"The past haunts the present" The great gatsby & going to meet the man
“In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald explores the way that the past haunts the present.”
Discuss this viewpoint. In the course of your writing, make connections to James Baldwin’s Going To Meet The Man
Throughout the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the notion that the past in some way haunts the present. This can be taken in a very broad sense, from characters fixation on the past, to the importance of heritage in American society. He also explores how America’s founding principles are flawed, mainly the notion of “The American Dream”. Baldwin too delves into these topics in his collection of short stories, Going To Meet The Man, which draw upon the importance of heritage and the effect that past events have upon the present. Fitzgerald constantly refers to the past; the way the Great Gatsby is structured relies heavily upon a constant tension between rediscovery of past events and the cyclic nature of many aspects of the novel.
In the great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how characters are fixated on the past, no character epitomises this greater than Gatsby himself, his entire empire of extravagant decadence and showmanship was created as a means to attract and impress Daisy, the shallow “trophy (i)” wife of Tom Buchanan, whom he had a relationship with 5 years previous. Gatsby is not the only character to hold on to the past, when Jordan Baker relates the tale of Daisy and Gatsby’s courtship to Nick, she romanticises their affair, describing the minute details like her “shoes from England (ii)” and the “red white and blue banners (iii)”, from this we can infer that Jordan too lusts after the nostalgia of the wartime past. Fitzgerald poses Gatsby as all consumed by his dream of Daisy, he revaluates his possessions “according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” when he shows her around his mansion. However, the reality of her character is much more superficial than Gatsby realises, she is only drawn to him due to his apparent wealth and
Discuss this viewpoint. In the course of your writing, make connections to James Baldwin’s Going To Meet The Man
Throughout the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores the notion that the past in some way haunts the present. This can be taken in a very broad sense, from characters fixation on the past, to the importance of heritage in American society. He also explores how America’s founding principles are flawed, mainly the notion of “The American Dream”. Baldwin too delves into these topics in his collection of short stories, Going To Meet The Man, which draw upon the importance of heritage and the effect that past events have upon the present. Fitzgerald constantly refers to the past; the way the Great Gatsby is structured relies heavily upon a constant tension between rediscovery of past events and the cyclic nature of many aspects of the novel.
In the great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how characters are fixated on the past, no character epitomises this greater than Gatsby himself, his entire empire of extravagant decadence and showmanship was created as a means to attract and impress Daisy, the shallow “trophy (i)” wife of Tom Buchanan, whom he had a relationship with 5 years previous. Gatsby is not the only character to hold on to the past, when Jordan Baker relates the tale of Daisy and Gatsby’s courtship to Nick, she romanticises their affair, describing the minute details like her “shoes from England (ii)” and the “red white and blue banners (iii)”, from this we can infer that Jordan too lusts after the nostalgia of the wartime past. Fitzgerald poses Gatsby as all consumed by his dream of Daisy, he revaluates his possessions “according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes” when he shows her around his mansion. However, the reality of her character is much more superficial than Gatsby realises, she is only drawn to him due to his apparent wealth and