This week in class we started reading and discussing The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this book, there has a lot to do with money, specifically old money and new money. This division is made clear by the separation of the two groups into the different eggs. New money lives in West Egg whole old money lives in East Egg. This makes the division clear for the “money groups” but there are also subtle details that add to this division. First, there are a lot of talks about the color gold and yellow. Usually when talking about wealth people will use green or gold as a symbol because green is the color of US dollar bills and gold is gold. However, Fitzgerald uses gold and yellow as symbols of wealth. Nick describes these two girls at the party. He says they’re “two girls in twin yellow dresses” (Fitzgerald 48). These girls are described from their clothing and we never get to know who these people actually are. Since they are described as wearing yellow dresses, I think yellow is a symbol of the “fake” wealth in the story. The people who are wearing yellow are trying to give off the image of wealth, when in reality they are just showing a facade. These people are worried about their outward appearance of wealth and materialistic things. Gold, however, is true wealth. Another example of yellow is when the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg is being described. He is described as having big eyes with yellow glasses. He is looking down on everyone and he is looking at society through a lens that is tainted by “fake money”.
This week in class we read a piece called Show and Tell by Scott McCloud. This piece showed (and told) the importance of pictures in readings. It started off with a short anecdote of this kid in front of his class explaining how his robot toy transforms into an airplane. He uses a mixture of words and plain showing how it does what it does. This develops the author's main argument that "words and pictures have great powers to tell stories when creators fully exploit them both," (McCloud 809). I believe that images in books don't make a work of literature any less intellectual. If the content is meant to be intellectual, pictures aren't going to make it any less. Actually, images bring a different dynamic and can allow for more intellectual content. If an author were to include a statement where there could be many interpretations, that would be considered intellectual, but if you add an image to that and turn it into a comic, there could be an infinite amount of i...
This is a fantastic blog Kyle! I am really liking Kyle's Thoughts. I definitely agree with you on that people often try to hide their insecurities and weaknesses through the image of wealth which goes to show that money does not always make you more content with your life. It definitely helps, but it is not the only factor. Good job Kyle .
ReplyDeleteKyle, you really outdid yourself this blog post. Like Marz, I am a fan of Kyle's thoughts because if I ever forget what we learned in class, this is the first place I go! Not having a lot a money has been a universal insecurity that happens constantly today, so I love the connection to today's modern society!
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