Hi guys! So I figured I would passage unpack.
"I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual weather in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life" (35).
Nick is not in the right state of mind when he says this because this is only the second time he has ever gotten drunk. He looks out the window knowing that he should leave but the conversations and events happening inside keep him at the apartment with Tom, and his mistress and her friends. I think that in the last line Nick is talking about how he is witnessing things he has never seen before like all the different types of people and how they are disturbing yet fascinating to him because he is learning new things. The only part i do not understand is when he says "and I was him too, looking up and wondering" because i'm not sure who he is talking about here. Let me know if you guys have any ideas.
The English Dork Club: A real-time ongoing conversation for Readers, Writers, Thinkers, and Discussers in English 4
I totally agree with everything you mentioned here. As for the last line, I don't think Nick is referring to a specific person, but more of a specific role almost. Let me try and explain what I mean by that. Before, Nick was explaining how "high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual walker in the darkening streets" (35). So what I think he was referring to was himself not only being the person in the buildings supposedly having an understanding of what the human secrecy that is portrayed through the line of window is, but also being the causal walker looking up and wondering. It's as if he is shown to be like everyone else in the buildings, behind the windows that portray the idea of human secrecy, but in reality his mind is the casual walker, full of wonder and not belonging anywhere in society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meghan and Julia in that Nick is not totally engaged in the situation he is in. I feel that Nick is "within and without" because he does not feel like he fits in with Tom and the mistress. He rather views himself as a casual walker, viewing what's going on around him instead of being a part of it.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to Julia's point about how Nick is experiencing things he has never seen before such as the disturbing and fascinating people. I felt that Nick in this scene felt a little lost with himself in terms of being comfortable with people of higher class. He gets lost because he doesn't know his actual place in society since being a part of the wealthy and "successful" people makes him want to leave. Where should Nick fit in society if he wants to be "successful" like Tom and his friends, but not want to view himself as an invaluable person in America.
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