First I have to apoligize that I didn't blog sooner. This whole weekend, which was scheduled quite nicely until I was struck down with whatever it is thats going around here at school. So, I got absolutly nothing done this past weekend, because I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. With that our little hacker problem happend again. Good Grief! So on with The Great Gatsby........
I would like to say that I do not like this book at all. One of the things that got under my skin was that there are all of these affairs going on. I don't understand why Tom married Daisy if he didn't like her. Along with that, I didn't like the fact that Tom even took his wife's cousin the meet the mistress. How stupid is that. I'm against people haveing affairs and cheating on their spouses, but if you are going to do it, at least do it in privet or secretly. Maybe Tom figured that Daisy is so dumb that she would never figure it out.
Lets talk about Daisy. I read other people's blogs and found that they thought that she is really intelligent, but I don't see it, really! Everything that comes out of her mouth makes no sense, and there is pretty much no point in anything she says. Like for instance when she talked about the bird on the lawn or when she suddenly started yelling at Tom that he bruised her finger. As I'm writing this I can now see a little why Tom would try to find someone else better than her. Although I don't think that his mistress is all that great either. It's really sad that she married a guy, who now suddenly she feels he is beneath her. Both of these women bug me.
There is one more thing, what is with F.Scott Fitzgerald making woman to look like idots. Look how he pretrated them in Bernice Bobs Her Hair. It kind of has me wonder what kind of person he really was. Did he really think of woman this way? For all I know it could be that he experienced woman acting this way when he wrote the book. Either way it still bothers me. As much as I don't like it I will really try to stay open-minded, maybe then end of the novel will be better.
Posted by SueMyers at February 9, 2005 2:51 PMI agree with you in relation to the affairs. However, I wonder how interesting the novel would be if there weren't any affairs going on? The book is about two people reuniting after duty took one of them away. And now after six years, Daisy has a husband and a CHILD! And yet Fitzgerald writes a love story of these two characters having an affair.
It brings up a hot issue though. If they are both unhappy, does it validate having an affair with other people? How upset can Tom be at Daisy for doing the same thing that he is doing? And visa versa... Just a thought. I hear you though... the affairs seem abundant. And though I don't excuse them, what would the story be without scandal?
Sue, what an interesting blog item.. I think that Tom and Daisy have a marriage of convenience. This marriage gives them both status. Daisy was the "queen" of her home town and Tom was extremely wealthy, she is in essence Tom's trophy wife...However i do agree with you that having an affair is wrong. I also found it very odd that Tom would take Nick to meet Myrtle, this just shows how little respect he has for Daisy.
Knowing that F. Scott Fitzgerald was once married to Marylin Monroe may be of interest in pondering his view of women, on a general basis. That could be something you might want to look at for a close reading (just a suggestion). Maggi, I think you're really on to something with the "trophy wife" thing!
Posted by: Karissa at February 10, 2005 9:22 PMSue, I found your entry very interesting, I can understand and see your point you are giving on the character of Daisy and her "ditzy" self. I do in a way agree, however what kind of person would want to read about this normal boring woman sittig in a chair with nothing on her mind. Fitzgerald added character to her personality. Anyways, i do agree with your comment on how affairs are wrong. It was sad to see all the terrible things that Tom did to Daisy that made her feel more worthless than she was before.
Posted by: Melissa Berg at February 11, 2005 3:15 PMKarissa, I think you might be thinking of Arthur Miller. He was maried to Marilyn Monroe.
Coincidentally, Miller just died the other day...
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at February 12, 2005 10:39 AMAwh, rats... Why is it that I get those two confused!?! I knew that didn't sound right *blushing with embarassment* Oops, and what a coincidence... Bizarre.
Posted by: Karissa at February 13, 2005 7:15 PMu hav to consider the social context also. in those times it was accepted for people to have affairs with other people, women expected for that to happen.
Posted by: fghfgh at October 19, 2005 3:42 PM