5 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2018
  2. xroads.virginia.edu xroads.virginia.edu
    Chapter Two
    5
    1. Chevydealer570 13 Feb 2018
      I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon; so everything that happened has a dim, hazy cast over it, although until after eight o'clock the apartment was full of cheerful sun. Sitting on Tom's lap Mrs. Wilson called up several people on the telephone; then there were no cigarettes, and I went out to buy some at the drugstore on the corner. When I came back they had disappeared, so I sat down discreetly in the living-room and read a chapter of SIMON CALLED PETER.--either it was terrible stuff or the whiskey distorted things, because it didn't make any sense to me.

      This excerpt shows how much of a hypocrite Nick is. He is hypocritical about himself. He says he doesn't drink, but he drinks frequently during this story. He says he isn't judgemental, but he always judges everybody. He reminds me of the warden from The Shawkshank Redemption.

      AMSTUD01SBASU
    2. Chevydealer570 13 Feb 2018
      "That dog?" He looked at it admiringly. "That dog will cost you ten dollars."

      I always find inflation and currency value changes interesting in stories. In this story set in the 1920's, a dog is worth about $10, while puppies today can range from $1000-$2000 for a pure breed and $50-$500 for a mixed breed dog. This connects back to the story because of how much importance is placed upon money by all the fake characters in this story.

      AMSTUD01SBASU
    3. Chevydealer570 13 Feb 2018
      "Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive."

      This is the classic mistake that many egotistical characters make over and over again: they always underestimate their opponents. This reminds me of the tortoise and the hare because the Tom(the hare) is openly mocking and underestimating Wilson(the tortoise) and in the end, Wilson shocks everyone with his capabilities. https://youtu.be/LthoQPO6YLE

      AMSTUD01SBASU
    4. Chevydealer570 13 Feb 2018
      Then I heard footsteps on a stairs, and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering. She smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. Then she wet her lips, and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice:

      The description of this woman is extremely vain. The way Nick describes her tells me that he does not respect this woman and only views her as almost a piece of meat. This is similar to the objectifying of women that occurs in today's society. With all the scantily-clad women in music videos and the pop culture that surrounds it, there seems to be no respect of women. To connect back to the Great Gatsby, Nick does not respect her and speaks of her in this way because she is in an affair with Tom .

      AMSTUD01SBASU
    5. Chevydealer570 13 Feb 2018
      This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens

      This reminds me of a scene from Gladiator where the main character (played by Russell Crowe) finds his family dead and his property burned down in his farm. This is connected to the Great Gatsby because Gatsby eventually dies and loses everything in his life, similar to the valley of ashes reminiscing on the past.

      AMSTUD01SBASU
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