Dexter vs. Gatsby

Thesis: The characters, Dexter and Gatsby, from "Winter Dreams" and The Great Gatsby are both chasing after The "American Dream" in order to fulfill their desires, become successful, and to find true love.


CD-
-they are both trying to fulfill The American Dream
-they both had laundry/drug store "chains"
-they both passed up marriage at some point
-they both aspire to be wealthy
-both aren't born into wealth

Bonus-What I Think About Blogging.

I think that blogging is a lot better than writing paragraphs in our notebooks because it is a lot easier to type than to write. Most people have a computer at their house and it is a more organized way to turn in an assignment. By blogging, you can think about it a lot longer and you don't have to try and finish it before class if you forget your binder at school. If you blog your assignments you can go back and edit them whenever you want if you forgot to add something in it.

#... Color Symbolism Essay

   In Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, archetypes can be found throughout. One of the archetypes that seemed of most importance was color symbolism. Fitzgerald uses color symbolism so the reader can fully understand the importance in the novel. The colors yellow and gold are both used very frequently because they play a huge part describing the characters in The Great Gatsby. By using color symbolism, the reader can better understand why Fitzgerald uses the colors that he has used in this novel.
   In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the colors yellow and gold symbolize wealth and decay in the characters lives throughout the story. For example, the Buchanan's "French windows, glowing now with reflected gold" (6). This clarifies that the Buchanan's house is just a symbol that they are both, Tom and Daisy, trying to show off how wealthy they are, and it also show that they are decaying on the inside. In The Great Gatsby, Dr. T.J.Eckleburg's "enormous yellow spectacles," symbolize corruption in the character's lives (23). Eckleburg is seen as a Christ-like figure in the book and his yellow spectacles symbolize the corruption that he sees when he looks down on the world. On page 84, Gatsby arrives at Nick's house for tea wearing a gold tie (84).The gold in Gatsby's tie shows that he is not decaying on the outside yet, but on the inside because the tie is located in the middle of his body. He also wears the golden tie to show Daisy how much money he has.
   Two similar colors, white and silver, are used very frequently throughout Fitzgerald's novel. The color white is used in the beginning of the novel describing the houses "across the courtesy bay" (5). These houses included the Buchanan's mansion, that is described as "white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water" (5). White, in this case, symbolizes the view of "pureness" on the outside of the East Eggs mansions. Daisy and Jordan Baker's dresses were both white when Nick first visited the Buchanan's mansion (8). The fact that both Daisy and Miss Baker's dresses were white is significant because they are trying to show off their "purity" on the outside with clothes and accessories, but on the inside they are decaying slowly. When Gatsby comes to Nick's house for tea, he is wearing a silver shirt underneath his white-flannel jacket and around his neck he is wearing a golden tie (84). The white flannel jacket, that is covering the silver shirt and golden tie, is similar to Daisy and Miss Baker's dresses; Gatsby is wearing white on the very outside of his whole outfit to look "pure" and "clean", as if he has never done anything wrong. The silver shirt underneath his white-flannel jacket shows his wealth and the in-between-ness of purity and decay.
   The color green can symbolize many different things, such as wealth, fertility, and jealousy. In chapter four, Gatsby's car is described as "monstrous" in length, with windows that "mirrored a dozen suns", and it was all behind glass inside a "sort of green leather conservatory" (64). His whole car is a symbol of his wealth and what all he can afford. The "green" leather interior is major symbolization of Gatsby's wealth. This green interior also symbolizes Gatsby's jealousy of the people who have more wealth than him. Towards the end of the novel, Tom visits Wilson to get some gas for his car and Wilson is not looking too good. Wilson's face appears to be green in the sunlight (123). This might be a symbol of jealousy for the people who can afford all of the nice cars and even the people who can afford gas. Wilson is having hard time with money during this part of the novel and he has been feeling sick as well. A very important symbol in the novel that includes the color green is the green light on the end of Daisy's dock that Gatsby is always looking at. This green light symbolizes jealousy because Gatsby is jealous of Tom because he has Daisy and Gatsby is in love with Daisy (21).
   Fitzgerald has included color symbolism in The Great Gatsby for a very important reason: to help the reader understand the characters by their actions and the colors that are involved with each one of the characters. In the beginning of the novel the characters are assigned the color white very often, but as the novel progresses, the colors change. The colors change as you read about each character and you figure out what their personalities are like. The colors begin shifting into yellow and gold, which both symbolize decay, green, as in jealousy, wealth, and also fertility, the color white, which symbolizes purity and the cleanliness inside of a character, and the last of the colors is silver that is a very large symbol of wealth. This novel has many different colors that are involved and they are all desperately needed in order for the reader to understand it.

#5 Body Paragraphs

#1-   In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the colors yellow and gold symbolize wealth and decay in the characters lives throughout the story. For example, the Buchanan's "French windows, glowing now with reflected gold" (6). This clarifies that the Buchanan's house is just a symbol that they are both, Tom and Daisy, trying to show off how wealthy they are, and it also show that they are decaying on the inside. In The Great Gatsby, Dr. T.J.Eckleburg's "enormous yellow spectacles," symbolize corruption in the character's lives (23). Eckleburg is seen as a Christ-like figure in the book and his yellow spectacles symbolize the corruption that  he sees when he looks down on the world. On page 84, Gatsby arrives at Nick's house for tea wearing a gold tie (84).The gold in Gatsby's tie shows that he is not decaying on the outside  yet, but on the inside because the tie is located in the middle of his body. He also wears the golden tie to show Daisy how much money he has.

#2-   Two similar colors, white and silver, are used very frequently throughout Fitzgerald's novel. The color white is used in the beginning of the novel describing the houses "across the courtesy bay" (5). These houses included the Buchanan's mansion,  that is described as "white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water" (5). White, in this case, symbolizes the view of "pureness" on the outside of the East Eggs mansions. Daisy and Jordan Baker's dresses were both white when Nick first visited the Buchanan's mansion (8). The fact that both Daisy and Miss Baker's dresses were white is significant because they are trying to show off their "purity" on the outside with clothes and accessories, but on the inside they are decaying slowly. When Gatsby comes to Nick's house for tea, he is wearing a silver shirt underneath his white-flannel jacket and around his neck he is wearing a golden tie (84). The white flannel jacket, that is covering the silver shirt and golden tie, is similar to Daisy and Miss Baker's dresses; Gatsby is wearing white on the very outside of his whole outfit to look "pure" and "clean", as if he has never done anything wrong. The silver shirt underneath his white-flannel jacket shows his wealth and the in-between-ness of purity and decay.

#3-   The color green can symbolize many different things, such as wealth, fertility, and jealousy. In chapter four, Gatsby's car is described as "monstrous" in length, with windows that "mirrored a dozen suns", and it was all behind glass inside a "sort of green leather conservatory" (64). His whole car is a symbol of his wealth and what all he can afford. The "green" leather interior is major symbolization of Gatsby's wealth. This green interior also symbolizes Gatsby's jealousy of the people who have more wealth than him. Towards the end of the novel, Tom visits Wilson to get some gas for his car and Wilson is not looking too good. Wilson's face appears to be green in the sunlight (123). This might be a symbol of jealousy for the people who can afford all of the nice cars and even the people who can afford gas. Wilson is having hard time with money during this part of the novel and he has been feeling sick as well. A very important symbol in the novel that includes the color green is the green light on the end of Daisy's dock that Gatsby is always looking at. This green light symbolizes jealousy because Gatsby is jealous of Tom because he has Daisy and Gatsby is in love with Daisy (21).

#4 OUTLINE

I. Gold and Yellow
A. Buchanan's French windows (pg. 6)
B. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's spectacles (pg. 23)
C. Gatsby's gold tie (pg. 84)

II. White and Silver
A. The Buchanan's mansion (pg.5)
B. Daisy and Jordan Baker's dresses (pg. 8)
C. Gatsby's Suit (pg. 84)

III. Green
A. Gatsby's car (pg. 64)
B. The green light on Daisy's dock (pg. 21-22)
C. Wilson's green face (pg. 123)

#3 First Body Paragraph

      In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the colors yellow and gold symbolize wealth and decay in the characters lives throughout the story. For example, the Buchanan's "French windows, glowing now with reflected gold" (6). This clarifies that the Buchanan's house is just a symbol that they are both, Tom and Daisy, trying to show off how wealthy they are, and it also show that they are decaying on the inside. In The Great Gatsby, Dr. T.J.Eckleburg's "enormous yellow spectacles," symbolize corruption in the character's lives (23). Eckleburg is seen as a Christ-like figure in the book and his yellow spectacles symbolize the corruption that  he sees when he looks down on the world. On page 84, Gatsby arrives at Nick's house for tea wearing a gold tie (84).The gold in Gatsby's tie shows that he is not decaying on the outside  yet, but on the inside because the tie is located in the middle of his body. He also wears the golden tie to show Daisy how much money he has.

Bonus Blog

     Daisy was now a young teenager and all that filled her life at the time were friends, boys, music, school, and parties. She tried to occupy herself with other things to keep her mind off of how empty she  felt. Her parties were full of wealthy teenagers and their expensive cars and clothing. The teenage girls put on their best shoes and dresses to show off for the boys. the guests came for a few minutes and then made their way out.
     Daisy began seeing up to 6 boys per day. She didn't care who it was she just wanted to go on dates with boys all the time. Daisy was up until dawn going on dates with so many men. She never could find the right boy for her, and she felt that she was dying on the inside because she didn't have anyone to love her. She wanted that special person, immediately! She would do anything to find that one man, no matter if it was for love or for wealth.

#2 Color Symbolism

pg 4- His books are red and gold--which symbolize love(red) and decay(gold).
pg 5- The Buchanan's mansion was a white palace--white symbolizes purity. The Buchanan's mansion is also red--which symbolizes love and romanticism.
pg 6- The Buchanan's french windows reflected gold--gold symbolizes wealth and decay.
pg 8- The Buchanan's have a wine colored rug--this deep red color symbolizes love and romanticism also.
pg 8- Daisy and Jordan Baker's dresses are white--this symbolizes purity
pg 11- Miss Baker had "gray-sunstrained eyes"-- gray smbolizes lifelessness and lacking something.
pg 41- Nick wore "white flannels" to one of Gatsby's parties--whit symbolizes purity and sometimes wealth.
pg 64- Gatsby's car was a "rich cream color"--cream symbolizes white(purity and wealth) mixed with yellow(decay).

#1 Dust in Gatsby

What do these uses of dust have in common?
    -These uses of dust are all symbolizing something that is old and decaying.
How do they differ?
    -These uses of dust differ because some of the examples of dust is real dust, powder, and some is not even real dust.
real dust:        powder:      imaginary dust:
pg. 26            pg. 116       pg. 2
pg. 137                             pg. 66
pg. 148
pg. 151

 Suggestions-
pg 2: Gatsby's dreams were old and dead because he never had Daisy.
pg 26: Wilson never had any dreams so he is covered in dust because his dreams are lacking. Also, the dust on Wilson is partially from where he lives, because he lives in the Valley of Ashes.
pg 66: Gatsby was "leaking sawdust at every pore"because Nick thought that Gatsby was telling stories after stories about his earlier life. The phrase "leaking sawdust at every pore" relates to how the old days the mannequins were covered with cloth and filled with sawdust and the sawdust would leak through the cloth because is was fake.
pg 151: This passage shows how all of the people who walked through the "shining dust" are decaying on the inside. Daisy is still young and not married yet in this passage, therefore the "shining dust" also symbolizes how here dreams are still alive.
pg 116: In this passage, the dust is actually powder that Daisy has put on her bosom. This dust/powder rising from her bosom is symbolizing how Daisy's dream of Gatsby if leaving her, because she knows that she can not have him.
pg 137: Myrtle's blood mixes with the dust when she is hit by Gatsby's car; while Daisy is driving. This shows how Myrtle was decaying on the inside before she was killed. It also symbolizes how Myrtle's dream of being with Tom has died, because she died.
pg 148: Towards the end of the book when Nick and Tom go through Gatsby's house and see a huge amount of dust. This dust symbolizes Gatsby's life decaying away and also Gatsby's death that is coming soon. This is the point when Gatsby knows he is about to die, so he is just "smoking out in the darkness."