Jordan’s AP Blog

I feel the class is moving remarkably fast for the second day

      I believe that we have difficulties in life not because of a lack of skill but of a lack of mind set. Too often we find ourselves looking at the problem not the solution.  I found this especially true when I was competing at state power lifting. Going into the competition I was extremely confident in my squat and it showed with a strong 365 lift. But I was nervous going into my bench and it showed with a mediocre 185 pounds. After this my mind set began to suffer as distractions struck me. My band teacher wanted me to show up at the basketball game for pep band and it was getting close to time for it to start and I wasn’t done lifting. I franticly ran to the meet organizer and begged him to move me up a flight. He agreed and moved me up to lifting with the girls but I didn’t care it let me lift earlier so maybe I could finish in time.  But after I did my first lift I realized it wasn’t going to be enough and I was running short on time. At this point I was panicking worried about being late to pep band and having my grade drop. Suddenly my coach calmly said why don’t we call your teacher and explain our position to him? Out of the blue the voice of reason shown through and lit my path. My teacher graciously agreed to allow me to miss the performance and lift. I looked at the score board and realized I was going to have to beat my max to win the performance. But I was much calmer now and thinking rational now. I realized that I had to start looking for the solution not the problem. I went into the lift with an open mindset and beat my previous max by 30 pounds. I won the competition and more taught myself a valuable lesson. It showed me the truth in the fact that difficulties are mostly mental nothing else.

Gatsby’s funeral shows how futile Fitzgerald thinks the American dream is. For all of Gatsby’s supposed popularity very few people show up. Fitzgerald here shows his belief on how fleeting the materialistic American dream is.

Once Gatsby is dead we see how he is truely viewed. Now that he is dead and no one can get anything out of him any longer no one cares about him. As we realize that few people truely care about Gatsby we realize what a shallow and trivial person he truely was.

Nick once again uses the green light at the end of the dock to represent the American dream. It is something that we try for and fall but none-the-less we pick ourselves back up and try again harder next time. Something that we cannot escape striving for because we want it so bad. As Nick says “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” No matter how many times the boat flips over we beat on endlessly….

Gatsby’s death emphasizes Fitzgerald’s argument that when average people try and climb upward they overreach and fall. Even Gatsby who supposedly made it is not exempt from this rule that Fitzgerald creates.

Wilson fleshes out a bit in this chapter as we realize that he truly did love myrtle and is heartbroken over her death. We suddenly realize that in the story the wealthy are not the only significant characters. The average man plays a significant role in the story.

Gatsby’s car is a bright yellow which once again shows a reach towards becoming gold and being part of the rich upper class but though Gatsby is rich he is still as out of place as Myrtle is among the upperclass.

Myrtle’s death in this chapter is Fitzgerald’s argument of what happens to people who try and reach upward socially. They overreach themeselves and this leads to their demise.

We see Daisy flesh out a bit more in this chapter its no longer as simple as she loves Gatsby and not Tom. Now she has feelings for both and must make a desicion as emotions boil over.

The Green leather in Gatsby’s car represents his association with new money. He is not a member of the social elite he is an average man who worked his way to the top. The green reperesents newer green cash versus older systems reliant on actual gold. But because he is associated with new money and not old although he is wealthy he is not accepted by the social elites.

Fitzgerald shows how unrealistic the American dream is with Gatsby’s encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Sloane. Gatsby although is financially as well off as they are socially he is extremely awkward. Fitzgerald points out that there is more to the American dream then the materialistic part of it.

In this chapter we finally get the true story of Gatsby’s past as a James Gatz. We find out about how hard he worked to get where he is at but then all that admiration for him is cut down when we seem him interact with the Sloanes. He is so awkward it destroys the sense of pride created by Gatsby’s achievement of the American dream.

Daisy mentions in this chapter her little gold pencil. With gold’s affiliation with old money this shows her casual demeanor about it. She thinks nothing of being rich and in the upper social class. Its just part of who she is and worthy of as little notice as a little pencil.

Fitzgerald pokes fun at the American dream through Gatsby in this chapter. Gatsby defines the american dream yet his home is described as a feudal lord’s manor and he gets his shirts from Britain. He almost seems like he wants to be a British aristocrat which seems ironic since its the American dream.

We see Daisy again for the first time since the opening chapter. She fleshes out as character keeping her sense of humor while revealing her love for Gatsby as she weeps over his shirts. She is happy to see him again and is happy about his success.

Fitzgerald refrences a green light at the end of daisy’s dock this represents a hope something to reach out for and achive in life. It can mean the American dream or as in Gatsby’s case love.

Jordan’s story tied in with the introduction of Wolfshiem is how Fitzgerald explains the high value Americans place on the dream and its cost. Gatsby is just your average soldier trying desperatly to achive his dream of having love. But he places such a high value on it that he sacrifices his morals and has shady dealings.

We see Gatsby flesh out in this chapter, he goes from being a shadowy person at the party to a major character. We first realize his possible criminal dealings with Wolfshiem then are painted a very different picture by Jordan as she details Gatsby’s past. We realize he is an average joe giving up everything to have a chance at love.

Daisy is described once again as wearing white. It symbolizes a show of purity not actually being pure but an apperance of it. It is something she can take off and on at will not an actual part of her.

The books in Gatsby’s library represent the decline of the American dream. They were real books but the pages weren’t cut which shows that they were for look not for actually reading. It symbolizes how the American dream has become much more about looks then actual substance.

Jordan Baker develops as a character as we go from seeing her as a morally upright person to realizing she’s inherently dishonest. We find out that she moved her ball at a golf tournament but strangly Nick doesnt hold it against her.

Fitzgerald describes Jordan’s arm as golden showing her ties to old money. Its her skin not merely a piece of clothing that she can take off its an essential part of who she is. It shows that social classes cant be broken they are as much apart of who we are as our skin.

The ashes of the wasteland between west egg and new york represents the decay of the American dream. no longer does it involve the Victorian morals instead its a materialistic pleasure seeking dream.

Tom changes in the reader’s eyes he shows his more brutish and unsophisticated side when dealing with Myrtle. His handling off the affair with her from showing her off in public to breaking her noise all shows his more brutish nature.

The yellow color of myrtle’s home represents her reach upward socially. She wants to be gold (or rich) but isnt.