I have started reading Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, I did not get far enough in to write a blog post about it. I chose to start reading this novel because I love Fitzgerald's writing style and what he chooses to write about. I first fell in love with him in The Great Gatsby. Although I really liked the character of Gatsby I still enjoyed the end. I thought that was the way the novel needed to end. I think that Gatsby had already died inside when he realized the Daisy was never going to leave her husband for him. While I was sad that that was the way he had to die I understand why Fitzgerald wrote it this way.
I think that Daisy was meant to represent everything that was wrong with the 1920s. She chose material goods for what was morally right. She had so much that she did not know what to do with it. I do think that she was in love with Gatsby, but I also think that she used him for her own pleasure and when it came time for her to commit she choked. She decided to stay with her husband and all his money and let Gatsby take the blame for killing Myrtle. This is the second time she let down Gatsby. The first being that she said she would wait for Gatsby to come back from the war. She instead married Tom who was from a well off family. She and Tom did not even attend Gatsby's funeral they left. I love the way Nick characterizes her, as a careless person who messes things up the hides behind her money.
I am sorry for ranting about Daisy. I am sure there are good things about her as well, I just do not see them. I have to say that this is my favorite novel I have read for school.
I agree with your rant about daisy, she is a selfish woman but I loved how symbolic her character is. The little details of her character, like how she would talk very softly so people would lean in closer. Also, the imagery of white and yellow, white symbolizes the purity, the “good” whereas yellow symbolizes corruption. Daisy’s character is the epitome of this, the fact her name Daisy, a flower which is white and yellow. The fact that she always wears white, and appears to be pure and good however in the end, through the events you describe, she is actually corrupt, the real Daisy is yellow. Daisy definitely exemplifies the selfishness, greediness and carelessness of the 1920s. She chooses money over love, leaves Gatsby to cleanup her mess, and doesn’t pay him any respect by going to his funeral. Daisy is definitely a character that can get a reaction out of The Great Gatsby’s readers, because on goes from hoping her and Gatsby will end up together to hating her for how she hangs Gatsby out to dry. This change of events is Fitzgerald’s commentary on the 20s, it seems glamorous and fun but in the end it was just a time of selfishness, it’s not something that should be replicated, rather a lesson on what not to do.
ReplyDelete