Innocence in Daisy Miller, My Antonia, and the Great Gatsby

2112 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cultural influences on personal development

Innocence in Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

It is not as easy as it seems to distinguish who is innocent and who is not. Innocence is a cultural concept which is usually confusing. An act that is naïve and normal in one society can be a public disgrace in another. Then a question comes to mind: What is innocence? Challenging the norms of a society makes a person totally wicked? What spoils or preserves innocence? The word innocence is ambiguous. It has double vision because people put different masks on their faces for different occasions. Innocence is also one of the themes that can be focused on three American novels: Daisy Miller by Henry James, My Antonia by Willa Cather and the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These three books help the reader to see the other side of the medallion and they suggest that it is our prejudices and cultural differences which shape our view of others.

To start with James' novella Daisy Miller, the reliability of the narrator can be discussed. Winterbourne, an American but a Europeanised man is told to be an "extremely amiable fellow, universally liked." Everything looks alright with him. There seems to be no way to discuss his honesty, his innocence can be discussed because he does not really try to help Daisy. He is only affected by her in a physical way. If he had a chance of flirting with Daisy, he would not miss that chance also he would not marry her. He regards her as an innocent, fresh, and young lady but also he thinks that he is common and unsophisticated

Winterbourne is not together with Daisy all the time. This is why his reliability as a source can be discussed. He is confused by her and t...

... middle of paper ...

... illusions. They live in a broken paradise. Their life is full of corruption, moral decadence, hypocrisy, abusive power of money and shattered dream. Theirs is a demoralized civilization. But their honesty and innocence are not only corrupted by inner forces but also by the environmental factors. They live in a time of excess. They are a lost generation and they are afraid of poverty and worship to success as Fitzgerald says.

To conclude James and Cather's novel characters have similar qualities. The females do not look moderate but they have a pure heart. Fitzgerald, who criticizes the corruption of American dream -not the dream itself- satirically presents seemingly respectable but actually spoiled and lost characters. These three novels tell the reader not to judge people just by appearance and they allow people to gain a new perspective on human behavior.

Show More
Related

  • Theme Of Rhetorical Devices In The Thing Hings They Carried

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analyzing innocence has always been a difficult task, not only due to it’s rapid reevaluation in the face of changing societal values, but also due to the highly private and personal nature of the concept. The differences between how people prioritize different types of innocence - childhood desires, intellectual naivety, sexual purity, criminal guilt, etc. - continually obscures the definition of innocence. This can make it difficult for people to sympathize with others’ loss of purity, simply because their definition of that loss will always be dissimilar to the originally expressed idea. Innocence can never truly be adequately described, simply because another will never be able to precisely decipher the other’s words. It is this challenge, the challenge of verbally depicting the isolationism of the corruption of innocence, that Tim O’Brien attempts to endeavour in his fictionalized memoir, The

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    "All things truly wicked start from an innocence,” states Ernest Hemingway on his view of innocence. Innocence, what every youth possesses, is more accurately described as a state of unknowing but not ignorance- which connotation suggests a blissfully positive view of the world. Most youth are protected from the harsh realities of the adult world. Therefore they are able to maintain their state of innocence. While innocence normally wanes over time, sometimes innocence can be abruptly taken away. Some of the characters in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood lost their innocence due to the traumatic events they experienced in childhood and adulthood while some had none to begin with.

    Read More

  • Essay On Daisy's Expectations In The Great Gatsby

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is an emotional tale of hope of love and “romantic readiness”(1.2) that is both admirable and meritorious .Yet, the question of Daisy ever being able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations is one that reverberates throughout the course of the novel. Be that as it may, Daisy is never truly able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations because the image of Daisy in Gatsby’s mind is entirely different from who she actually is. Even during his younger years, Gatsby had always had a vision of himself “as a son of God”(6.98) and that “he must be about his fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty”(6.98). Gatsby’s desire for aristocracy, wealth, and luxury is exactly what drives him to pursue Daisy who embodies everything that that Gatsby desires and worked towards achieving. Therefore, Gatsby sees Daisy as the final piece to his puzzle in order realize his vision. Gatsby’s hyperbolized expectation of Daisy throws light on the notion if our dreams as individuals are actually limited by reality. Since our dreams as human beings are never truly realized, because they may be lacking a specific element. Daisy proves to be that element that lingers in Gatsby’s dreams but eludes his reality.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby - Narrator's Role in Establishing Theme

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...towards her old family (?Do they miss me??), these all serve to promote Fitzgerald?s endorsed theme of the corruption of the traditional values of the West, and how the ?Money can buy happiness? myth sends society into a downwards spiral.

    Read More

  • Gatsby's Undying Love for Daisy in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...tically took blame for everything to spare Daisy from being accused of murder.”’Was Daisy driving?’ ‘Yes… but of course I’ll say I was” (143) His eternal love for Daisy made him fear nothing, he only feared solitude; his passion for that girl made him strong before any situation; his commitment made him persevere till the end: “’How long are you going to wait?’, ‘All night if necessary’” (144).

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby: A Foolish Gatsby and a Corrupt Daisy

    1658 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby, is a classic American novel about an obsessed man named Jay Gatsby who will do anything to be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. The book is told through the point of view of Nick Caraway, Daisy's cousin once removed, who rented a little cottage in West Egg, Long Island across the bay from Daisy's home. Nick was Jay Gatsby's neighbor. Tom Buchanan is Daisy's abusive, rich husband and their friend, Jordan Baker, has caught the eye of Nick and Nick is rather smitten by her. Gatsby himself is a very ostentatious man and carries a rather mysterious aura about himself which leads to the question: Is Gatsby's fortune a house of cards built to win the love of his life or has Daisy entranced him enough to give him the motivation to be so successful? While from a distance Jay Gatsby appears to be a well-educated man of integrity, in reality he is a corrupt, naive fool.

    Read More

  • Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell Have a Loss of Innocence

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Loss of Innocence is a classic theme in literature. Protagonists are forced into situations where they must sacrifice their goodness/what they believe. It is a theme that runs through both “ Young Goodman Brown” and “ The Most Dangerous Game”, though each of them happen in a different way.

    Read More

  • Daisy's Love In The Great Gatsby

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional story of a man, Gatsby, whose idealism personified the American dream. Yet, Gatsby’s world transformed when he lost his god-like power and indifference towards the world to fall in love with Daisy. Gatsby’s poverty and Daisy’s beauty, class, and affluence contrasted their mutual affectionate feelings for one another. As Gatsby had not achieved the American dream of wealth and fame yet, he blended into the crowd and had to lie to his love to earn her affections. This divide was caused by the gap in their class structures. Daisy grew up accustomed to marrying for wealth, status, power, and increased affluence, while Gatsby developed under poverty and only knew love as an intense emotional

    Read More

  • Billy Budd Innocence

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is much to be said about innocence. If one is with innocence than one can do no wrong. But that is not all to be said. Innocence is not always a good thing. It could make one naive or blind to certain evils. Like in the case of Billy Budd. Billy was innocent from evil and therefore could not see the evil of John Claggart approaching him, out to destroy him.

    Read More

  • Gatsby and Daisy

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby was born into a life of poverty and as he grew up he became more aware of the possibility of a better life. He created fantasies that he was too good for his modest life and that his parents weren’t his own. When he met Daisy, a pretty upper class girl, his life revolved around her and he became obsessed with her carefree lifestyle. Gatsby’s desire to become good enough for Daisy and her parents is what motivates him to become a wealthy, immoral person who is perceived as being sophisticated.

    Read More

  • Destruction and Failure of a Generation in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    By eulogizing the tragic fate of dreamers, Fitzgerald thereby denounces 1920s America as an age of blindness and greed an age hostile to the work of dreaming. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald heralds the ruin of his own generation.

    Read More

  • The portrayal of women in The Great Gatsby

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the start of the book we can see that women in the book are

    Read More

  • Loss of Innocence

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term “innocence” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one’s innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct.

    Read More

  • Feminism In The Great Gatsby

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” the role of women can be examined to demonstrate anti-feminism. Initially, Daisy is viewed as an innocent, loving character, but once her true motives are revealed, it is clear that she is very corrupt, desiring only money and power. This is used to show the stereotypical female who lives under the man for his possessions, and lacks the self-respect to stand against the opposite gender. She is not the only female to act like this, there are many, but her case is the most important because it directly influences all of the main characters. Gatsby is also portrayed as a stereotype: the boy who wants his true love and will do anything and everything to get her, even be accused of murder. Once each character

    Read More

  • Corruption of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald employs the use of characters, themes, and symbolism to convey the idea of the American Dream and its corruption through the aspects of wealth, family, and status. In regards to wealth and success, Fitzgerald makes clear the growing corruption of the American Dream by using Gatsby himself as a symbol for the corrupted dream throughout the text. In addition, when portraying the family the characters in Great Gatsby are used to expose the corruption growing in the family system present in the novel. Finally, the American longing for status as a citizen is gravely overshot when Gatsby surrounds his life with walls of lies in order to fulfill his desires for an impure dream. F. Scot. Fitzgerald, through his use of symbols, characters, and theme, displays for the reader a tale that provides a commentary on the American dream and more importantly on its corruption.

    Read More

More about Innocence in Daisy Miller, My Antonia, and the Great Gatsby

Open Document