Significant Connections

Lies. In our world, they’re practically everywhere. Dishonest politicians, distorted advertisements, depiction in news. Many parts of our world could be considered fiction, considering how many lies they’re based on. Due to this, many people lose themselves trying to achieve it. It happens that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about this experience in many of his works. The ones I will be focusing on are the short story “Diamonds as Big as The Ritz”, the novel “The Great Gatsby”, the film adaption of his short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, and another short story “Winter Dreams”. In all of these stories, Fitzgerald explores this theme. The Washingtons, and their mansion, Jay Gatsby,  Benjamin Button, and Dexter Green and his relationship with Judy Jones. In all of these cases, an illusion is explicitly shown, and the resulting display of reality. Characters in these stories try avoid reality in pursuit of this fabrication, but the truth catches up eventually, leading to their downfall.

“Diamonds as Big as The Ritz” has the most literal name out of all the texts, as there is indeed, a diamond as big as The Ritz. All their wealth is based off it, despite the fact that because of it, diamonds wouldn’t have value anymore. Because of their fake wealth, they were able to buy a “Garden of Eden”, but there’s a catch. Not only do visitors never get to leave alive, but the way it’s described in the book only highlights it’s fakeness. “The Montana sunset lay between the mountains like a giant bruise from which darkened arteries spread across a poisoned sky.”. The use of the words “bruise”, “darkened”, “poisoned”, all have negative connotations, and it’s a subtle clue in to how this “Garden of Eden” is lying. The Washingtons are fake, and Braddock takes considerable effort in trying to hide this. In the end, John, Kismine, and Jasmine are the only survivors of the attack. The illusions of the Washingtons crumbled with the house. It’s hard to feel bad however, as they didn’t actually deserve any of it. The Washington’s lied their way into it, by hiding the reality of the diamond just to gain wealth. Fitzgerald draws this in contrast to other rich people who live on a lie. He shows that it’s fake and they do not deserve it. Just like the Washington’s, it will all come crumbling down eventually.

Jay Gatsby. One of the most infamous characters, despite that not even being his real name. His whole “Gatsby” persona was made up. Like the Washington’s, he made his wealth in an unsavoury way. He does so much to put on a convincing display, as Nick notices “He chose his words carefully,”. His house is carefully constructed like a stage background, “This guy’s a regular Belasco!”, Owl Eyes remarks. Even the main colour associated with him, yellow, acts like something it’s not, trying to blend with the gold of the rich. “Jay Gatsby” is James Gatz’s illusion. We watch his desperate attempts fully to achieve his dream. A perfect life with Daisy. But no one’s perfect. Over the 5 years, she’s changed, and he cannot comprehend the fact that his dream might not be possible. For this, the author is demonstrating the dangers of an illusion, of believing in a dream. He shows the things you’ll do, and the commitments you’ll make, all for nothing. If you try too hard to obtain a lie, you’ll end up like Gatsby, alone, with nothing to show for his life.

Benjamin Button stands out as an oddball for one main reason, and that’s the fantasy element present. Benjamin ages backwards. Because of this, his life mirrors Daisy Fuller’s. Throughout the story we see them age opposite to each other, but, for a brief moment, they can connect. In this moment, we see the promise of what the relationship could’ve been. But, time catches up. “She realized none of us is perfect forever.” Daisy knows that the illusion isn’t going to last. After Benjamin and Daisy break up, the only time they’re seen together is when Daisy is taking care of him as a baby. Despite being together, they can’t connect in the way they used to. “You realize what’s changed, is you.” They both have changed. Of course, this isn’t realistic. But this story isn’t about that. It’s about how even if you achieve your dream, it’s short lived. Benjamin wanted a life with Daisy, but knew deep down it could never last. The relationship was an illusion to cover up the upcoming harsh truth. That’s what Fitzgerald wanted to say.

Out of my list, the two stories most alike are “The Great Gatsby” and “Winter Dreams”. Both show the story of a male character, desperate to pursue a woman who they’re eventually disappointed by in the end. On Dexter and Judy’s first “date” he’s let down when Judy shows up only wearing a simple dress, and how casually she asks the maid for dinner. He can’t get rid of his idea of “perfect” Judy, however. The day before his engagement would be announced, he changes his mind and gets engaged to Judy instead. “The helpless ecstasy of losing himself in her charm was a powerful opiate rather than a tonic.” He can’t help but fall into her again, as the quote describes how attracted he is to her idea. Like Benjamin,they both achieve their dream, but it’s not long before it all falls apart. Dexter leaves, but hears about Judy’s unhappy marriage, and her crumbling appearance. “The dream was gone. Something had been taken from him.” This refers to Dexter’s reaction to Judy. Such a woman is gone, and all that is left is the reality. In Gatsby and Benjamin, time is what makes the illusion fall, and that theme is also seen here. The relationship that he thought he could have will never be. Fitzgerald, in all of these stories, show that time is a big factor in uncovering the reality behind the illusion. Benjamin and Dexter try for love, but it can’t be. Gatsby and Dexter give up a life for one woman. Afterall, an illusion cannot last forever.

It could be completely disregarding a past identity to make a new one, or hoping to forget about reality. These stories show the variety of ways people will try to achieve this, and also their miserable downfalls, in a more simplified way that the average reader could understand, and relate to our world. By seeing falsity in fiction, it helps us see falsity in reality, and warns of the dangers of committing too deeply to it.

As you can see, in all of these stories, a recurring theme plays. The theme of illusion vs. reality. We see these men dream, hope, and pray for something impossible, and watch their inevitable downfall. No matter it’d be the “perfect relationship with the perfect woman” or a lie just to gain wealth and monetary value, it cannot last. Fitzgerald is clearly trying to communicate the dangers of such lies, and to not stray too far from reality. He warns you of the story of the Washington’s, Jay Gatsby, Benjamin Button, and Dexter Green, and urges you to be wary of similar tales. You cannot achieve the impossible, and sometimes, things really are too good to be true.

1.4 Now and Then

Quiet, but not silent. A soft song, singing smoothly, like a gentle stream of water cascading down a hill. The bees sing too, their wings producing a small “buzz”. From flower to flower, they dance. Wind swirls through the long grass, and around the rusty swing set, the chains jangling like a wind chime. Bliss.

Coating the picnicker’s skin, the warm early sun shines above. Long grass tickles at their ankles as they kneel down to smell the flowers. Petals opening after a long sleep. An array of gentle colours carpet the grass. Light pinks, pastel blues, and vibrant yellows, all contrasted against the ivy green.

Every so often, when a family come for a trip, the children leave the checkered blanket. Scurrying to the play set, they run over the dips and bumps of the uneven terrain. Wooden walls barred the bark from escaping, but the shoes of the children kick many pieces out. Spider webs hide in the shadows of the play set, only disturbed by unlucky bugs and ravenous little hands.

The parents might wander off to the vegetable garden, it’s oak walls now soft and crumbling. Peaking through the fertile soil were sprouts, too shy to emerge. They smile about fixing up their old garden, this new one inspiring them. On the walk back to the car, the children lift their heads and proudly display their findings. Through soft giggles, and warm smiles, they’d drive home, children falling asleep in the back.

It was still quiet, but the garden wasn’t singing anymore. It is but a strangled whisper. Bees aren’t dancing, and the swing set no longer sounding so sweet. Lovely, soft colours of the garden had vanished, replaced only by sooty, dying, grey. The jangle of the swings became the dreadful moans and creaks of the metal pipes, and rotting wood.

An overcast day halts the sun’s warmth ever reaching your skin, that is, if you dared to leave the house with any showing. The chilly wind was bad enough, whipping through your hair and inside your coat. Auburn leaves lay strewn. Their crunch providing delight for the young. Uneven dirt hold the half frozen puddles, so desperately longed for by vigorous kids. Gumboots shattering the thin layer of ice.

The smell of rain mixed with the scent of hot chocolate, drifting from a nearby coffee shop. Occasionally, the parents of those eager kids would wander over to the garden, cheeks tainted red from the cold. Shivering fingers wrapped around their hot drinks. They’d huddle together, boots sinking into the grey and lifeless grass. Glasses would fog up from the drinks heat, and everything would become a blur of ash.

Below the parents’ view, the chill swirl piles of leaves into fantastic swirls of a fire. Scorching at the legs of passerby’s, the blaze consuming all in its wake. Up the disintegrating bark of the oak, a mockery of what it had been before. It laughed, before carrying on.

Underneath the planks of the playground lay frost. Thin, and spread out. The weak sun could do nothing to rid it, but the children could. Looking in all the same crevasses, no bugs could be found. There was only ice. As stubby fingers brush against it, eyes lit up with wonder. Hearing their parents calls, they run back, but not before leaving a mark in the frost.

As the car rumbles with life, the air conditioning bringing the well needed warmth. Frozen fingers wrap around the cold leather of the steering wheel. The chill blows in through the open door, taking a few stray leaves with it. Skipping over the bumps, the children hurry back, fighting through endless waves of fire. All to make it to the car. Finally, the chill would bother them, no more.

Sentence Starters

The girl submerged herself into polar waves, goosebumps materializing on flesh. Woken early, and zealous, a body cascaded.

Suffocating dust greats those who dare to open the dark oak doors. Creaking with age and sorrow, they’d slowly be pushed out of the way. Underneath lay a darker patch of wood, not yet touched by the sun’s warmth. Glistening golden light pouring through the stained windows, and bathed the library in reds, blues, and greens.

Hanging plants painting the planks with dying petals. Magnifying glasses were hidden away, to not catch the sun and set the whole room ablaze. Although it’s not as if the heat would’ve been any different.

Tense

“The old house had been empty for years.”

The rotting wood creaked with every breeze, and the crumbing staircase moaned with loneliness. The windows, stained with dirt and grease, were now meaningless, as there was no one to see. Blackened carpet held the trace of footsteps, soon to be forgotten. Each room held only the memory of someone being in them.

The rotting house moaned with it’s ever increasing loneliness.

  • Wake up
  • Probably go to sleep for a bit longer
  • Actually wake up
  • Check my phone
  • Brush my hair
  • Get in the shower
  • Wash my face
  • Get dressed
  • Pack bag
  • Unload dishwasher
  • Have some breakfast
  • Pack lunch
  • Start walking

I wake up but start to fall asleep again. I wake up, finally, and I start checking my phone. I’m brushing my hair as the shower warms up. I wash my face, and start dressing. I walk into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. I eat breakfast and then I pack my lunch. Then, I’m finally walking to school.

I woke up, but then I fell asleep again. I woke up, finally, and checking my phone. I brushed my hair as the shower warmed up. I washed my face, and got dressed. I walked into the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher. I ate break breakfast, and then packed my lunch. Then, I finally walked to school.

Tomorrow, I’ll wake up but fall asleep again. I’ll wake up, finally, and check my phone. I’ll brush my hair as the shower will warm up. I will wash my face and get dressed. I’ll walk into the kitchen and unload the dishwasher. I’ll eat breakfast and then pack my lunch. Then, I’ll finally walk to school.

Synonyms

  • Cantankerous-cranky
  • Pong-bad smell
  • Sacrosanct-sacred
  • Diffident-shy
  • Austere-stern
  • Malevolent-evil
  • Voracious-gluttonous
  • Eradicate-destroy
  • Ardour-passion
  • Ruminate-contemplate

Sunken shipwrek.

Abandoned, forgotten, dark, quiet, old, lost, crumbling, treasure, gold, skull, skeleton, pirate, pearls, sunken, algae, old scuba helmet, discovery, flag, rotten, wood, steering wheel, pirate hat, rapier, mermaid, fish, octopus, rust, salt, crab, silver cutlery.

Beneath the raging ocean waves, half sunken into the sand, lay the wreck. The oak planks making up the majority of the boat were breaking apart from the hull, floating away to explore the rest of the sea. The mast had been broken in two, a ragged piece of black fabric swaying softly in the underwater current. Deteriorating bones scattered around, some adorned with expensive jewels, and rich metal ornaments.

Inside, the silence was deafening; The only noise from the gentle waves above. The small taste of salt would’ve made it into your mouth. Necklace strings broken by corrosion, letting the beads and gems float softly to the floor. The quarters were shrouded by shade, only the metal plates scathing glimpses of daylight. A mirror hang down, shattered, and old timely pistols reflect in the shards. Seaweed crept up from the sea bed and through the holes, like a predator about to strike it’s prey. Colorful sea life swam through the plant and around the rot and decay.

Zoom in task

Prepositions: Indicate the relation ship between things (behind, above, before).

resource image

In between the towering mountains, is a hidden away valley. Ostracized away from modern society, and soon to be forgotten entirely. In the minds of all civilians, they never wanted to know about it in the first place. In the middle of said valley was a forest, a forest thought to be dead and fading away. Around the edge were small ferns and flowers, tainted only by the rusty metal, and and crumbling beams of steel.

Towards the middle you’d notice it more, for when the trees got taller, so did the wreckage. Sticking up from the grass were sometimes dirtied panes of glass, shatters lying softy on the edge. Trotting up to you was the wildlife, foxes, deer, the like.

Bedroom description

If you were to walk into my bedroom, you’d first have to make a decision. The room has two entrances, one from the hallway and the other through the bathroom. It is in the shape of a rectangle, aside from my wardrobe that juts into the shape. If you walk in through the hallway entrance my sliding door that I never use will be opposite you. My desk and bookcase is to the right of you and my bed is on the left wall. The bathroom entrance is to the right and my wardrobe is on the right wall.

If my room was clean, you’d be able to see a big patch of carpet in the middle of my room. Unfortunately, it seldom is. My book case is one of variety. Not only does it host books I haven’t read and never will, but various trinkets from my time as a young-in. My desk, which has a small landing at the end of it, is where my computer sits, along with my drawing tablet. My jar of markers, and container of random pens and pencils lay on the landing.

My bed is in the closest left corner, and my bedside table is beside it, surprisingly. My broken lamp and hand sanitizers are the only things on it. I used to have a digital clock, but I banished it, for the light was annoying to me. My bed is a mixture of too big blankets that often move around in the night, causing me displeasure. My top blanket has a cover that was originally a curtain, and has pink stylized drawings of various famous locations.

  • My handing plant, my twinkle lights
  • Hanging off, pinned to, placed on
  • Grey, pink, tan
  • Mostly simplistic, minimalist
  • The flower stickers on my wall I don’t like
  • My dog, usually lying on my bed
  • Smells gross and warm if I keep my heater on
  • My leather-ish desk chair, fluffy carpet
  • My computer’s fan turning on randomly, banging noises from the garage

The room has two entrances, either allowing you to see a different angle of the room. It is stuck in between the bathroom and hallway, with the only way of escape the sliding door. Seldom read books line the wall, and trinkets lay unused and untouched on the bookshelf, the previous year’s awards, framed, lay on top.

Clothes remain strewn on the floor, everyday supposed to be the day I finally clean them up. They hide the dark carpet as if covering up a lie. The desk stands tall, and taller with the landing. It hold one of my most important possessions, my new computer.

Daisy Buchanan Analysis

The “golden girl” is the idea of this perfect woman, something that can never really exist. In the 1920’s the idea of a golden girl would be pure. She’d be beautiful, with and without makeup, skinny, and rich. She’d also probably have a lot of admirers but hardly any relationships, as to seem more “untouched”.

  1. This description fits Daisy, as she was written to encapsulate this idea of perfection. Although, as you look closer you see there is more to her. Despite seeming naive, she is actually shown to be shred and conniving. She puts up with her husband’s affair, only to later have her own affair. “I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” Daisy says this when she first meets Nick. Nick comments on her tone, describing it as absurd but charming. This might hint that Daisy is just pretending, performing this caricature of the golden girl. She says later the only way to survive as a woman is to be a fool, and that is what she tries to project.
  2. Like most people, Gatsby is in love with Daisy, not actually her, but the idea of her. The people who like her don’t see her as an actual person, more as a precious item to be collected for bragging rights. This was common for a lot of women during this time. And it is especially prevalent in the argument scene in chapter 8, where Tom and Gatsby are arguing about who Daisy loves, not even considering to ask her. “She never loved you, do you hear?” he cried. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!” This is something Gatsby says, without even checking in with Daisy to confirm if it’s true.
  3. Life for women during this time wasn’t the best. It was a predominately male world, not allowing for women to be as successful. If you were a woman and had some idea of the world around you you would realize there isn’t much hope for you. The only options really were to become a housewife or some man’s mistress. We see this through both Daisy and Myrtle. Daisy is smarter than led to believe so she has realized this, and she knows how horrible it is, and she doesn’t want her daughter ever finding out.
  4. Daisy smashes up people’s lives, most obviously, Myrtle’s, George’s and Gatsby’s. It starts with Gatsby, when she first meets him again. She does love him but never really had any intention of running away with him, like Gatsby presumed. Then there’s George and Myrtle. She accidentally kills Myrtle, but then doesn’t even stop and keeps driving. This breaks George who kills Gatsby and then himself. This is basically all of her doing, and in the end, she doesn’t even bother with the funeral.
  5. If Daisy had an alignment her alignment would be true neutral. She doesn’t care about being a perfect citizen, nor does she want to cause chaos. She does what she wants, well, as much as she can as a woman. She indulged in Gatsby’s fantasy, but then killed Myrtle. Although a lot of the things Daisy does flips between being good or bad, I consider her to be a bad person. She does nice things sometimes, yes, but it isn’t because she’s nice at heart. She does what she wants, without any care for ethics.

The Analysis of Nick Caraway

I am inclined to reserve all judgement, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.

Nick is very tolerant. Other people see him as quite passive, and harmless. People don’t think Nick will tell anything, and therefore is burdened by other people’s problems, and some can be quite dull. Through the way he is he gets to listen to people freely.

  1. Nick comes from a moderately rich family in the Midwest, specifically Minnesota. He was born in 1892, and grew up with his family before leaving to Yale, from where he graduated from. He is also related to Daisy, though only barely (second cousin, once removed), and he went to collage with Tom. He moves to New York to try his hand in the bonds business. From this background, we know that Nick has barely interacted with the new money type people from New York. It is said he is a tolerant kind of person, just dealing with people pushing their minuscule problems on him, but in New York, that becomes much more of a deal. He also acts as our gate into New York, as he has never been, leading to him being able to describe in ore detail than a local.

2.

“When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.”

Nick had gotten a look into the lifestyle of the new money type people, and he was kinda disgusting. He saw how they treated those who weren’t as wealthy (Tom to Myrtle, just seeing her as some fling), and just other people in general (Daisy not even bothering to go to Gatsby’s funeral). He wanted his life to go back to how it was when he was younger, because it wasn’t as obsessed with wealth.

“…wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.”

Tom might be called somewhat passive, and in a city where everyone is richer than him, he might feel somewhat intimidated. Tom is well known, and very wealthy, and since Nick is in the bonds business, how much money Tom has could put pressure on him.

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

Nick, being new to this kind of lifestyle, might have a somewhat objective view on it. He sees how inciting it is, a life of glamour, but he also sees all the work and disgusting behavior that is required to achieve it. He sees how someone might fall for it, but he isn’t just viewing from an outsider’s perspective, as he is friends with Gatsby, who got his wealth through bootlegging.

Most of the time I worked…I knew the other clerks and young bond salesmen by their first names…I even had a short affair with a girl who lived in Jersey City and worked in the accounting department, but her brother began throwing mean looks in my direction…”

Again, Nick is a passive person. Of course he’d be taken aback by the brother. But since this is talking about a somewhat long amount of time, we see that Nick was mostly just engrossed in his work. He stopped the affair, and went right back into the work. This also show that getting wealthy takes a lot of time and effort.

“I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”

Nick sees himself as objective, and not persuaded by many things. With all the lying and scamming in New York city, it would make sense he thinks only he is honest.

They’re a rotten crowd…You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together!’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him because I disapproved of him from beginning to end.”

Nick says this, even though he doesn’t really like Gatsby, because Nick sees him as the lesser of two evils. It wasn’t Gatsby who hit Myrtle and drove off. And, in a way, he might even pity him. Nick knows what its like to put in so much effort and not get anything in return, so when he sees Gatsby throwing all these parties with just a hope of Daisy coming back, he can relate.

I shook hands with him. It seemed silly not to for I felt suddenly as though I was talking to a child.”

When Nick sees Tom after some time, Tom is basically the same. He is still obsessed with the idea of wealth and glamour, and Nick sees that as immature. He grown past it all, during his time in the city.

I sat there brooding on the old unknown world…”

I think Nick is talking about the world of the new money types. It’s past him, so it’s now old to him, but still unknown. (I don’t really know)

3. At the beginning of the book, Nick is an ambitious young man. He moves all the way to New York city in hopes of becoming successful through the bonds business. This is a Nick who was only presumably known about the new money lifestyle through newspapers, and word of mouth. He is still quite naive about it all. Throughout the book, however, he starts to see the dark underbelly, of both old and new money. He finds out about Gatsby’s bootlegging, and he see’s Daisy’s lack of empathy for someone she killed. At the end, Nick thinks back to his younger self, but he’s grown past that. The summer changed his life, and made him more mature in the end. This is also hinted at when he turns 30 on the day of Daisy and Gatsby’s fight. Not long after this, everything goes down, and he leaves. This is him maturing, and leaving it behind. Although Fitzgerald couldn’t have known this, but it also relates to how society calmed down during the Great Depression, in the 1930’s. Nick, too, is quieting down.

The Creation of Jay Gatsby

The Costume

Gatsby’s clothing seems to be relatively normal compared to the time and place. He is often described wearing french button ups, which alludes to his wealth, but also his brief time spent in Europe during the war days. The colour of his suits can represent the mood or a particular theme. During his first meeting with Daisy, he is wearing white. “…Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-coloured tie…” White represents purity, and it also represents how their relationship is still “pure” as they haven’t yet learnt things about each other which would make them uninterested. The few colours that Gatsby is wearing are also the name of precious metals, again referring to his immense wealth. White is also a colour Daisy is described as wearing during the book, as Daisy is seen as a good girl, pure. “…on which two women (Daisy and Jordan) were…” They were both in white…” The flower is also white.

During the argument scene at the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby is described as wearing a pink suit. “‘Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.'” The pink could represent the purity of their first meeting (and white suit) being tainted by something bad (like how blood stains white cloth, the cloth goes pink). This shift in colours to be darker and less pure could relate to the fact that later that night Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle in Gatsby’s car.

The Props

The props are a very important thing to Gatsby’s disguise. The main one he has are the yellow car. “‘It was a yellow car,’ he said, ‘big yellow car…” The car has symbolism through its colour. As we talked in class before, yellow is almost a “fake gold”, like it’s pretending. This lines up well with Gatsby as almost everything he does is trying to imitate a sort of wealthy character. Other characters who aren’t pretending are described with actual gold, while Gatsby is related to yellow.

Another prop are his photos, of Cody, of Daisy, of Oxford. While he keeps the picture of Cody around, I believe he does so as to honour the man who helped him with his disguise. He keeps the Daisy photo around as a way to remind himself of her, as soldier do in the war. It kept telling him what all this effort was for. As for Oxford, he keeps it as a way to keep up his disguise, so more people buy into it.