Realities as Opposed to Dreams

[Sarah]

_{so i wasn't sure where to put this, considering it includes a quote from the book, but decided the actual book doesn't have to have anything to do with it at all}

alright. so as of late, we've been reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in English, and i adore it. anyway, we've got to write this argumentative essay derived from thoughts on a quote from the book, and though it's due tomorrow, i'm curious as to what my most favourite, deep, and intellectual people have to say about it.

right, so here'e the prompt:


In The Great Gatsby, Nick makes the observation that "No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart." In other words, reality can never measure up to the dreams we create for ourselves. Drawing on your own observations, readings, or experiences to develop your position, defend, challenge, or qualify Nick's assertion.


have at it, you amazing lovelies.

i can't WAIT for your responses ;D

[Fluffy]

I'm not sure, because it's been about 18756017650247652476 years since I read Gatsby, but I'm not certain that's what that quote means really.... I'll check on that and get back to you.

But I do think that the interpretation you're given there does address a major part of the theme of the book, so I won't argue too much about that. I guess my first thought is this: if reality doesn't measure up to our dreams, why not? Is it because our dreams are unrealistic, because they are good but impossible for particular people in particular situations, because we always reach for more than we have, because we fear the consequences of pursuing our dreams, because society teaches us to want things it denies us the opportunity to have, ...? If Nick were to pick one of these or another reason, which do you think he would pick? Which would you?

[KoNeko]

Is this because dreams are some sort of ideals that we WANT to attain, but can't? And I think En's question is very interesting - if we can't, then why can't we?

I don't think that dreams are always impossible; I think it is possible to achieve what it is that you aspire to do, but in most cases, it's because people modify their aspirations along the way. You might have a dream of becoming a doctor and helping people, and while you can achieve that goal, there are things that might take other priorities beforehand (like having to go to college and medical school, or raising kids, or getting a job orwhatever), or you might redirect your goal (so if you can't be a doctor, then you might be able to help people in some other way). These should not be counted as failures, although I think many people consider them as such.

[Sarah]

i do believe the quote was interpretted correctly, but then again, everyone has their own interpretations.

Jay Gatsby fell in love with Daisy when they were teens, but then he was shipped to war. In his absence, Daisy married another, so when he came back, he started building a separate identity by accomplishing all sorts of things, and inheriting a large sum of money. He builds his status for years, and when Nick comes into the scene, Gatsby lives right across the bay from Daisy. As fate has it, Nick is Daisy's cousin, so Gatsby asks Nick to arrange an afternoon tea with the three of them. There's a reunion, and it becomes slightly apparent that all Gatsby had dreamed of Daisy was kind of let down - at no fault of Daisy's.
i think what the quote is saying is that when you dream on something for such a long time, you build it up; sort of put it upon a pedestal if you will. Gatsby did such a thing with his thoughts of Daisy; he remembered her from his youth, and built her up to be such a magnificence that when they were reunited, he was partially let-down.
So, in the case of wanting to become a doctor, if you dream as a child of becoming a doctor, and make it your ultimate goal in life, you'll work towards it, and praise the title in your mind. But if you start med school, perhaps, or actually become a doctor and realize your dream isn't all it's cracked up to be, you're disappointed. Your childhood dream has been ruined, and not because of it being unrealistic, but because you've been making it out to be such a wondrous thing for years, and have been let-down.

i hope that made sense. my thoughts are currently jumbled >.<

[Fluffy]

Total sense, Sarah. And it has been a long time since I read the book, so I hadn't remembered the context in which the quote appeared, so you're probably right

I just wonder - since The Great Gatsby ends up being a fairly harsh judgment of upper-middle-class-ness - whether part of what Fitzgerald is getting at is that upper-middle-class society are taught to dream about an ideal life, with the ideal being shaped by advertising and some pretty unrealistic social expectations, and so their realities always result in disillusion, because their dreams are based on unrealistic expectations.

Anyway, though, I think your point is totally valid, about what disillusioned Gatsby. But here's my question... what of your readings, experiences, etc. did you end up using to argue or agree with Nick?