After reading chapter six I think one of the questions was answered for me. The "what happens when there is nothing left to dream for?" question. I think by the end of this chapter we definitely see at least how Gatsby wants to approach the situation when he reaches this point.
"It is inevitably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment"(104)
"Can't repeat the past? he cried incredulously. Why of course you can" (110)
"I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before, he said, nodding determinedly. She'll see" (110)
"but if he could once return to a certain starting place..." (110)
Gatsby is initially sad at the fact that he has achieved his dream of reconnecting with Daisy and it is not exactly how he pictured it. He then realizes that even though that dream is over and there is no more to wish for about Daisy, the real problem is the past. So an easy fix is to repeat the past and fix everything. He just needs to find the place in the past where everything went wrong.
referring to the Langston Hughes poem, he finished the poem by saying "or does it explode". The world explode reminds me of a word that seemed to be mentioned a lot in the chapter. The word was Oblivion. When I think of oblivion, I think of nothing, literal nothingness because it has disappeared or maybe even exploded. Some of the examples are...
"Tom appeared from his oblivion" (105)
"I'd a little rather not be the polo player," said Tom pleasantly, "I'd rather look at all these famous people in--in oblivion."(105)
I think Langston Hues was implying that when a dream is deferred like Gatsby's, it was fade into oblivion and turn into nothing.
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This is a really good idea that you have going on. I totally agree. I think that since Gatsby is starting to realize that his relationship with Daisy isn't the same as it used to be and he is having trouble accepting that you can repeat the past (p. 110) and that he wants things to end up like they should have 5 years ago, with "them going back to Louisville and getting married from her house" (p. 109).
ReplyDelete"She doesn't understand…She used to be able to understand" (page 109).
I believe since their relationship isn't the same as it was in the past, Gatsby is trying to turn it into what they used to have. That's why he kept saying it's possible to live in the past (p. 110) and that he wants things to end up like they should have 5 years ago with Him and Daisy getting married in Louisville at her house (p. 109).
I think Gatsby is living in the past because he doesn't want to accept that everything he has been making the moment he sees Daisy again to be is not what is actually happening. He doesn't want to accept that maybe it's not going to work out like he planned.
Great idea Meghan. I would like to add on that I think Daisy was the only person Gatsby ever loved and he doesn't want to give that up. Going back to the "fire and freshness" quote, I think when Gatsby feels in love with something, no amount of wealth he can attain can replace him being in love with someone. He is not necessarily living in the past but he wants to feel in love with someone again since he truly misses that, and Daisy is the closest person to him.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good idea that you have going on.
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