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.