Post your thoughts, questions, and musings as you follow the fishbowl discussion. Consult your rubric for post criteria.
A site for Ms. Duy's classes
A site for Ms. Duy's classes
Post your thoughts, questions, and musings as you follow the fishbowl discussion. Consult your rubric for post criteria.
Duy's Details 
Test
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Hello!
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hi
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Hi
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Meow
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Testing…
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Hi
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Exquisite wine
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Whatdup?
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Boo
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whoa
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Nobody else can be tracer ok >:-(
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Hello
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hello?
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Hi
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hi
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Wowaweewah
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Chess
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My favourite opening is the Sicilian
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Hey 🙂
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What up gamers
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My name is wrong the first time it’s supposed to be forkknifer
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Hello
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eskeit
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Test
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I agree with Daniel however Nick also doesn’t comment on Tom’s white supremacy meaning he doesn’t like to get involved in controversy.
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Yeah I agree that Nick isn’t very objective when he’s thinking and reacting to others, but at the same time doesn’t comment on his opinions or interfere, so to the other characters he probably seems non-judgemental
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I agree with Zach. I think Tom felt that Myrtle did not have a high enough class to talk about his wife so freely. As if a lower class woman talking about a higher class, makes his wife look bad.
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Daniel – although nick is giving his opinion about Tom he’s also stating what happened to allow us to make our own opinions. He didn’t say he was non judgemental, he just said he’d try his best.
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Daniel makes a good point, Nick has not really taken an active role in any situation so far. He is judgemental, and forms opinions, but he is passive, and his opinions don’t often surface to anyone other than the reader.
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Yeah, Nick seems to be an impartial observer of the events unfolding around him, “withholding judgement” even as his cousin is being cheated on and Tom assualts Myrtle.
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If Nick were to narrating in a judgemental way…does this make the reader perceive those characters different from how they would without Nick’s opinion? May change the readers thoughts of the characters.
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I agree with Daniel and Kevin, many of Nick’s initial remarks are fairly critical and negative, especially regarding wealthy people. For example, he calls Tom “supercilious” upon first seeing him and has negative remarks after first meeting Ms. Baker. As Kevin mentioned, Nick does not have these negative remarks about Gatsby, contributing to Gatsby’s mysterious/compelling character.
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I agree but maybe when Nick says he is not judgemental he means that he does not show any judgement. However, as readers we are privy to his internal monologue so we see what he really thinks and not what he shows to people, which may really be non-judgemental.
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I like your point Zach! I think that Myrtle Wilson is more than just a mistress, but is symbolic for the lust and excitement that is present in the 20’s. A mistress is something new and unknown, just like this dazzling new generation! I think having an affair shows just how fast paced and unsatisfiable everyone was.
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I disagree with the question if Nick is a trustworthy narrator because I think that it’s important to consider from a story-reading perspective Nick embodies many of a reader, a person looking to search for more information about the world around him. I think it is very hard to claim to be an objective narrator and it is just natural if Nick seems a bit opinionated.
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I agree with shawns point. I think nick definitely feels more free to judge those higher than him as he often looks down on wealthy people in the story
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I agree with the points about Nick maybe not being as objective as we may be led to believe at the beginning of the story. He makes his stance on privilege and money quite evident at the beginning, yet states that his opinions also change when it comes to Gatsby, which shows that he can be swayed.
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Based off of Kevin’s point:
I agree that Nick describes the Tom Buchanans from a place of jealousy and awe, nonetheless his description is very accurate.
Seems as if Nick is taking inspiration from financially successful people.
Using the message from his father as an “excuse” for not being typical rich when in reality he is – can he really judge if he grew up the same way?
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To Shawn’s point, I agree with the fact that Nick’s statement that he always refrains from judgment is often contradicted. Through frequently talking about his opinions and views of the upper class, he often avoids bluntly expressing views on those lower than him. However, to Zach’s original point, his actions say that he does see himself as “above” others.
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True @ILoveToast Nick is just saying what Tom is doing and if that happens to make Tom look bad, it’s not necessarily his opinion
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About the billboard – I feel the eyes symbolize the government at the time, watching over the poor but not actively doing anything to help. The paint of the eyes were fading away as well, which shows that the government is caring less and less about the less advantaged.
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I agree with Daniel and Kevin, I think he’s eager to find and scrutinize peoples insecurities and flaws especially those of his friends. I also liked Shawn’s explanation for the hypocrisy of his original statement (“remember that all the people in the world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”) against his judgemental narrative, maybe he is unafraid to scrutinize those that are clearly fortunate.
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I don’t believe Nick’s distaste is directed towards rich or wealthy people, as it seems Nick is more resentful of Tom’s character rather than his wealth. It just so happens that such negatively qualities are associated to Tom who is wealthy.
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Yeah, I agree with Shawn. Nick is honest about his feelings but goes against what he said he valued in the beginning (Not judging others). Reliable narrator?
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Claire – I think nick is a reliable narrator because he seems to be perfectly honestly about both how he feels and what is happening. I trust him so far
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Building off Zach’s point, it also seems that Tom is insecure about his views. Whenever people try to challenge Tom’s opinion, he will assert his dominance either physically or by using his higher class to demonstrate his superiority. For example, when Myrtle persistently mentions Daisy after Tom tells her to stop, Tom slaps her because he can not accept someone challenging him.
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I like Kevin and Daniel’s points about how geography plays an important symbolic role in the story – the lavish East and West Eggs are physically separated from the decay and poverty of the Valley of Ashes, which creates a natural “us versus them” mentality between different socioeconomic classes.
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Woah! I did not realize the cover was the billboard. Nice point Shannon. It will likely come back again later.
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I agree with Daniel – I think the eyes could be Nick’s from a narrative point of view. He points out that they are surveying or judging the valley of ashes, which could point to his stance on wealth not being so plain as we are told to believe at the beginning, or additionally show his scorn on his cousin being cheated on with someone who lives there.
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Yeah Shannon! Why are Daisy and Tom still together?
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Tom’s rich and abusive so it’s hard for her to escape
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^response to Claire’s question
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I like what Kawami said! He definitely adopts a sort of existential view/moral high ground
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I agree with what Kawami and I (Kevin) said in the circle just a second ago, I feel like Nick is used to men having affairs, and doesn’t think of it as unreasonable or unusual. Also, I believe Nick is generally closer with Tom than Daisy cause they went to school together (I think?)
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To agree with Daniel’s point, Nick does seem like an outsider looking in because of his reserved judment. Nick has yet to have had an impact on the events on the story. The events of the plot are so far pushed forward only by supporting characters such as Tom, and Daisy.
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I agree with Kevin how odd it is that nick has little concern for his cousin being cheated on. It’s true that he doesn’t know daisy very well, but when daisy and nick were talking together at her house, she was very open and transparent with nick, and he clearly enjoyed talking to her. Maybe he just has a passive personality and doesn’t like getting involved
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@Cat and @Kawami very true about nick not caring about his cousin being cheated on and treatment of women at the time
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