May 1, 2023
Pia Valley Mushroom
F. Scott Fitzgerald created a world characterizing the roaring twenties with love triangles that have deep flaws dooming the lovers who have deep yearnings to suffering and death. The writing is sophisticated capturing the opulence and conspicuous displays of wealth with the people participating in bacchanal partying and consumption. The nouveau riche include the bootleggers and profiteers providing alcohol and entertainment to the thrill seekers. The main characters are seeking love and recognition. Gatsby has a mansion in West Egg (possibly representing part of the Hamptons on Long Island, New York) overlooking the bay across which is East Egg representing the established ultra wealthy whose family connections go back in history as opposed to the nouveau riche interlopers in East Egg. We find the relative younger stock broker and middle class well educated cousin of Gatsby's true love renting a cottage next to his mansion. He is befriended by Gatsby and assists him in a rendezvous with his lost love from their youth which appears to be Gatsby's motive for their initial relationship. She is a ravishing somewhat flighty southern bell now married to her husband who is crass, very self centered with his station and importance espousing racist viewpoints that portend the Nazi era in the future. He is having an affair with the gas station and automobile repair service man who is asking from him to possess the fancy car of his wife lover that he is clueless about. The affair is described as mutually passionate while his lover yearns to be swept away with love and wealth while he wants to satisfy his lust without regard to her well being. He provides her trinkets of jewelry and shows his disdain for her welfare in one scene striking her in the face cowering her which does not turn her away. Gatsby persuades his lovers relative to arrange a meeting with his passion. They meet and rekindle their passion for each other through his showing her his grand mansion and the almost nightly parties with bands, dancing, sumptuous food and drink. We get some history of how as a young man he courted her down south while she as an eighteen year old southern bell from a very wealthy established family and she enjoyed other suitors after he left for the Great War. He came from more humble background but after the war associated with a Jewish grifter and fixer also involved in bootlegging and he accumulated great wealth and a false background claiming to have graduated from Oxford College. Her husband becomes aware of the rekindled affair with his wife and she is aware of his in fidelity. Gatsby is consumed by his desire to marry his true love who he remembers telling him she would wait for him to return from the war a made up fantasy he fervently believed but she was easily influenced of by her other suitors. The tension increases since her narcissistic husband plots against Gatsby and ignores his lover who becomes increasing distraught to the consternation of her clueless husband. We then are treated to a car escapade with Gatsby and his love in her husband's car and her husband, cousin, and his bright golf pro female friend in the other car driving to the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The husband is confronted by Gatsby declaring that he intends to marry his love after she divorces him. She does not enthusiastically endorse this proposal and we the readers are aware of her superficiality and game playing to keep her husband's interest. She and Gatsby with her driving her husband's fancy car race back to Long Island passing by the gas station. Her husband's lover spies the car thinking it was him runs out to the road and is run over killed while Daisy drives on seemingly unconcerned. Even knowing that Daisy has a young girl child by her husband and that she is not making any plans to leave him, Gatsby is protective towards her fearing her husband may abuse her. He gets rid of the car that shows the dent and blood on it. Her husband knowing the truth is confronted by his lovers husband who suspects foul play and tells him it was Gatsby driving the car that killed his wife. He suffering severe loss and anguish goes to Gatsby's mansion and shoots him dead then commits suicide. Gatsby funeral has only a very few in attendance and Daisy and her husband have a scene at a restaurant with her cousin in which she shows no recognition of loss or concern about Gatsby happily leaving with her husband who likewise has no guilt about lying to his lover's husbands which resulted in Gatsby's death. The novel and movies do stereotype people. The racist established snobbish upper crust are juxtaposed against the newer wealth rich accumulated through nefarious means. The women except for the professional golfer are flighty, thrill seeking, and very superficial and ignorant. The segregated and lower caste black and Asian are totally absent. So myogenic characterization, racism, anti semitism, greed, delusional unrequited love, deceit, and meaningless consumption are in this mix of a well written satire of our times of the roaring twenties.
Here's some references regarding this novel.
The Sting is a movie set in the mid 1930's that keeps you on your toes rooting for the grifters taking down the mobsters while as the audience your guessing and concerned that disaster and betrayal will undo the plotters. More well rounded the characters are relatable and interesting though the gangsters are brutal and concerning. As I watched the movies of these two I enjoyed The Sting which held together as a mystery and characterization of a time of poverty and opportunity. The Great Gatsby was a satire while The Sting was an adventure and a characterization of an era with Scott Joplin's music to enjoy. I recommend that my readers watch the Robert Redford versions of both movies. https://crimereads.com/the-sting/#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20The%20Sting%20is%20the,what%20they%20necessarily%20came%20for
Both bring to my mind the appeal of class to some but also the venal corrupt nature of wealth. I have an ongoing discussion with a fellow traveler into the value and admiration of captains of industry or robber barons depending on your point of view. Here' a link to this type of discussion. https://grovesapush.edublogs.org/2015/02/02/blog-72-robber-barons-or-captains-of-industry/#:~:text=The%20captains%20of%20industry%20is,exemplified%20the%20best%20of%20capitalism.
Our online discussion regarding the super wealthy goes from his posts extolling their virtues and contributions to society to my viewpoints and sometimes snarky re rejoinders. i.e. "...Throughout history many very wealthy Americans end up giving a good part of their wealth away. I believe far more than the Europeans or Asians that are equally wealthy.
Why is it that I believe that tax sheltered money that the super wealthy give away goes further to help society then having that money
first going through the cost of government bureaucracy and then filtered with the wisdom of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren". With my rejoiner "That’s quite an endorsement of the super wealthy!
I’m impressed with their altruism and willingness to reduce their largess to our society if what you report is factual.
You need to assist them in publicizing.
:-J.
(Look this up, a short hand for tongue in cheek)
Jokes aside I’m assuming we can’t rely on the super wealthy to fund our government programs and debt instruments. Taxation is here to stay. A simple consumption tax probably effects the lower earners adversely more. An income tax seems reasonable if geared towards taxing the wealthier more. Trickle down is a myth. Inheritance taxation needs to be in the mix with me knowing how as a person with an estate I’d like to rationalize giving it all to whoever I want.
One of my bottom lines may be supporting tax legislation that does not increase the deficit unless we’re facing a Depression or war." His subsequent post"...I think that Andrew Carnagie would still be the wealthiest of all in today's dollars. He was always amazed at how the hell that could have happened to a poor immigrant
like him. He gave most of his estate to building libraries in hundreds of small towns at the time. That helped lay the groundwork for the new millionaires that followed.
Would you not also agree that almost all Billionaires were risk takers that manage to provide goods or services to society that were better and or cheaper than anyone else was able
to do.
I do agree that they will and should be paying more taxes going forward. That may make a small dent on the interest the government will be paying on the 33 Trillion debt
It has Incurred. No big deal that debt is only 93K per person in the USA, (I think I just introduced a “Non Sequitur” to the conversation)".
With my reply "The Homestead strike was perpetuated in part by Carnegie’s instructing Frick.
7 deaths 11 injuries.
Elon Musk a controversial billionaire has dared the union to organize his plants. He has at least one government complaint against him.
Microsoft is no friend to unions. Just this year it recognized a union but if the past is any predictor all workers may end up terminated.
Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Mega likewise is no friend to unions.
Warren Buffett is not immune to union busting scrutiny.
Are these accusations accurate? I think there’s some strong suspicion in my mind that billionaires are not receptive to unions. Why would they not welcome unions? Probably because their influence and plans to accumulate more wealth for themselves is unending and unions interfere with their prerogatives.
Your point that some of their contributions have been to our mutual benefit doesn’t compare in my book with their narcissistic rationale to dominate and guard themselves in a higher castle."
Well, I can go on with our friendly back and forth. These are our opinions with maybe supporting statements but there is no ultimate truth here! I tend to see feet of clay while he sees captains of industry who sometimes make forgivable errors. I enter the fray to learn so I give lip service to being in error as does my friend. Being wrong may be the true way to learn.
My sister and her husband got into dog breeding akita, mastiffs, and Cavalier spaniels. She had her animals shown at Westminster dog show in New York City winning one year best in breed. She and her husband hung out with the breeders and showers and participated in the events. One year Rebecca and I went to one of their annual events at a lavish estate out of the Great Gatsby where we admired the Lichtenstein and other art, gazed out at Long Island Sound over the manicured acres of lawn and gardens while we had lobster, steak, fish, etc. hobnobbing with the super wealthy. We had a wonderful afternoon with some very nice people.
Well, recently we had new neighbors a younger couple with three young children the eldest seven. Pleasant family with the mother caring and homeschooling while her husband commuted from Texas to join his family at times. I finally met her husband the week before they chose to return to Texas. His wife and he were hosting a birthday party for their son and she looked frazzled. He greeted myself and a neighbor couple by his house and quickly we were treated to his travel trip to Italy where we learned that he had gone to the Ferrari factory to get a new Ferrari to drive in Italy. He had just got possession of his fifth Ferrari! They wound up in Positano on the Amalfi coast where after enjoying his swim by the Mediterranean going down the plush hotel on a private elevator he and family had lunch atop the cliff far above the sea at a plush restaurant where you picked your vegetable from the garden. His descriptions were interesting but very long winded and I felt uncomfortable with his wife looking stressed and irritated with his entertaining us while the party needed his attention. Certainly initial impressions are always to be shelved for later experiences before I make a judgment this encounter saddened my view of this couple.
Well, our society certainly gives me concerns. Prejudice is rife and actively present. The New York Times has a book review section on a banned book called the Rabbit Wedding (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/books/review/garth-williams-the-rabbits-wedding-banned-books.html?searchResultPosition=1). Like the more recent children's book And Tango Made Three this book had white and black rabbits doing what rabbits do mating and the book was banned by some jurisdictions. The article gave me some history of "The Kissing Case". October 1958 shortly before the book was published a 7 and 9 year old boy were arrested, beaten, jailed and sent to reform school for four months after playing a kissing game in which a white girl bussed their darker cheek. When the girl was asked about her day she innocently described this childish game resulting in the parents having the boys arrested. When the boys were in the jail they were visited by police in white sheets terrorizing them. Eisenhower was informed but did nothing but the governor of North Carolina finally granted clemency since there was such public outcry about the injustice and terrorizing of these two children! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
If we allow our society to be overly influenced by the wealthy celebrity, the religious zealot, the prejudiced higher caste spoke persons, the grifters and Carlsons of our world we become part of the crowd enjoying the moments at the grand mansion and party of Gatsby.
Leonard
I loved your discussion of The Great Gatsby.. You have a wonderful way with words. I guess that coming from Long Island gives you a sense of familiarity and closeness with the Gatsby group. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou will enjoy watching Rough Diamonds on Netflix. Gives you a window into the Antwerp diamond trade and the orthodox community.