We spent class today looking for quotes to support an argument after receiving five prompts to choose from to write our next essay on. I chose the prompt that invited analysis of the message conveyed by the novel regarding dreams, hopes, or idealizations. By the end of the period, I had a pretty decent idea of what I wanted to argue, which I will share here.
One detail that caught my attention was the repeated likening of Gatsby to a child. It is said that he restlessly opens and closes his hand, like a baby making a fist, and Nick tells Gatsby point-blank that he is behaving childishly when he is nervous around Daisy. James Gatz created the idealized persona of Jay Gatsby at the young age of 17. I believe that once he got older, he began to outgrow this person he created for himself. Jay Gatsby is said to be a “vague contour” of a person which ended up being filled out to make a man. By assuming this identity to chase his dreams, Gatsby put a time limit on such aspirations. He tries to slow time, but it moves on without him, and ultimately he pays the price for devoting his whole being to his dreams: his very life. It is said that Daisy falls short of his dreams, not through any fault of her own, but instead due to the “colossal vitality” of Gatsby’s illusion. The word “vitality” reveals that he has poured his life and soul into chasing her. He childishly begins to confuse this dream and reality, eventually receiving a rude awakening in the form of his death.
I will post again with reformed ideas once the essay is complete!
Rowan Dobranski's Blog 