A Class Blog exploring American literature and the American experience.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Characters?
Now that the book has ended, how do you guys feel about the characters of Nick and Gatsby. Do you like them more? Do you dislike them more? Or are you indifferent?
I think I like Gatsby more than I did at the beginning of the book. You begin to feel sympathy for him towards the end when he dies. I began to dislike Nick more towards the end because he begins to hate the society he is in. He hates Tom and Daisy because he thinks that they caused Gatsby's death but Nick also had a part in it. His inaction led to Gatsby's death as well. He could have told the truth and stopped Gatsby's death.
I really felt bad for Gatsby. It was really sad to see how in the end he only had Nick and his Father. I think I ended up liking Gatsby more than I liked Nick at the end. Although nick stuck around for him, and made sure that he wasn't the only person at Gatsby's funeral, I really don't believe that Nick truly cared for Gatsby throughout the entire book. I feel like I ended up liking Gatsby more at the end because Fitzgerald illuminated the man behind the Great Gatsby. He showed us how lonely Gatsby truly was behind all of his parties, and his motive for becoming the man he did.
I liked Gatsby more in the beginning of the book than in the end. I feel like in the end he sort of let everything go in order to achieve an impossible dream. He stopped being this cool character that we didn't know much about but were interested in and in the end just turned into a helpless guy who didn't see that what he had devoted his life to was not possible. I think that he seems week and kind of lame in the end. I do feel sorry for him that he was shot and i do not think that he deserved it but I think that he sort of brought in on himself. He didn't seem too worried about how he would get in trouble because he was so focused on Daisy. This just annoys me because even if it would seem a little selfish of him to abandon Daisy in order to save himself I think that it was what he should have done.
... He should have realized that Daisy was not going to ever be with him and that she wasn't worth getting in so much trouble for. (sorry that was meant to be with my last post)
I definitely liked Gatsby in the beginning of the book better than at the end. In the beginning, Gatsby was cool and mysterious and we didn't know much about him, like Bridget said, but at the same time, he was intriguing enough for us to want to get to know him. Near the end of the book, Gatsby becomes someone that we pity, which I don't like at all. While I do pity him, I don't like Gatsby being a person that I have the opportunity to pity because he was so calm and cool and collected; it makes it seem like his coolness near the beginning was the act and his pitiful deprived self near the end was real. Everyone likes the cool person; nobody wants a sappy guy feeling sorry for himself if they could have some cool high society gentleman instead.
Gatsby intrigued me since the beginning and I ended liking him more: he focused everything in his life on Daisy, because all he wanted was her and he ends up killed because of her. In the all book he is the only one with a noble purpose in life while all the other characters base their life on money and not having anything they want to achieve bring them to be bored and to spend their days doing nothing except for going to parties, having affairs and getting drunk. I feel sorry for him because he was blinded by his dream and he couldn't "wake up" and I think that this thing is something that can be translated in real life and it's something that could happen to anyone. While I really like Gatsby I don't like Nick and I ended up disliking him even more at the end then in the beginning. He limits himself to stay outside everything trying not to judge. However doing that and taking distance from people he indirectly makes judgments. Moreover he wants to abandon everything because he doesn't want to be embroiled in anything: the only thing he is able to do is leave, and that is exactly what he does at the end.
I agree with Bridget that I liked Gatsby more in the beginning of the book than at the end. I think I liked Gatsby more in the beginning because he was this cool, mysterious guy with lots of money and expensive things. But by the end of the story, he was this helpless guy who was trying to live up to his dream but failed and died because someone was angry with him. Nick for me kind of stayed the same throughout the whole novel. Maybe its because of his ambivalence and inactiveness that my thoughts about him didn't change. But overall I liked Gatsby more in the beginning than in the end and my liking of Nick didn't really change at all.
I agree that Gatsby at the beginning of the novel seemed like this mysterious guy that as readers were easily attracted too. My turning point in then the novel was when we learned that he was obsessed with Daisy or the idea of Daisy. My personal opinion is that he was drooling over something not all that special and if I were there I probably would have said that there are plenty of other fish in the sea... old sport (lol?). Nick on the other hand I thought I would be neutral too since the beginning of the book. But now I strongly dislike him. I don't like him because he thinks he's better than Tom and Daisy, which in some aspects is true, but he's also more similar than he realizes. He, while not having a lot of money, still thinks that he is better than people who were not born into as much privilege as him.
I think I like Gatsby more than I did at the beginning of the book. You begin to feel sympathy for him towards the end when he dies. I began to dislike Nick more towards the end because he begins to hate the society he is in. He hates Tom and Daisy because he thinks that they caused Gatsby's death but Nick also had a part in it. His inaction led to Gatsby's death as well. He could have told the truth and stopped Gatsby's death.
ReplyDeleteI really felt bad for Gatsby. It was really sad to see how in the end he only had Nick and his Father. I think I ended up liking Gatsby more than I liked Nick at the end. Although nick stuck around for him, and made sure that he wasn't the only person at Gatsby's funeral, I really don't believe that Nick truly cared for Gatsby throughout the entire book. I feel like I ended up liking Gatsby more at the end because Fitzgerald illuminated the man behind the Great Gatsby. He showed us how lonely Gatsby truly was behind all of his parties, and his motive for becoming the man he did.
ReplyDeleteI liked Gatsby more in the beginning of the book than in the end. I feel like in the end he sort of let everything go in order to achieve an impossible dream. He stopped being this cool character that we didn't know much about but were interested in and in the end just turned into a helpless guy who didn't see that what he had devoted his life to was not possible. I think that he seems week and kind of lame in the end. I do feel sorry for him that he was shot and i do not think that he deserved it but I think that he sort of brought in on himself. He didn't seem too worried about how he would get in trouble because he was so focused on Daisy. This just annoys me because even if it would seem a little selfish of him to abandon Daisy in order to save himself I think that it was what he should have done.
ReplyDelete... He should have realized that Daisy was not going to ever be with him and that she wasn't worth getting in so much trouble for. (sorry that was meant to be with my last post)
DeleteI definitely liked Gatsby in the beginning of the book better than at the end. In the beginning, Gatsby was cool and mysterious and we didn't know much about him, like Bridget said, but at the same time, he was intriguing enough for us to want to get to know him. Near the end of the book, Gatsby becomes someone that we pity, which I don't like at all. While I do pity him, I don't like Gatsby being a person that I have the opportunity to pity because he was so calm and cool and collected; it makes it seem like his coolness near the beginning was the act and his pitiful deprived self near the end was real. Everyone likes the cool person; nobody wants a sappy guy feeling sorry for himself if they could have some cool high society gentleman instead.
ReplyDeleteGatsby intrigued me since the beginning and I ended liking him more: he focused everything in his life on Daisy, because all he wanted was her and he ends up killed because of her. In the all book he is the only one with a noble purpose in life while all the other characters base their life on money and not having anything they want to achieve bring them to be bored and to spend their days doing nothing except for going to parties, having affairs and getting drunk. I feel sorry for him because he was blinded by his dream and he couldn't "wake up" and I think that this thing is something that can be translated in real life and it's something that could happen to anyone.
ReplyDeleteWhile I really like Gatsby I don't like Nick and I ended up disliking him even more at the end then in the beginning. He limits himself to stay outside everything trying not to judge. However doing that and taking distance from people he indirectly makes judgments. Moreover he wants to abandon everything because he doesn't want to be embroiled in anything: the only thing he is able to do is leave, and that is exactly what he does at the end.
I agree with Bridget that I liked Gatsby more in the beginning of the book than at the end. I think I liked Gatsby more in the beginning because he was this cool, mysterious guy with lots of money and expensive things. But by the end of the story, he was this helpless guy who was trying to live up to his dream but failed and died because someone was angry with him. Nick for me kind of stayed the same throughout the whole novel. Maybe its because of his ambivalence and inactiveness that my thoughts about him didn't change. But overall I liked Gatsby more in the beginning than in the end and my liking of Nick didn't really change at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Gatsby at the beginning of the novel seemed like this mysterious guy that as readers were easily attracted too. My turning point in then the novel was when we learned that he was obsessed with Daisy or the idea of Daisy. My personal opinion is that he was drooling over something not all that special and if I were there I probably would have said that there are plenty of other fish in the sea... old sport (lol?). Nick on the other hand I thought I would be neutral too since the beginning of the book. But now I strongly dislike him. I don't like him because he thinks he's better than Tom and Daisy, which in some aspects is true, but he's also more similar than he realizes. He, while not having a lot of money, still thinks that he is better than people who were not born into as much privilege as him.
ReplyDelete