In the two short stories “Sugarbaby” and “I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down”, William Gay explores the tragic results your actions or avoidance can lead to. Meecham of the story “I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down” actions ultimately backfired leading him to his downfall. Finis, Mr. Beasley of the story “Sugarbaby” avoidance lead to his downfall. William Gay explains how our choices lead us on a path, not handling your business or going overboard are at the two ends of the spectrum that lead to failure. In the story of “Sugarbaby”, Mr. Beasley’s decisions to not resolve the issues he started ultimately lead to his downfall. “What you should of done at the beginning was go talk to her and get her to come back home, Clarence said.
Tragedy acts as an antidote to human fallibility; it also warns individuals of the dire consequences of follies in a way that comedy cannot. It accentuates how a character of high rank falls from grace due to his or her character flaw. More importantly, the downfall evokes pathos, which results in the viewers’ emotional cleansing and purging. In Richard Van Camp’s short story, “Mermaids”, the main character “Torchy” is a native Indian who struggle to find a goal in life. To cope with the loss of his brother and his traumatic life, he abuses alcohol and drugs.“Mermaids” is not considered as a tragedy since the main character does not fulfill a noble tragic hero, he does not go through peripeteia, and the ending of the story does not let the
Dagoberto Gilb was born in Los Angeles in 1950. A mix of gritty humor, mundane terror, and economic misfortune distinguishes his short stories. His life has been neither easy nor subdued, and these influences are reflected in his writing style and choice of subject matter. The short story entitled “Love in L.A.,” by Dagoberto Gilb, shows how one can see many reasons in seeing irony and even satire by the story’s title and how all is stories combine in someway.
Dreams can be powerful and inspiring, yet when taken too far, they can be toxic to one’s happiness and even fatal in Gatsby’s case. Reality, on the other hand, is always trustworthy, and it is wiser to simply accept and adjust to the faults and imperfections of a society rather than to try to fight them like Holden and Gatsby did. Both men were unwilling to relinquish their precious dreams, yet in the end, that no longer mattered because society took them anyway and annihilated them. The downfall of both these characters demonstrates the importance of staying grounded and never veering too far off the path of reality, because dreams alone cannot serve as a sufficient foundation on which to build a prosperous, fruitful life.
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby makes the reader feel almost depressed. Fitzgerald describes things that are usually viewed as pleasant and beautiful in dull, grim ways. The story line itself is grim, and Fitzgerald truly conveys that through his descriptions, which set the tone of futility. When reading the book, one understands right away that the story isn’t going to be a happy one. A description of Tom Buc...
The narrator in James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, at first glance seems to be a static character, trying to forget the past and constantly demeaning his brother’s choices in life. Throughout the story, readers see how the narrator has tried to forget the past. However, his attempt to forget the past soon took a turn. When the narrator’s daughter died, he slowly started to change. As the narrator experiences these changes in his life, he becomes a dynamic character.
Bad choices are made every day by everybody. Those bad choices could lead to consequences that are going to bother a person for a long time. Even more, that person may try various ways to correct that error. The intention is good, but things can go even worse if the effort is based on unrealistic fantasies. This effort is presented as a part of modernist ideas. Modernist writers dramatize this effort through the tragic outcomes of the characters. Three modernist pieces, A Street Car Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, The Great Gatsby, all of them sent out a message to the audience, the loss of past and how it cannot be recovered. Each piece features a character who lost hope, strived to recover the hope, and ended with a tragic outcome. A Street Car Named Desire featured Blanche; Blanche spent her whole life trying to get some attentions. Death of a Salesman featured Willy; Willy spent his whole life trying to apply the idea “Be Well Liked.” The Great Gatsby featured Jay Gatsby; Gatsby spent his whole life trying to win back Daisy. All of those characters ended with tragic outcome. Blanche was sent to asylum by her own sister. Willy committed suicide after felt humiliated by his sons. Gatsby was murdered with a gunshot planned by Tom Buchanan. Blanche, Willy, and Gatsby’s tragic fates are caused by their false beliefs about life, which are proven wrong by the contradictions between the reality and the illusion.
(Sept. 1976): 35-39. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Carol T. Gaffke. Vol. 26. Detroit:
A person might be the master of their own thoughts, but can be the slaves of their own emotions. Powerful emotions can cloud a person’s judgment due to the strong sentiment behind them. In “The Great Gatsby and “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,” each of the leading male characters has allowed their emotions to construct their decisions for them without the use of logical reasoning. It demonstrates how one’s feelings can cause them to make foolish and insensible choices. These ill-advised choices made can lead to failure. In "The Great Gatsby” and the "The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock", both main characters’ reason and logic succumbed to their emotions, blinding their judgment and ultimately, causing their collapse.
The idea of falling victim to one’s own flaws is often closely associated with the Aristotelian definition of tragedy, particularly the concepts of hamartia (a tragic or fatal flaw) and hubris (pride before a fall). Although The Winter’s Tale, The Great Gatsby and The Remains of the Day are not widely considered to be tragedies, yet there are elements of the definition that are relevant. This c...
Wilson, M. & Clark, R. (n.d.). Analyzing the Short Story. [online] Retrieved from: https://www.limcollege.edu/Analyzing_the_Short_Story.pdf [Accessed: 12 Apr 2014].
Have you ever been in a situation where you have almost met your goal, but something in the way is preventing you from fully accomplishing it? Jay Gatsby, one of the protagonists in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, loses the love of his life, Daisy, due to years of separation and is trying to win her back. Daisy’s husband, Tom, however, won’t let her go that easy. Gatsby fights his way to get back the lover he waits so many years for. Preceding Gatsby’s risky quest, his main goal in life is to obtain a great wealth in order to impress the beautiful Daisy. He only thinks about Daisy and their life together. He will do anything to be reunited, no matter the consequences. Jay’s shadow side is revealed and anima is present throughout his journey. Gatsby appears to be an altruistic, benevolent, stately young man. Upon close scrutiny, it’s unveiled that he is malicious and selfish because he wants Daisy for himself and he is wiling to ruin a family for her. But, his anima shows how caring, romantic, and vulnerable he really is through his devotion and passion for Daisy. Gatsby is unsuccessful in completing a traditional hero’s journey, but he does create his own unique version of the archetype. In this unorthodox interpretation, Gatsby learns the repercussions of wanting what you can’t have and dishonesty throughout the course of his battle for his lover.
“I thought you knew, old sport. I’m afraid I’m not a very good host.” says a gentleman, a host of legendary parties, a typical example of fulfilled American dream (48). In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the author well shows man’s desire for power. It is a common thing for mankind to dream of gaining more wealth, power, and control. But what if chasing that dream ends up destroying your life? Jay Gatsby, one of the main character of the story, has ambitious ideals and illusions created by his past. He seeks for power and wealth—to reach his old dream and to be worthy of Daisy’s love—not knowing that it blinds him and eventually leads to the path of his destruction.
In conclusion, James Hurst, author of The Scarlet Ibis, and Eugenia Collier, writer of Marigolds wrote short stories including a variety of emotions, yet the main feeling portrayed was regret. From ruining the last source of hope a person in a poverty stricken community has, to being a main factor in another person’s death, sorrow affected the narrators of both stories drastically. To sum up, James Hurst and Eugenia Collier both presented readers with stories involving recollections of regret due to a lack of selflessness.
Chasing dreams and aiming high in life are the inspiration for many, if not most people in the world. Unfortunately, chasing these dreams too aggressively may have devastating consequences. There is countless number of examples of situations where pursuing dreams too vigorously lead to the downfall of people’s lives. The two novels “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald depict great examples of characters that sacrifice and become insatiable to acquire their dreams but the consequences are dreadful. They are both set at very different time frames and societies. Frankenstein is set in the 1800s and is considered a science fiction while The Great Gatsby is set during the summer of 1922 and is thought upon as a socially criticizing novel. One being a gothic novel and the other being a modernist novel, they may seem very different. Frankenstein uses the themes of the danger of knowledge, lies and deceit, compassion and forgiveness/revenge. The Great Gatsby’s themes are based on the American dream of 1922, upper class shallowness, and romanticism. Although these novels don’t seem to relate at all, some of the main themes are similar in both novels. These themes include emotion, romanticism, tragedy, and ambivalence. Different time frames, genres, settings, and ideas, but the idea of people making ruthless decisions is clear on both novels.
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.