A Great American Dream

Big American dream in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby and Babylon Revisited, both by F. Scott Fitzgerald, are stories about the emptiness and recklessness of the 1920s. Each story has its distinctions, but Fitzgeralds condemnation of the decade reverberates through both. Fitzgerald explores and displays insufficiencies of the vacuous period, and does so with sharp clarity and depth, leaving no crude, barbarous habit to imagination. Fitzgerald had a deep and personal affliction with the 1920s (most notably in the Eastern United States), and in both The Great Gatsby and Babylon Revisited, he hones his conflicts into a furious condemnation. The 1920s were a period of sloth, habitual sin, exhausted illustriousness, and moral despondency; the black mark of a society and world usually tilted more toward attempted civility. Fitzgerald conveys this theme through the use of character, symbolism, and wasteland imagery. First, Fitzgerald uses characters to personify the vast recklessness of the generation. The characters in both are incomprehensibly selfish and carefree, though more noticeably in The Great Gatsby. Tom Buchanan, for instance, is almost flippant in acknowledging his affair with Jordan Baker, a local miscreant golf pro. Tom leaves Nick, Daisy, and Jordan at the dinner table to take a call from her. An exchange between Nick Carraway and Jordan while Tom is gone illuminates the situation. Is something happening (Fitzgerald, Gatsby 19), says Nick. To which Jordan Baker replies, I thought everybody knew. Why- Toms got some woman in New York' (Fitzgerald, Gatsby 19). Tom Buchanan has an acknowledged mistress in New York, and he politely and confidently leaves the dinner table to speak with her. He is the absolute personification of the reckless actions and attitudes that characterize the era. Duncan Shchaeffer and Lorraine Qualles, appearing briefly in Babylon Revisited, also represent reck less and selfish behavior. They burst in to a private meeting at the Peters residence just as Charlie is coercing Lincoln and Marion in to granting him custody of his child. Fitzgerald describes their behavior: They were gay, they were hilarious, they were roaring with laughter. They slid down another cascade of laughter (Fitzgerald, Babylon 385). This after bursting in to the house of a stranger. They are drunk, juvenile, reprehensible in behavior, and acting more like children than adults. Fitzgerald asserts, however, that their actions characterize the generation of lost souls, and these characters are only used to articulate his condemnation of it. Secondly, Fitzgerald uses symbolism to convey a feeling of futility and hopelessness throughout the novel and short story. Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, especially, symbolizes the distorted perceptions and priorities of the decade. Eckleburg watches over the gray ash-heap near Mr. Wilsons garage with what Wilson thinks an all-knowing eye. Wilson has an unusual reverence to Dr. Eckleburg: he considers him God. In a conversation between Wilson and Michaelis, Wilson discusses a conversation he had previously with Mrs. Wilson just before she died: I spoke to her [about her affair with Tom Buchanan]. I told her she might fool me but she couldnt fool God. I took her to the window With and effort he got up and walked the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it, and I said God knows what youve been doing, everything youve been doing. You may fool me but you cant fool God. Standing behind him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at they eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. (Fitzgerald, Gatsby 167)Wilson is hopeless and disillusioned, and his connection to Dr. Eckleburg exemplifies the widespread futility of the era. Lastly, Fitzgerald uses wasteland imagery to show how society circa 1920 was dysfunctional and reckless. The apartment of Myrtle Wilsons relation, where Tom and Myrtle usually conduct their affair, is the perfect example of this. Fitzgerald describes the scene at the apartment: The apartment was on the top floora small living room, a small diningroom, a small bedroom and a bath. The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles. Several old copies of Town Tattle lay on the table together with a copy of Simon Called Peter and some of the small scandal magazines of Broadway. (Fitzgerald, Gatsby 33)The apartments amenities are showy and overdone, and somehow seem more representative of conformity than affluence. The whole generation is caught up in the times, an unthinking, unknowing mob of followers, riding the unenviable wave of recklessness2E The apartment is empty, devoid of any substance at all, a perfect example of the wasteland image. It is where forbidden lovers meet to flirt and cackle, and where people get drunk for only the second time in their life, where people smoke, drink, and live reckl essly together, and the only place where none of it matters: the wasteland. The 1920s were an era of lost personality. The people were caught up in the teaming exuberance, riding the inertia or recklessness further in to itself. Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and Babylon Revisited are fitting and definitive condemnations of the irrational time, and critics are right in deeming them so. Fitzgerald, too, is right: The 1920s were wasted years, and fit for condemnation.

[Astronomy subject] Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

[Astronomy subject] - Assignment Example This became an important law in astronomy as it helps determine the mass of any astronomical object. This formula is used to calculate the mass of all astronomical objects including the stars, sun and planets. 2. Describe the relationship between the distance from the Sun and a planets surface temperature. Why does this relationship exist? Explain the following exceptions to the overall trend: Venus is farther away from the Sun than Mercury, yet has a higher surface temperature. Neptune has the same cloud-top temperature as Uranus, even though Neptune is ~10 AU farther away from the Sun. Though the temperature of the planet is affected by its placement in terms of distance from the sun, there is another major factor influencing the temperature. It is the atmosphere of the planet which affects the temperature condition along with distance from the sun. Atmosphere acts as a blanket to retain the heat (Bennett et al, 2009). Mercury, though very close to the sun, cannot retain the heat as the atmosphere or the blanket is missing there. Comparatively, Venus is located farther away from the sun than Mercury, but still the temperature is high which is again because of the thick atmosphere which prevents reverting of sun’s energy back to space. 3. One would use the column titled "Rotation Period" to find out which planet has the shortest days. Are there notable differences in the length of a day for the different types of planets (terrestrial versus gaseous)? Would you have predicted there to be huge differences? Mercury has a long rotation period because of its synchronization with its orbital period; Pluto is synchronized with its largest moon Charon. Venus has a retrograde (clockwise vs counterclockwise) rotation. Eliminate these two planets and a dwarf planet, and what do you find? See the chart at the right to help you answer this question. A day is the time taken for the planet to

Add one more page to the essay and grammars check

Add one more page to the and grammars check - Essay Example Usually professional soccer players lift their T-shirts on their heads after scoring a goal. Practice it in front of the mirror, as well. However, it would be better to invent something special, for instance, a motto that you will shout after leading your team to the victory. For example, the motor can be â€Å"No less than the best†. This is a perfect inspiring motto, because no matter how good you team may be, there is always room to improve. The best way to win is to try to be the best. It is not very easy as every new season brings new gifted players, thus it is always necessary to be ready to everything. You may win the game during one season but the next season can bring surprises. Therefore, it is important to train all the time in order to play better and better. This will allow not to be afraid of new gifted players or old ones which used new approach to training. â€Å"No less than the best† is a motto that can help become and remain champions. Another thing that every professional soccer player should know about is falling beautifully. You can practice this on the bed. However, be careful and do not break the bed – until you are not a professional player, you may not afford buying a new one. You should also remember that the ground is not as soft as a mattress, be ready to have bruises in the future. After falling, you should always touch any part of your body as if it is badly injured even if it is not and have an in-pain expression on your face. This will allow you to be ready to any result and learn how to withstand the pain. When you are a professional soccer player, you should be ready to be treated like a thing. At any time, another club may offer several millions and buy you: the more it offers, the more successful you are. A good soccer player is an expensive soccer player. The destiny may lead you to any place of the globe. Be ready to be able to digest any kind of food and memorize hundreds of foreign words as