Friday, May 27, 2011

owl eyes

For some reason this time of year always reminds me of The Great Gatsby.  Perhaps that is only because it was about this time 5 years ago that we were to have read it in 11th grade Honors English. Or perhaps it is because Nick (who was always my favorite character) moves to West Egg in the late Spring of 1922 and it is something of a springboard for the futile interchange of Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Jordan, Nick, and Myrtle. 

Or it could possibly be that I am simply thinking on The Great Gatsby because of how it demonstrates a sort of cynical and cyclical version of what is past. I may or may not be a little bit cynical about life just now.  I may or may not feel like I am going in circles. Ever felt like that yourself? Ever wondered just where you needed to look for just a little bit of respite?  I'm not sure if Gatsby has the answer to that one, as I never felt entirely satisfied with the ending (betrayal, murder, suicide).  I guess with Gatsby the answers to the questions do not come at the end, they come throughout the tale as the plot unwinds and rewinds and forwardwinds.  Perhaps some of them aren't even there.

And maybe that is how it is with life too.  In fact, if we only looked for answers at the end or at the beginning, we would likely miss the wisdom of the middle pages and the pages that no one has written yet.


2 comments:

  1. I love this post a lot, and I really like your writing.

    My favorite Gatsby quote from Nick:
    "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired."

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  2. Aw, how kind. I very much like that quote as well. How true.

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