Tonight for homework you need to read to the end of chapter two in The Great Gatsby. As you read, be sure to pay attention to motifs, characters, and symbols. Try to make connections to our opening lecture as we worked through those topics so that you will start to see them within the text. Be sure to also be adding to your vocabulary bookmarks -- now that we're doing novels you'll want to start keeping up with the vocabulary a lot more.
Here's the prompt for you to respond to as we go through to next class. Please respond to this post by commenting on this post. If you cannot comment, please submit your response via e-mail or on paper next class.
By the end of chapter two, whom do you consider to be the most immoral character? Why?
Respond briefly to this, make sure that you're not simply parroting another classmate. We can think the same person is immoral, but there should be a variety of reasons.
Russian I
Next class you will have your quiz on grammar and vocabulary. In order to prepare for this quiz you should do the following:
- Study and know your vocabulary list. If you need another copy, come see me and get a textbook.
- Be sure that you know your six cases as well as their function. Studying your notes and your homework on cases would be helpful.
- Be sure that your grammar exercises are complete. These are useful in studying. Be especially sure that you can replace your pronouns and nouns as well as distinguishing between КТО\ЧТО.
- Be sure that you know how to make questions and answers both positive and negative.
If you know your notes and the grammar structures we've been using then you'll be in good shape. Again, many of you have not come to see me so I assume that everything is okay. Please see me if you need help!
18 comments:
Alexander Sherrill
I feel that at this point in the book, the narrator himself is the most snobbish character. His position as an unreliable narrator makes everything that he says extremely biased and suspect to his own views and opinions. It can also be seen in the way he describes the people around him in a way that makes him seem like the most refined one of them all. Also, by exposing us to his thoughts, the reader can see how the narrator really feels, adding to his arrogance.
At this point, I believe that Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character. He is described by Nick as "arrogant" and "aggressive." He constantly interupts his wife, Daisy and says he can't stand her. Tom also cheats on Daisy with Myrtle Wilson, who is married. Not only is he rude to Daisy, but he also breaks Myrtle's nose. Tom seems to do whatever he wants without any standard morals.
In chapter two of the Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan proves his immorality through his tones of speech and actions. He starts off by disrespecting his wife Daisy, not only by interrupting her when she speaks but also by committing adultery with Myrtle. When he speaks he does so with a sense of superiority in his voice, he does this due to his own insecurities. He fears that women will get ahead so he puts them down, whether it is interrupting his wife, or hitting Myrtle when she tries to stand up to him and speak for herself. Tom Buchanan does not know right from wrong, and this will be proven in more detail as the story progresses.
I consider Daisy Buchanan to be the most immoral character in the book so far. Daisy is almost like an illusion. At first, she captivates the narrator with her charm and grace. But he quickly realizes that she is not a sincerely kind and gracious person. She acts the way she does for attention and control. There are many other immoral characters in the book, but Daisy is the only one that hides who she really is.
At this point in the book, I believe Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character. The first sign of this immorality is the abuse and violence of his language and actions. Not only is he rude and impatient with George Wilson, but he breaks Myrtle's nose. He is also completely immoral for cheating on his wife, to whom he is also physically abusive, with a married woman.
After reading the first two chapters it is apparent that Tom is the most immoral character. His treatment of his wife, his mistress, and people in general show that he is a man full of bitterness and dissatisfaction. Since Tom peaked at an early age, his life seems so dull to the extent that he feels the need to control everybody around him and pursue interests without any thought of others. It is very sad that he does so and presents that he is very self-centered with little care for the ones that care for him, which considerably is the biggest strike against morality.
The character I find to be the most immoral so far would be Myrtle Wilson. I agree that Tom Buchanan takes many negative actions, but I find hers harder to overlook at this point in the book. My first reason is in the way she lies to her husband and takes advantage of him. She seems to abuse his trust and after doing so, labels him a fool in front of her friends. Another reason that leads me to believe she is the most immoral can be seen through her interactions with Tom. It seems that traveling that far to see each other would imply a loving relationship. The only thing displayed by Myrtle so far is her desire for his money. It begins with her wish for a dog and is seen later at the party when she speaks of all the things she needs to purchase while Tom is around. Myrtle abuses her relationships and so far seems like a very fake character.
As my peers have stated before me, Tom Buchanan, without a doubt is the most immoral character in the book so far. His demeanor, actions and the things he says just emphasize his immorality. His arrogance is just the start of it all. He cheats on his wife with another married woman, Myrtle, and breaks the nose of the same woman he is having the affair with. He has no standard that he lives by. For me he is pretty close to rock bottom
At this point in the novel I believe the most immoral character is Tom Buchanan. Not only does he cheat on his wife, Daisy, on a regular basis, but he also treats both Daisy and his mistress, Myrtle with a high disrespect. He disrespects Daisy every time he meets up with Myrtle. He disrespects Myrtle when he hits her after bringing up Daisy. He is violent and sees everybody as below him and for those reasons, he is the most immoral character.
I personally find Tom Buchanan to be the most immoral character. There is not any clue to him feeling remorse for his unjust actions. There are many instances where he is rude, commanding, forceful, aggressive, and even violent. He is aware of the effects of his actions but does nothing to change them to benefit those close to him. His behavior shows disrespect towards all of the other characters. His obvious lack of concern for others and his actions suggest that Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character so far.
Although Myrtle Wilson is a victim of Tom Buchanan's abuse, she is in some ways immoral as well. Like Tom, she is involved with another person other than her partner. She admits that she fell for Mr Wilson because he appeared to be a gentleman. However, she pointed out that he is unfit for her because he not of the right "breed" for her. Undoubtedly, she means that he is not high class. But in her description of Tom, she primarily focuses on his luxurious clothing. Clearly, it shows she is after his wealth. It's ironic how she acts as if she rich when it's evident that she is not. The way she belittles the boy is an action typically displayed by the wealthy. Here, she puts on a facade of wealth.
So far in the book, I think that Nick is the most immoral character. One of the first thing he says is that he is inclined to reserve all judgements, then proceeds to judge everything from appearances of Tom and Jordan to the Eggs. Nick doesn't contribute much to spoken conversations and most of his narration is judgemental thoughts and interpretations of what is happening. I think he has limited understanding of his own philosophy on life and therefore relies on other's morals (or lack thereof) to decide what is right and wrong. This proves that he has no morals of his own, i.e. he is immoral.
In agreement with Alexander S, I see the narrator as the character that best epitomizes a lack of morals. Throughout these first two chapters, we, as readers, observe the narrator implement judgement and opinions into our minds with his descriptions of characters and scenes. We have no idea if his analysis is actually correct. Instead, he assumes that we will accept his words as the truth. This gives him the power to control how we see an entire story based off how he would like us to see it. That is a assumption of power that diverts from all moral thinking, making the narrator the most immoral character so far in the book.
In my opinion, Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character in the book thus far. When we first meet Tom, the first thing he says to Nick is "...I'm stronger and more of a man than you are." This shows that Tom uses wealth, strength and masculinity as a mark of determining dominance and self-worth. He uses this self established dominance to justify his immoral acts. One such immoral act is putting down women and other races. He also reacts with violence when Daisy accuses him of hurting her. He also uses his dominance and wealth to justify the act of having a mistress and stealing Wilson's wife. Tom views Wilson as a man below him, and thus it is completely acceptable to take his wife as a mistress. Lastly, when Tom is put in a vulnerable position (Myrtle talking about Daisy), Tom once again uses his "dominance" to put Myrtle in her place. He does this by punching her in the nose and screaming at her. All of these actions tip the scale of immoral acts not in Tom's favor.
I would definitely have to say that Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character to this point in the book. He is cheating on his wife with another woman and the reasoning for staying with his wife and not divorcing her, despite despising her, is because she is supposedly Catholic and she doesn't believe in divorces, however, Nick disproves this and says it is a straight up lie. Also, when Mrs. Wilson mentions his wife's name he becomes very angry and yells at her to stop. When she doesn't stop he breaks her nose out of anger. He also throughout the chapters is very arrogant and rude, constantly interrupting Daisy. His violence, unfaithfulness to his wife, and his constant arrogance and aggressiveness prove his immorality.
At this point in the book, similarily to what we acknowledged in class, I think the narrator remains the most immoral and unreliable character. We met the narrator in chapter one, and first thing he does is pass along some advice he recieves from his father, earlier on. "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in the world haven't had the advantages that you've had." And almost immediately, he rejects that knowledge, and judges characters mentioned in the novel. Nick Carroway proves to be an unreliable and immoral character in chapter two, also by his occuring role as a secondary character. He comments on a lot of conflicts in the novel in extremely biased ways, and describes events, rather than dominate action and become involved. He cannot, so far, be depended on to do the right thing.
After reading the first two chapters, I consider Daisy Buchanan to be the most immoral of the characters. She manipulates everyone around her in order to captivate and maintain their attention. She also antagonizes her husband, such as when he says he doesn't like to be referred to as hulking, and she repeats the word anyway.
In my opinion, Tom Buchanan is the most immoral character in this book so far, and I can't imagine we will find one much worse. My classmates have called him violent, arrogant, and abusive with no regard to any sort of moral code that we have seen so far. I agree with all of these, myself, and find it hard pressed to come up with any more reasons or examples.
He breaks Myrtle's nose, but this is not the first sign we have of his violent nature. In Chapter one, Daisy accuses him of bruising her finger, and as the chapter goes on it is obvious that there is an unspoken tension between the two that I hypothesized was not only because of Tom's mistress, but because he has been mistreating his wife.
He's also a racist, which in itself is immoral, though not unusual for the time period, but simply makes my skin crawl.
I can tell already that we are going to see much worse from this bully of a man.
~Caitlin Salemi
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