Okay, so nobody really likes Tom, but beyond his deplorable behavior and skewed moral compass, we need to uncover his contribution to the text. What does he represent? What does he expose about each and every one of us (whether we want to admit it or not)?
And then there's Gatsby... so complex. Why is this novel called The Great Gatsby? Is he a victim or perpetrator? Is his death tragic or poetic?
Feel free to comment on either or both.
When we were talking about Tom and his fatal flaw I don't necessarily think its all his falt, but mainly his parents falt. His parents are the ones who gave him everything in life. I thinks this is what caused Tom to cheat on Daisy he was bored with his life he already had everything else. He was bored with having everything, like was discussed in class he wanted more. I feel F. Scott Fitzgerald used him to show what not to be, that its better to work in life than be handed everything.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Gatsby is there to show what you can achieve if you go for it. Gatsby was the one who wanted to achieve anything. In a way I think Fitzgerald wants us to be like Gatsby in that we go for our dreams no matter what happens as long as we tried that's all that matters. Some people in class were saying that Gatsby constantly wants more. I don't necessarily agree with that everything we see Gatsby do in the book is too accomplish his one goal even if it seems like he's wanting more and more its all to try to Daisy. He tried to achieve his goal and I think that's all that matters as long as he went for it that's good enough.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Martinez
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about Toms fatal flaw I think that his fatal flaw is that he is a rich brat who thinks that he can have everything in the world and have control over them, and when he starts to lose control he flips out and doesn't know how to control the situation.
I think that Gatsby's fatal flaw is his inability to move on. After losing Daisy, he begins to obsess over her, saving newspaper clippings about her, moving right across from her mansion, and throwing huge parties in the hopes that she will notice him. In focusing all of his efforts on Daisy he throws his life away, being so mesmerized by the dream of having Daisy that he is unable to realize that he can have a fantastic life without her.
ReplyDeleteI really connected with a comment someone made in class during the Gatsby seminar about Gatsby's obsessive nature. They pointed out how Gatsby was originally focusing all of his energy on getting money, then he turned his attention to Daisy, and trying to capture her. While it could be argued that his obsession over wealth was related to Daisy, the book that Gatsby's father gave Nick at the end of the novel, the one including the list of goals Gatsby had made as a child, was evidence of his natural tendency to find a goal, no matter how seemingly unachievable, and all of pour his efforts into it. I think that this fact about Jay Gatsby is largely his fatal flaw, both obviously (in a round-about way it ended up being his demise) and in a more settle way. It was blatantly clear that his obsession over daisy was driving him to do crazy things, but i couldn't help but feeling, while reading the novel, that Gatsby and Tom were the very same in that they are incredibly, and to a fault, competitive.
ReplyDeleteThis leads me to my point about Tom, while Gatsby's greatest flaw is his obsessive way of functioning, I think that Tom is flawed in his inability to give up, or to let go. Im not sure if this is driven out of boredom, and his inner search to find his purpose. I think Tom is largely lost, he was given so many resources, and doesn't have an adequate way to utilize them. This leads to his being possessive, he wants the prettiest girl, regardless of how much he loves her, or doesn't love her. Even when the time comes that Daisy is with Gatsby, the man she truly loves, an Tom has Murtle, he is too proud to let Daisy go.
Because Tom can't let go, and Gatsby has to hold on, I think that they had more in common than it may appear on the surface. When reading you have positive feelings towards Gatsby, because Nick (the narrator) likes Gatsby, and in Tom, you can only see the flaws, because they are so highlighted in the writing of the book. I enjoyed the comparison of seminars (Gatsby and Tom) and the fact that they were placed consecutively, it really opened my eyes to the possibility of similarities between the two characters.
I believe that Toms fatal flaw was his selfishness. He put off this vibe to the world that everything was about him and that he was this great man that didn't care about anyone but himself. But in reality when it did come down to the people he did care he would fight for them and show how he cared about them. Such as when Myrtle dies he is angry and shows that he actually feels for someone else, but then again he does treat it as revenge and tells Myrtles husband that Gatsby killed her. And when Tom finds out about Gatsby and Daisy. He becomes angry and starts to fight for Daisy also and wins.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to add that Tom is like a child he likes to live as this perfect American man who lives his perfect American life plays sports at the ivy league school. Marry the Perfect American wife. And in his life he wants this excited and change. But when he does get the change/excitement he wants he runs away from it. Such as what he did when he ran from the big event in Chicago and what he did when Gatsby died.
Something someone said during the seminar caught my attention and I completely agree with it. I believe that after not seeing Daisy for a couple of years, Gatsby invented a character in his mind who he believes is the Daisy he was supposedly in love with and that this imaginary person would complete his life goal. However when he was finally reunited with Daisy he had high expectations of her that she did not meet. Gatsby acted as if she was everything he dreamed of but I got a sense that she wasn’t. However I believe that if he admitted to himself that she wasn’t who he hoped, then this would destroy him emotionally because he dedicated his life for this perfect girl he thought was Daisy.
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