Death And The Great Gatsby Analysis

The past forever remains in our minds, unable to be forgotten. It changes the way we see the present and future. Ariel Dorfman and F. Scott Fitzgerald explore and illustrate this idea in Death and the Maiden and The Great Gatsby. These authors provide the reader with characters who are reminded of experiences from the past, which impact them and their thinking in significant ways. In Death and the Maiden and The Great Gatsby, Ariel Dorfman and F. Scott Fitzgerald use characterization, symbolism and flashbacks to drive home the message of the significance of the past and its impact on the present and future.

In both texts, the authors use characterization to illustrate how the past experiences of a specific character are able to have such a

large impact on a character in the present and future, along with their morals, beliefs, opinions and emotions. For example, In The Great Gatsby, when Nick tells Gatsby that you can't repeat the past, Gatsby says, "Why of course you can!" (Fitzgerald 118) Nick describes Gatsby as being "overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves." (Fitzgerald 160) Gatsby is also a big dreamer and an extremely ambitious and hopeful man, and believes that the past can be changed or recreated. Gatsby struggles to comprehend the difference between "youth and mystery" (Fitzgerald 160) and history; he thinks that one fantastic and dream-like month spent with Daisy is able to compete with the time, commitment and experiences that she has shared with her husband, Tom, lasting much longer than her ‘fling’ with Gatsby. (Shmoop Editorial Team) Gatsby’s character is one that is rather free-willed and he prefers to live in the present, ironically holding on and not being able to forget his past experiences with Daisy, which heavily affect his desires and motives in the present and for the future, which continue to lead him back to his longing for Daisy and recovering what they had together. Nick describes Gatsby’s life after being with Daisy as “confused and disordered” (Fitzgerald 118) Gatsby is repetitively disturbed by time and it seems to constantly haunt him.
In Death and the Maiden, Paulina is a character who is stuck in the past.

She is troubled by her time in captivity, resulting in her not being able to even consider her present and future life or plans. Her memories of the past remain too clear in her mind, and have too much of a large impact on her for her to be able to simply forget them and move on. It’s evident that her character is determined and strong-willed, meaning she doesn’t forgive and forget easily and is prepared to go to extreme extents to get revenge for what has happened to her. Paulina says to Gerardo while talking about her power to kill the man who has raped her and caused her so much misery and grief: “And then I’ll put the gun in my mouth and pull the trigger.” (Dorfman 20) Paulina’s past experiences have had extreme effects on her character, desires and beliefs, that her and her husband, Gerardo, hold an unstable relationship. Paulina needs to try to forget some of her terrible past and live her life without it consuming her, while Gerardo needs to learn to accept what happened to his wife and country, particularly if he wants to succeed in his new position and in his marriage. (GradeSaver, Jessie

Bear).
In both texts, the authors use symbolism to emphasize how the past can affect the present and future.

In The Great Gatsby, the symbol of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock reminds Gatsby of Daisy and the month of spectacular love they once shared. Gatsby thinks to himself: “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock.” (Fitzgerald 100) For Gatsby, the green light somewhat acted as a constant reminder of his hopes and dreams for the future, associated with Daisy and their past together, affecting his desires for the future. Another symbol in The Great Gatsby, which connects the past and future, is money and specifically, Gatsby’s money. Gatsby believes that money is able to recreate the past. He has this idea that the money that he has gained over time can get Daisy back, because he wants to prove he is good enough for her and is able to provide her with a lavish and deluxe lifestyle. Gatsby describes Daisy’s voice as being “full of money”. (Fitzgerald 128) Daisy spoke in a lazy-elegant and casual manner, a manner in which someone that is secure in their social class would speak. This is a reminder to Gatsby of the lifestyle that Daisy lives, and the symbol of money is a constant reminder of Gatsby’s wish for Daisy. These symbols are reflective of the love that Gatsby and Daisy had in the past, which somewhat

controls their ability to connect and restart in the present and also what they could possibly have together in the future.
In Death and the Maiden, Gerardo’s senior job and money symbolizes that he’s absorbed in the present and future. He lives the life of a successful businessman, who is very much focused on present events and situations, as well as what the future holds for him. Gerardo has recently been selected to take on a new role in the government and he has standards set high for achieving what he strives for in the future, particularly in his career and the success of democracy in his country. Gerardo questions Paulina: “You want the times back when these people decided our life and our death?” (Dorfman 26) Through his job, Gerardo wishes to forget the past and strives to change history for the better and for an improved future.
In both texts, the authors use flashbacks to illustrate how the past experiences of a character are able to bring back such strong memories, largely impacting a character’s emotions and actions in the present and future. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s cotton shirts make Daisy “cry stormily”. (Fitzgerald 99) Daisy cries because these cotton shirts remind her of the past, of the time when Gatsby told her that he would make money for her and create a better life for the two of them, and she left him for Tom. When she cries over the cotton shirts, she remembers her past with Gatsby and regrets the decisions she made, as Gatsby is now what he promised her he would be one day, wealthy and successful, but she has chosen Tom.
In Death and the Maiden, Paulina can be seen as a character that has no motivation outside of basic and necessary survival. She doesn’t have a job to keep her occupied or busy and very seldom leaves the house or socializes, her mind still stuck in the past. Paulina is continuously reminded about her dark experiences through flashbacks and thoughts that she has, making it hard for her to forget the past. Gerardo says to Paulina: “We’ll die from so much past, so much pain and resentment. Let’s finish that conversation from years ago, let’s close this book once and for all and never speak about it again, never again, never never again.” (Dorfman 37) Gerardo struggles to address the past and has difficulty recognizing and understanding what happened to Paulina and confessing the ways in which he has failed her. Gerardo says to Paulina while Paulina has flashbacks of the past: “Never mention that bitch of a night again. If you go on and on about that night, you’ll- kill me.” (Dorfman 39) He doesn’t want the past to affect their lives together in the present and future, although Paulina is still chased by the traumatic experiences in her past.
Both Ariel Dorfman and F. Scott Fitzgerald pay specific attention to reflecting on the past and expressing the significance of the past through characterization, symbolism and flashbacks. Our past experiences can shape the rest of our lives and is even able to plan out and form the person that we become, and this message is conveyed in both The Great Gatsby and Death and the Maiden. Neither Dorfman nor Fitzgerald simply want us to read and enjoy their stories, but rather, send the meaningful message that humans can very easily become prisoners of the past, which usually does not have many positive outcomes or results, but rather heavily weighs down on our shoulders in the present and future.