The Perfect Human

the man of the hour

Both "The Diamond as Big as The Ritz" and The Great Gatsby focus on materialism destroying people, but what is also apparent is that each story also has the perfect person. One single character that embodies the perfect human, free from materialis
m and someone that avoids the almost certain destruction that awaits him. Faced with exposure to a greedy life, each person is disgusted by the lifestyle. John and Nick (respectively) resist the temptation to be greedy, and end up with the greatest reward that they could ask for-their lives.

In "The Diamond as Big as The Ritz," the Washington family is the epitome of greed. In order to not pay taxes on their immense wealth, they kidnap, bribe, cheat, murder, and even go to war with the government. In the end, John, the only one that seems to be disgusted with the thought of how wrong the family acts, is the one that escapes. He even manages to help a few members of the family escape because they're willing to change (regardless of their reasons to be so).

In The Great Gatsby although Gatsby dies, Daisy too loses herself in terms of the fact that she becomes trapped in a relationship with a man that cheats on her. After the entire ordeal is over, Nick is the only one who is left reflecting on his summer in New York. He is still generally pure in terms of morals, and this is demonstrated when he rids himself of the curse of materialism.

materialism in its simplest form

"On the white steps [of Gatsby's house] an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone" (Fitzgerald 188).

The obscene word is literally a curse word. This could symbolize the curse of a greedy lifestyle, and how it eventually kills you. Since Nick lives above that, he is able to wipe away the curse and continue his life.

Just something interesting I thought of talking about instead of the negative theme!

Lyrics of the week: "10 bucks says you don't have it in you to conquer fear and quit believing what they tell you to. You are careening shamelessly into oblivion, where you will live alone with your chemicals and gin" from Dutch Courage by The Spill Canvas.

The Greatest (Section of) Gatsby

So... this week's assignment (among the boatload of other assignments *insert annoyed emoji shaking its head at the American school system*) was to write about my favorite passage in The Great Gatsby but be warned: I'm about to manipulate the heck out of this. Of course, I will talk about my favorite passage, because it's for the grade. Everything is for the grade. (Sorry, I'm just really heated about homework right now.) But then I will connect it to something else.

My favorite passage (How long is a passage? Mine is so short.) is a part where Jordan and Nick are talking at one of Gatsby's parties:

Jordan Baker in the new movie because.... just look at her

"Anyhow, he gives large parties," said Jordan, changing he subject with an urban distaste for the concrete. "And I like large parties. They're so intimate. At small parties there isn't any privacy" (Fitzgerald 54).

Yep. There you have it folks. That's my entire passage. Why? Because in a book full of disillusion, disconnect, and disregard, this is the one passage that speaks the full on truth. It is so dang (I'm censoring myself) true. Large parties are intimate. Everyone is so wrapped up in small situations that it isn't hard to really feel alone with somebody else. In small parties, everyone is hyperaware of what the next person is doing. Or how they're feeling. Or how much they're drinking. Or who they're talking about. It's just straight up annoying.

the best joke about being all up
in your business

I, too, experienced this. I am current
ly experiencing this. In eighth grade I thought I wanted to go to IA. So I shadowed there and quickly learned that since IA is such a small school, word got around quickly. From my ONE DAY shadowing there, I successfully got half of the now-senior class to hate me and I got random friend requests from boys I didn't know. People actually told other people that they hated me and the only way I can describe my feelings to this day is "?????"

But not that I hate IA or anything. Some of my best friends go there. It just wasn't the right place for me. Everything was too public. Despite my sassy demeanor, I actually prefer to be under the radar. Here at Troy High, my life is pretty much as private as I want it to be. I have a group of close friends, but nobody really knows anything about my personal drama unless I choose to share it with them.

Troy High is a large party. Much more intimate in terms of who I let in.

And now, that brings us to my point of manipulation. Here I leave you with my all-time favorite Fitzgerald quote about intimacy, from his book The Beautiful and Damned.

"The growth of intimacy is like that. First one gives off his best picture, the bright and finished product mended with bluff and falsehood and humor. Then more details are required and one paints a second portrait, and a third-before long the best lines cancel out-and the secret is exposed at last; the planes of the pictures have intermingled and given us away, and though we paint and paint we can no longer sell a picture. We must be satisfied with hoping that such fatuous accounts of ourselves as we make to our wives and children and business associates are accepted as true" (90).

Sorry for such a long post but that is my favorite book and my favorite quote from it. No way was I going to talk about Fitzgerald and leave that out.

Lyrics of the week: "Some love was made for the lights. Some kiss your cheek in goodnight..." from Slow It Down by The Lumineers. Such a beautiful song, which references intimate and public love.