(spoilers abound, but I believe everyone has finished Gatsby)
I thought I had read Gatsby before but I either didn’t or I completely forgot the plot line throughout the years. For some reason I went into it thinking that Gatsby and Daisy were a married couple, not that it was about Gatsby’s unrequited and misplaced love for Daisy.
What a wholly unsympathetic character she is! Does she realize that her actions affect others and just doesn’t care, or is she so clueless that she just doesn’t realize the mess she leaves in her wake? I tend to think it’s the latter.
The one unanswered question I had that Andi and I discussed offline was whether or not Tom knew that Daisy was driving the car and killed Myrtle. I believe that he did not know and I don’t think Daisy would have even thought it merited enough importance for her to mention. Others may think that she surely would have mentioned it over their bucket of cold chicken in the kitchen that night. Let us know your thoughts on this!
I also went out to Sparknotes to see if I missed anything and felt great that I didn’t, save for a few bits of symbolism that may or may not have really been there.
Now on to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I’m about a fourth of the way through that book and Andi has started as well, so get those pages turning if you haven’t already! The opening pages were very reminiscent of Harry Potter, Ted Kennedy’s memoir, or really any book that delves into the boarding school atmosphere, which is rarely painted in a positive light. I wanted to jump into the book and box some ears on my poor Stephen’s behalf!
Keep Reading! -H
Heather Paquette 