Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Text Connection
In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald makes many text-to-world connections, one of the main ones that truly stood out was when Daisy says, “And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This connection really emphasizes on the sexual inequality portrayed throughout the novel and which is still very apparent in today’s world. Men are generally more successful than females even still in society nowadays, back in the 1920s the only role women could play is to stay at home and perform the usual household duties. Daisy is wishing that her newborn daughter will be beautiful, naïve, and ignorant of hard work. What kind of mother would wish this upon her daughter? Daisy is hopeless because of her husband’s unfaithfulness and only sees the evil things in life which causes her to overlooking the positives. She has just been blessed with a child and all she can say is that she wishes her to be a fool.
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The quote you incorporated into this text connection I found to be my favorite from the entire book. The way Daisy uses the words “beautiful little fool” to describe the person she whishes her daughter be definitely shows a deeper meaning behind her character. However, I’d have to disagree with your statement and say that paternal dominance has nothing to do with what Daisy was trying to convey. I believe that by “beautiful little fool” she means for her daughter to have a light hearted, optimistic attitude. Yet, like you said, she could have also meant “naïve.” Though, I think she was meant it in a more positive connotation, such as youthful or inexperienced at life. Not to say that your explanation of the quote is wrong, I simply just do not agree. But I do think that your justification was detailed enough that there is no right or wrong way to explain it. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great text connection that had not jumped out at me prior to reading your blog. I agree that it could show sexual inequality that is conveyed throughout the story; however, I believe it also shows Daisy's unrealistic dreams for her daughter. It reveals that Daisy wishes her daughter could be ignorant of the darkness in the world. If her daughter were a "beautiful little fool" then the evil components of the world would go unseen. That being said, I do think your point of view is correct- I just read it in more of a positive light. All mothers want their children to stay innocent forever.
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