This is part
of chapter posts I make for WEM Self-Project. You can find the first
chapter here.
Meeting Myrtle and attending Gatsby’s party
Tom brought
Nick to meet his mistress Myrtle Wilson, wife of the owner of a small garage, and
went together to New York to the couple’s luxury apartment. There and during
the journey Nick witnessed the hedonic lifestyle they had, the shameless way
Tom showed off his infidelity to public, and how rich women thought any men who
were not wealthy and success were too “low” for them. The day was closed by the
brutal scene when Tom broke Myrtle’s nose from being too noisy about Daisy.
Nick sensed
emptiness and loneliness in the absurdly-luxury parties at Gatsby’s mansion,
and in the metropolitan bustles of New York. There was a vulgar indifference in
how strangers kept coming to and enjoying Gatsby’s parties without being
invited or knowing the host, but even spread bad rumors about him. Nick also
sensed the same vulgar indifference in Jordan Baker’s taking so lightly that
she was endangering others by driving carelessly.
“(They) came for the party with a simplicity
of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” ~p. 43.
The infidelity
The
shameless affair of Tom and Myrtle is a product of moral decay of the society.
Not only that they take it very openly, Myrtle’s sister thinks it’s all right.
Myrtle thinks her husband is “lower” than her; but chooses Tom whom she takes
as a “gentleman” because he is both rich and success. I only feel pity on
Myrtle who takes “gentleman” as rich + success. Anyway, only a very foolish
woman who calls her man gentle after he broke her nose….
Valley of ashes
I found
quite a lot of metaphors in chapter two. First the valley of ashes; this is a
quite dejected area where Wilson’s garage is; a land which is: “…so as to shrink away from a certain
desolate area of land.” At first I thought it represents people who lost
the battle of success, displaced by the new wave of wealth. However,
considering the straight next metaphor, I changed my mind….
Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg
“The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue
and gigantic. (…) They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of
enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose. (…) (The eyes)
brood on over the solemn dumping ground.”
When I first
read this passage, I instantly remembered a drawing made by a child who is
asked to draw about his imagery God. And the child drew Him as a pair of
enormous eyes looking down from a pair of enormous glasses; he imagined God as
an observer who sees everything human does. So, I instantly thought that the
Doctor T.J. Eckleburg billboard is probably representing God. The billboard is
somehow overlooked, dejected, forgotten, and the eyes that “brood on over the solemn dumping ground”,
I perceived, reflecting that God is observing sadly the moral corruption in His
people, but on the other hand, these moral-corrupted people has also been
abandoning God to pursue their new gods (money and leisure).
The yellow color
From chapter
two alone, I have met quite a lot of things in yellow, cream or golden color; the
Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s spectacles, the yellow brick house where Wilson’s
garage is, the dress of two girls in Gatsby’s party, yellow cocktail, dark gold
turkeys, Myrtle’s cream-coloured dress in New York apartment (where her
personality changed under the influence of the dress), and yellow windows of
that apartment. Browsing about the Eyes
of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, I got to learn that Fitzgerald did use several colors
metaphor to represent moralities in this book. From all the yellows above, it’s
not hard to guess that yellow here means moral decay or falsity.
Confusing passages
“Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or
the wet marshes, but after a certain point I don't care what's founded on” –I
didn’t find any satisfying answer over the internet, but I perceive it means
that it doesn’t matter what an action had been intended for at first, the only
think is important, is only the end result. If the result is the same, well….just
ignore whether the first intention was right or wrong. Are you agree?
“… I was standing beside his bed and he was
sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in
his hands. Beauty and the Beast … Loneliness … Old Grocery Horse … Brook’n
Bridge…” –Although there are many sites or blogs that suggest that Nick is
either gay or bisexual, I think this only reflects what Nick had vaguely
remembered about that brutal night in Myrtle’s apartment, which he left in a drunken
state; small pieces of disgusting senses that had troubled him when he was awaken from sleep at McKee’s house. Or else, McKee—as he is a photographer—has taken
photos which showed the proofs of those disgusting moral decay. What do you
think? :)
~~~~~~~
In rereading the book I was surprised by the brazen nature of Tom and Myrtle's relationship. I had forgotten how he flaunts it, taking her to restaurants and introducing her to Nick. I think you're right about it being a representation of the moral decay. I hadn't ever thought of Nick as gay, but I guess that scene at Myrtle's just made me think of his getting caught up in their world. He drinks a lot when he isn't accustom to it and everything is a blur.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think Nick had had enough with the scene at Myrtle's, after that he seemed to be closer to Gatsby than the Buchanans.
Deleteme too, never thought that there're any indication that Nick was a gay/bi.
ReplyDeleteand the color methapors, i'm enlightened.
again, thanks for the posts mba fanda :-)
No problem... ;)
DeleteIn your confusing passages: the first passage sounds like the old adage "The ends justify the means." (Typical for people who just don't care as long as they get what they want.)
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the second, I was dumbfounded, too, but I think you could be correct that he drank too much that night, and the whole night was a blur for him.
The first passage was from Nick, right? Do you think he's referring to Gatsby? That Gatsby might not be an honest gentleman, but in the end he was the least moral corrupted from the others?
Delete