Gatsby-bluest Eye Notes[1]

Gatsby/Bluest Eye Notes Gatsby

Bluest Eye

Societal Expectations -Classy Wealth: Use wealth to do classy things -Old Money: Born into money -Showiness -Pervasion: Wealth must pervade every aspect of your life -Conformity

Societal Expectations -Be White, or be subordinate

Characters -Gatsby: Society changed him; literally bought into society’s expectations -Daisy: Born into society, but not 100% into it like Tom -Tom: Absolutist, conviction without thought -Jordan: Typical Perception -Tom – All reality -Jordan – All Appearance -All friendships based on appearance (no mourners at Gatsby’s Funeral)

Characters -Geraldine: Ashamed by her race, believes she is better and acts “white” -Maureen: Corrupted by purity, corrupts the girls Perception/Reality: -Perceived inequality -In truth, equal

Ryan Thomas American Lit. Honors 6/10/08 Out of the Blue In the proverbial eleventh hour of junior year, after steadily trudging through studies of literary eras and wading through the pages of occasional novels, students were very likely shocked out of their stupor by their final assignments. Two books, both classics and both moving and completely open, were thrust upon them, almost simultaneously. If either were the type of novel to be savored and digested, this would have been a pity – but not so. Both were so disquieting that any prolonged exposure to them would be more detrimental than enriching. With such books, meaning is best gathered by finding not simply the truths within each, but the truths that they share, that are universal, though shown through different lenses. But that is not the only benefit of reading them so quickly and so close together. The Great Gatsby and The Bluest Eye are logical choices to be read together because they are, though both unique, very similar. Both speak to readers with similar messages, and share similar aspects – their main similarity lies in the issues they examine. Both uniquely approach expectations of their own societies, both do this through showing the impacts of these expectations on characters, and both deal with the differences between perceptions of these characters and the realities of their lives and natures.