Journal Number Three- Choose a quotation from the Great Gatsby. Retell its context, relate it to your own life and reflect on it.
Emotional. Passionate. Child-like in an absolutely beautiful way. Daisy possesses a passion for her life that is truly admirable. As she finally stands in Gatsby’s mansion she gazes out of the window exclaiming to Gatsby, “I’d like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around” (p.91). This quotation thoroughly illustrates for the reader the tone of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship: carefree, passionate and full of hope. Whereas all other relationships in The Great Gatsby are fuelled by obligation, spite and despair, the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy elevates both of them onto pink clouds where they can continue to imagine, fantasize and live out the ‘American Dream’. Predictably Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship of playful passion bitterly ends, raising the question: was it worth it? Is being shot dead worth the moments of dreaming of pushing one another on clouds?
Personally, I think it is better to fully feel every emotion of life rather than live a purely logical life where one never gets quite hurt but also never truly experiences the exhilarating feelings of life. I can relate very literally to the quotation of ,”I’d like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around” because my friend and I used to ask each other when we were very happy, “How happy are you? Are you, like, on a cloud happy?” Happiness to the point of being on a cloud is almost a drug-like feeling of surreal joy; the highs are high but the lows are very low. I think it’s worth it.
Nevertheless most people would disagree with me, for it seems to be the trend to numb our feelings and erase all our passions because they seem to be irrational and illogical. The ability to take a pill and forget all feelings and the inability to have and want a “romantic readiness” will lead to generations of Brutus-like people (Brutus from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar), calculating, logical and completely stoic. Is it not a shame?
