The
Great Gatsby
February
26, 2014
Daisy
Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are two gluttons of punishment who deserved nothing because
of their stupidity towards each other. Jay Gatsby is a hopeless romantic who
clings to the pass and doesn't live in the moment. What is past cannot and
should not be relived. Gatsby is like the old drunk in the bar that cries in
his beer over the girl that got away, guess what Jay. That girl that got away
is a narcissistic, materialistic heiress who complains a lot about the heat and
the lack of windows. If Jay Gatsby was really thinking, would he really want
that or did his longing for the past keep him forever blinded and enthralled
with his “love” for Daisy? Daisy Buchanan even says that, “Rich girls don’t
marry poor boys”. Daisy said it best, women like her need money to be happy. Fitzgerald
hit the mark even today. Jay Gatsby is
equally of guilty of being stupid. When Nick and Jay are talking Jay says of
Daisy, “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money”. Okay her voice is full of money,
anything else, how about her voice sounds like spring, or like a fresh picked
rose, or something equally as cheesy. Why money? If Jay Gatsby subconsciously
knew that Daisy was all about the money and is a witchy woman, why go after
her? Jay is clinging onto the past,
hoping past glories will suffice in his wooing of Daisy. Guess what Jay. Daisy
is not the southern belle you once remembered her as.
One of the major themes of The Great Gatsby is human longing for
the past. What if the past is all sugar and no substance. Can a long lasting,
gag me with a spoon, love really endure through the years? Growing old with
someone is not pretty. Daisy Buchanan is living in a fantasy world, as seen in
the movie, when she forces Jay Gatsby to put on his old officer uniform. Jay is hesitant
and doesn't want to do this at first but succumbs to her feminine wears and puts
on the outfit for the sake of good old times. What does this say of Jay? Doesn't he realize that Daisy is in love with the past and not him? Jay is a sucker of
the sentimental past. When Nick and Jay are talking Nick tells Jay that one
cannot relieve the past, to which Jay replies, “Of course you can”. Jay is
equally as dumb as Daisy in the fact that he can’t face reality. The love
he once might have felt for Daisy was fleeting and not real. Daisy does not
love Jay. She let Jay take the rap for the death of Myrtle and when she had a
chance to go with Jay, she stayed with Tom. Jay Gatsby instead of breaking down the door to the
house, stayed outside in the rain and watch Daisy's house, like Lloyd Dobler
holding a boom box for Diane Court in Say
Anything. Jay and Daisy are no Lloyd
and Diane. Jay and Daisy are two spoiled children who cling to the glory days
of high school, instead of facing facts and life.
Do you think that this is just a film/novel about Gatsby's lost love.... or is it about how superficial that love object is? Gatsby has a noble hope and dream.... but what he hopes and dreams for is, in reality, an ash heap. That which he has aspired to isn't worth it, but he can't see it. Do you think that the film reveals any of this? How do you think the film and novel differ in their presentation of Gatsby as a character?
ReplyDeleteYou mention Jay and Daisy as spoiled children clinging to the past. I can see Redford's character in this picture fitting that notion. Redford does exude an air of entitlement suggesting a 'spoiled' nature. While longing for the past is indicative of the novel's Gatsby, I would say that Gatsby, in the novel, is anything but spoiled; misguided naive yes, but not spoiled. He has bought into the love of excess, money, and extravagance so prevalent in his time, and equates status with worth, pinning his own self-worth on being a part of it. He can't see Daisy's shallowness because he subscribes to the same notion, and aspires to be Daisy's perfect representation of that ideal. I have sympathy and empathy for Gatsby in the novel; Redford's character, not so much.
ReplyDeleteWe can plainly see how fickle Gatsby and Daisy's love is but we have to keep in mind that the book isn't really about their love. It's about the era and the culture of that time. The love story simply gives a track to follow while we look at all the pretty sights out the the window. So, of course their love story is kind of crap and yeah we shouldn't cling to the past but it's what we do as humans. We try to hold on to what makes us feel good even when its not the same as it used to be and sometimes we can't see it. This is just a bit of an explanation from my point of view of why Fitzgerald chose portray their love in this manner.
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