Finishing The Great Gatsby

I loved the book, because I felt a stronger connection to the characters (despite their moral insufficiencies) than I did to some other characters we have studied in English thus far (in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter). I think a lot of the problems we face today arise due to modernization; there is a constant battle between our desires to do good in the world and wasting time on the internet, going shopping, getting things that we want but don’t necessarily need… they all arise from our tendencies toward self-indulgence and materialism, what the characters face in The Great Gatsby. The contrast between the rich and the poor portrayed in the novel are readily applicable to class issues of recent times, from the Occupy movement to the portrayal of Romney as disgustingly and inaccessibly rich. The overwhelming wealth of the characters gives them freedoms impossible in the time of the Puritans, freedoms that the characters readily abuse. The Roaring Twenties was a time of extreme moral decay, the same exact moral decay that the Puritans were diametrically opposed to. The actions of Gatsby and Daisy and Tom make the Puritans’ extreme intolerance of pleasure and sin almost seem justified.

Key word: almost. We all know how well their City on the Hill worked out for them… In today’s context, the cruel punishments that the Puritans inflicted on those who broke their strict moral code seem just as wrong as the debauchery, betrayal, and complete lack of integrity in Gatsby’s characters. Furthermore, it is important to note how easily both societies are corrupted – the Puritan society through the Salem Witch Trials and Twenties through…well, everything. Each is so unstable that a single action (Abigail’s manipulation and Daisy’s words “You always look so cool”) can cause everything to tumble into murder and chaos…mass hysteria, if you will.

I feel that studying literature set in both of these extreme conditions sets a frame for the “best” sort of world we want to create today. We strive to find the happy medium in our lives, one that allows us pleasure – perhaps through love, a career, or hobbies – without compromising our morals, the things that allow us to feel empathy and tie us to rest of the human race.

“The Buddha’s message was simple yet profound. Neither a life of self- indulgence, nor one of self-mortification can bring happiness. Only a middle path, avoiding these two extremes, leads to peace of mind, wisdom, and complete liberation from the dissatisfactions of life.” 

~Bhante Gunaratana, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk