Innocence are not as present in The Great Gatsby. I agree with Lauren because I would not want to live in either one of these societies. There are too many restrictions and regulations in both of these societies. In both of these societies, no one seems to care truly about others. Instead, they focused on social status and position. Daisy clearly only cared about Gatsby when she realized he had earned a living for himself. I feel as though Tom and Daisy barely cared about each other because they both had affairs (Tom had multiple). In The Age of Innocence, Archer was more concerned with his image then going with what his heart really wanted. Both of these societies seem to neglect emotion, which would not please me as a person living in either society. However, I would much rather live in Gatsby's society because there is more room for freedom. A great example of this is Gatsby's relationship with Daisy because Daisy leaving Tom was frowned upon, but it would have appeared worse in The Age of Innocence's society.
I agree with everyone that the society in the Great Gatsby would be better to live in. One reason that I would like to live in it is because they were more accepting of foreigners and traveling to foreign countries, which I would love to do. I feel that traveling should be an important part of everyones lives because you get to learn about different cultures. The people in the Age of Innocence were never open to this kind of learning, they just always looked down on others rather than trying to evolve. Also, you were more free to act and do what you like more so than in the Age of Innocence. Even though you had to remain somewhat in your class, you could get away with a lot more and live close to the edge rather than being another stereotype for your class. I think the added freedom is the main attraction for me for the society in the Great Gatsby,
I also agree with everyone else. I would rather live in the society of the Great Gatsby but really none of them. But the Great Gatsby's society is more accepting of women and there rights. In the Age of Innocence it was a male dominated enironment, i thought. The men would have a smoke while the women could not do that. Also, in the Great Gastby it was more accepted if the higher class traveled outside there own class, which could be a good thing. But in reality i would not like to live in either. Everyone is very shallow.
As everyone else said, I really think the obvious choice of which society to live in would be that of Nick's, in The Great Gatsby. It lacks the rigid, complicated social code present in Archer's society, and is somewhat more forgiving to those outside of the social bounds (people like Wolfsheim). However, I do think there may be some advantages to the complex, upper class society in The Age of Innocence. The overbearing pressure of society almost serves as a guide for those within it. While they may not end up perfectly happy with whomever they are married to, they simply learn to accept it and become happy. The strict rules of this society seemingly avoid the conflicts present in The Great Gatsby. If Nick's story was set in Archer's society, what would have been different? Would Gatsby have been prevented from pursuing Daisy, married to an influential figure, simply because of the social code? If this had been the case, could his death have been avoided? Would Nick and Jordan have ended up together as a result of society's pressure, and avoided ending their friendship? It's questions like these that make me believe there truly is some advantage to living in Archer's society. While it's really all just an illusion, at least it keeps everyone "happy" and out of trouble. (Matrix, anybody?)
I also agree with everyone that the society in the Great Gatsby is more desirable, but maybe that's just because it is closer to our society today. We look back and criticize the strict rules of society in the Age of Innocence partially because they promote a way of life that we have never desired or been exposed to. I think that our opinions are formed based on what we know, so we all picked the society that was the closest to our's. Who knows, maybe in 100 years people will read books written in our society and look down at our "rules". Its all about perspective.
If I had to chose a society to live in I would chose Gatsby's society instead of Nick's because it is much more interesting and fun. Also because the lives of those in Gatsby's society seems to be just one big party and there are no real rules it's pretty much if you have money you can do whatever whenever you want to.
If I had to choose a society to live in I would choose Gatsby’s because Gatsby’s society is just a little bit more relaxed then in The Age of Innocence. There are still some social codes in Gatsby’s society of what is acceptable and what is considered inappropriate. But when you compare it to the social codes of The Age of Innocence it is easy to see that the age of innocence is more strict and rigid. In The Age of Innocence women are not supposed to draw attention to themselves and are expected to act properly. While in The Great Gatsby there are many examples of women saying things like they "Do not care" and I think that this can reflect the fact that women in this society are less scrutinized compared to The Age of Innocence. Being a female I would rather be apart of Gatsby’s society were it is a little more open minded than in the Age of Innocence were societies values are stricter.
ReplyDeleteI Agree with Nicki if I had to pick as society. The society in The Great Gatsby is more relaxed then the society in The Age of Innocence. There are less rules that need to be followed and it seem as though the people of the higher class have more freedom then they do in The Age of Innocence. However I would not like to live in either one of them because both societies don't seem that great. In The Age of Innocence there are so many rules to follow that you can really live your life in the way that you would want to. In the Great Gatsby's society people don't really seem to care about about each other. They take advantage of Gatsby and his house and Daisy and Tom don't seem to care about anyone other then themselves. It is a hard decision because both of them have flaws but if I had to pick I think I would pick The Great Gatsby.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicki and Lauren in siding with Gatsby's society. The society we see through the Great Gatsby is a bit more accepting then Archer's in The Age of Innocence. The unspoken rules in The Age of Innocence are not as present in The Great Gatsby. I agree with Lauren because I would not want to live in either one of these societies. There are too many restrictions and regulations in both of these societies. In both of these societies, no one seems to care truly about others. Instead, they focused on social status and position. Daisy clearly only cared about Gatsby when she realized he had earned a living for himself. I feel as though Tom and Daisy barely cared about each other because they both had affairs (Tom had multiple). In The Age of Innocence, Archer was more concerned with his image then going with what his heart really wanted. Both of these societies seem to neglect emotion, which would not please me as a person living in either society. However, I would much rather live in Gatsby's society because there is more room for freedom. A great example of this is Gatsby's relationship with Daisy because Daisy leaving Tom was frowned upon, but it would have appeared worse in The Age of Innocence's society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that the society in the Great Gatsby would be better to live in. One reason that I would like to live in it is because they were more accepting of foreigners and traveling to foreign countries, which I would love to do. I feel that traveling should be an important part of everyones lives because you get to learn about different cultures. The people in the Age of Innocence were never open to this kind of learning, they just always looked down on others rather than trying to evolve. Also, you were more free to act and do what you like more so than in the Age of Innocence. Even though you had to remain somewhat in your class, you could get away with a lot more and live close to the edge rather than being another stereotype for your class. I think the added freedom is the main attraction for me for the society in the Great Gatsby,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone else. I would rather live in the society of the Great Gatsby but really none of them. But the Great Gatsby's society is more accepting of women and there rights. In the Age of Innocence it was a male dominated enironment, i thought. The men would have a smoke while the women could not do that. Also, in the Great Gastby it was more accepted if the higher class traveled outside there own class, which could be a good thing. But in reality i would not like to live in either. Everyone is very shallow.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone else said, I really think the obvious choice of which society to live in would be that of Nick's, in The Great Gatsby. It lacks the rigid, complicated social code present in Archer's society, and is somewhat more forgiving to those outside of the social bounds (people like Wolfsheim). However, I do think there may be some advantages to the complex, upper class society in The Age of Innocence. The overbearing pressure of society almost serves as a guide for those within it. While they may not end up perfectly happy with whomever they are married to, they simply learn to accept it and become happy. The strict rules of this society seemingly avoid the conflicts present in The Great Gatsby. If Nick's story was set in Archer's society, what would have been different? Would Gatsby have been prevented from pursuing Daisy, married to an influential figure, simply because of the social code? If this had been the case, could his death have been avoided? Would Nick and Jordan have ended up together as a result of society's pressure, and avoided ending their friendship? It's questions like these that make me believe there truly is some advantage to living in Archer's society. While it's really all just an illusion, at least it keeps everyone "happy" and out of trouble. (Matrix, anybody?)
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone that the society in the Great Gatsby is more desirable, but maybe that's just because it is closer to our society today. We look back and criticize the strict rules of society in the Age of Innocence partially because they promote a way of life that we have never desired or been exposed to. I think that our opinions are formed based on what we know, so we all picked the society that was the closest to our's. Who knows, maybe in 100 years people will read books written in our society and look down at our "rules". Its all about perspective.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to chose a society to live in I would chose Gatsby's society instead of Nick's because it is much more interesting and fun. Also because the lives of those in Gatsby's society seems to be just one big party and there are no real rules it's pretty much if you have money you can do whatever whenever you want to.
ReplyDelete