Lovely Literature

"Through this twilight universe, Daisy began to move again with the season; suddenly she was again keeping half a dozen dates a day with half a dozen men, and drowsing asleep at dawn with the beads and chiffon of an evening dress tangled among dying orchids on the flood beside her bed." (151) The motif and symbol of death resounds in this work but in a subtle way for the most part until the end of the novel. This quote is embedded in the story that covers the majority of chapter 8 when Gatsby tells Nick more of his life story, focusing on the times when he met Daisy and was trying to keep her to himself. This quote tells when Daisy began to stop waiting for Gatsby because he was still poor, he was at Oxford for a few months, and apparently she cannot wait for her "true love" for six months to get back home. She began to drift back into her old habits and eventually found Tom Buchanan to marry. She told Gatsby in a letter while he was still at Oxford, and that one of the reasons she was marrying Tom was because he was somewhat of high stature in society and he was wealthy enough to keep her secure and give her what ever she wants. Back to the symbol of death, this quote speaks of the dying orchids on the floor when she fell asleep. The orchids are a reminder of the short-lived "loves" that she had that came and went as quickly as the flowers bloomed and died in her household. I feel like Daisy never really had "love" with any of these men, not even Tom nor Gatsby because she could never be satisfied. In the end, Gatsby, her longest standing orchid, died too without so much as her showing up to give her condolences.

Chris Watters is a symbol for all the boys in the world that every girl wishes she could have but knows she couldn't. He is that bad boy who would never tie himself down to one relationship. He seems to have a girl in every state who is might be engaged to, and they are all chasing him across America. Not only that, but he's a tortured soul because he had to go through the war and trauma that ordinary people may not have had to go through. Edie of course falls in love with him, but her love is more puppy love than true love. She is more infatuated with him than anything else. He is the first boy who ever spoke to her like she was a woman, even though that was just after he saw her dressed up and in makeup. If Edie would have met him while he was flying his plane by where she worked and she wasn't all dressed up, he would not have given her a second look. The fact that he didn't mention that he was engaged was also very fishy because what guy who wants to be engaged doesn't shout it to the world? He is the kind of guy that Edie was able to look back and wonder what her life would have been like if they ended up together, but she knows that the safe, secure bet was to marry her husband, the Carmichael.

This story is told so that it is centered around Watters instead of Carmichael. Watters is the man who made her meet Carmichael because she waited for his letters for so long. I was very happy that Edie was able to admit to herself at some point that Watters was never going to write to her. Many girls spend their lives pining for their lost "love." Edie, on the other hand, found the good in her bad situation with Watters through her husband Carmichael.

I have read a few of Keats' poems before and I'd have to say I'm a fan of his writing. He uses a lot of vivid imagery that must be read a couple times to understand it but it's not as confusing as Emily Dickenson.

"Bright Star" is a symbol. He is speaking directly to the star in apostrophe, but he is actually speaking about something/one else. He is speaking to the star about his love and how he wants his love to be like the star in its unchanging manner. The star can stay forever in its place [in his mind at least] and see everything. The speaker would like to lay with his love forever [No--yet still steadfast, still unchangeable/Pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast] and never change or lose what he has with her. He claims that laying with her forever would be the best way to spend the reset of his life, and he would even "swoon to death," which doesn't sound like an awful death. The bright star is a symbol for everything he wants to be, except for the fact that the star hangs in the sky by itself. He never wants to be alone and he always wants to be with his lover.

He compares himself to the star in a way by saying all the things that stars can see. If he himself could see all of these beauties [snow upon the mountains and the moors...etc], they would not compare to his love. Keats sounds like quite the romantic poet in this poem. It always makes me wonder what poets and writers think when they write such poems. Is it about their experiences? I'd like to think so in this instance.

"For me, though, it did matter. It still does. I should've stepped in; fourth grade is no excuse. Besides, it doesn't get easier with time, and twelve years later, when Vietnam presented much harder choices, some practice at being brave might've helped a little," [page 221].

Well. Raise your hand if you think the end of this novel is depressing!

Linda. She was barely even mentioned until the very last chapter, yet she was quite a large part of O'Brien's childhood. I'm assuming he is married since he has a daughter, but from what I recall he doesn't mention his wife [correct me if I'm wrong?].

I think O'Brien brought her into this story as a symbol. A symbol for strength, courage, kindness, love, and struggle. O'Brien claims he truly loved her at nine years old, and that he still loves her to this day. If Linda would have lived, who knows if she and O'Brien would have worked, but the thought that they might still be together is uplifting.

It amazes me that O'Brien truly believes he found love at nine years old. I can't even begin to define love at my age right now. That's a heavy burden for a nine year old. The unusual thing is that I can actually believe that O'Brien loved her and knew that he did when he was nine.

Altogether, I actually enjoyed this book. After I finished my previous entries, I took a few hours off of blogging so I could think about the book more as a whole. It had elements that scared me because it was so graphic and real even though I was reading words in print. The stories were vivid and painted a picture in my mind. At the end, I'm still questioning certain stories...but I guess that's what makes an author good right? Still able to raise questions even though the novel is complete.

On to the next one...