Hey guys, sorry my Blog Post is late, I forgot I was discussion leader. Here it is, though.
I believe the main conflict in The Great Gatsby is centered around Gatsby's pursuit of Daisy. There are the issues with Myrtle, but those are just a subconflict that ultimately tie back in to the main conflict. Where I feel uncertain is on the subject of how to categorize the issue. It would be hard to call it a conflict between Gatsby's aspirations and the truth about his past because of the fact that Tom is a factor, but conversely, it seems wrong to say it is a man vs man competing for Daisy's love, because even after his apparent "defeat" of Tom, Gatsby manages to still be defeated by the truth about himself. Then again, it was Tom who did the investigation imto Gatsby's life and exposed him, so perhaps it could be said that this really was man vs. man, and Tom simply came out victoriously. This would point towards an interesting theme, seeing as a man who is constantly pointed to as foolish and unintelligent managed to defeat Gatsby, whose single-mindedness ultimately caused him to fall to a man who he was in every other way superior to. In the end, though, I believe the true conflict is in fact between Gatsby and society itself. Even though Gatsby is at least implicitly explained to be better than Tom, he is still ultimately defeated. Why? Because society sees him not for his achievement or his current standing, but for where he came from. From the day each was born, Gatsby already had the odds stacked against him in his battle against Tom for Daisy's love, because he was born lower class. Tom was portrayed as a worse man, who in the end faced the same conflict as Gatsby of striving for a woman who wasn't his, but he never had to fight for Daisy. Daisy overlooked his flaws because she came from a rich society where she learned to pursue a man with money and drive, and that lead her later to reject Gatsby for being an "outsider" to aristocratic society, in just the same way as the people at his parties, who always whispered rumors about his dirty beginnings. Tom may have felt he defeated Gatsby, but ultimately, he was just a device through which societal beliefs, the true antagonist of the story, struck Gatsby down.
Update: I updated my conclusion upon further thought.
This was a really good and rich blog post and I fully agree with what you have stated. I like how you explored how some may view the conflict as man vs. man and explained it well, as I had not really taken that viewpoint into consideration when coming up with my opinion on the conflict of the book. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGood blog post. I answered the same prompt in mine, but with a different point of view, so it's nice to see how you approached it personally. I think it's also important to consider how it can also be a person vs. person conflict rather than person vs. society conflict -which is what I explained in my post-.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your point. I also stated in my post that all Gatsby is, all he has worked for was mainly becuase of Daisy. Making the pursuit for her the main conflict. My post was about the climax and beleave it or not, it was about Daisy and Gatsby. Interesting and descriptive post, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! you had some really interesting points and I definitely agree with what you wrote. Your reflection of the conflict in the book is very accurate, and it was very well written.
ReplyDeleteA theme I noticed was Gatsby doing everything to impress daisy, yet still failing, much like how we reach towards the green light and fall short. I think that Gatsby defeated himself as much as Tom defeated him. This is a conflict of two men fighting for a woman, but also a man conflicted with the idea of failure to achieve a goal.
ReplyDeleteGood blog post, I agree with your main point. I agree that he did a lot of things in his life for daisy, to be with her. I really liked how you explained your points, and made them so clear.
ReplyDeleteI, too, believe that the primary conflict in the novel was man vs. man, Gatsby vs. Buchanan. Something I truly enjoyed about your blog post was that you traced the history of the two men back and made the realization that Tom significantly better off that Gatsby. I think that is a small, but relevant contributor to the success of Tom and the downfall of Gatsby. Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI think that your point that Gatsby is exposed to conflict with society but I also think that he's main conflict is the American Dream, not the people but the idea. Also how does Myrtle tie into the conflict with Gatsby and Daisy.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was really interesting. You explained your ideas really well and it helped me understand the points you were making. I agree with you how the conflict was around Gatsby's urge to be with Daisy and you summarize that really clearly. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your post, and I definitely believe Daisy is part of the conflict. But I would also add that Daisy was part of the bigger picture, the American Dream. More importantly the way Gatsby portrayed the American Dream and what he did to "accomplish" it was really the conflict of the story. Nice blog post though!
ReplyDeleteI agree at the main conflict was Gatsby vs. society, you made a lot of great points!
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