The Relationship between Brett and Jake in The Sun Also Rises

834 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does literature influence society

Without some sort of relationships you and I would not be here today. Obviously, relationships are important and significant things. No doubt that Gordon Korman’s Jake Reinvented does this, which it depicts the story of a high school boy who brings himself, and his peers, into a mess of lie-driven drama. Jake Reinvented accurately portrays the life of a high school teenager today. Many think the theme is people may obsess over one little thing and get lost in something completely unimportant. The book can depict this very well.

The book Jake Reinvented accurately portrays today’s high school teenager life, due to the levels of social ‘coolness’ the collection of diverse people, and the truth behind high school life. An ambitious teen analogue of The Great Gatsby, Gordon Korman’s new novel, Jake, Reinvented, makes explicit its literary antecedents: Jay and Daisy have been replaced by Jake and Didi; Tom and Nick by Todd and Rick. Affluent Long Island in the 1920s has been relocated to a contemporary suburban high school called F. Scott Fitzgerald High. Korman even opens the novel with a portentous epigraph from Gatsby, and playfully dedicates it “For Jay and Daisy.” In Korman’s retelling, the beautiful people all play on the football team. Rick Paradis, the story’s dyspeptic narrator, succinctly defines his social ranking: “I was the kicker and backup QB. Second fiddle to Todd. Story of my life.” But Jake Garrett, a new student who manages to win a coveted position on the football team, and within days establish himself as the Zeus of Cool with his unrivalled house parties, threatens Todd’s Olympian position. As one character puts it: “The guy is like a walking zone of happening “Each year, the young salmon swim up stream, figh...

... middle of paper ...

...sed when the men departed, leaving Todd’s free agent status intact.”(Pg. 84). “The pathetic amount of resistance offered up by our defense? If all his anger could be channeled into a tackle or two, it was worth the risk of putting him out amongst humans.”

Writing homage to a literary masterpiece is always a risky proposition; it invariably invites comparison. But given my own tepid teenage reaction to The Great Gatsby, I’m willing to bet that Jake, Reinvented, though flawed, may well speak more successfully than Gatsby to high school students about the nature of thwarted ambition and unrequited love. These are all great reasons why the theme is people may obsess over one little thing and get lost in something completely unimportant. So this is why I think that the theme is people may obsess over one little thing and get lost in something completely unimportant.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Jake Reinvented and The Great Gatsby

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    The name of this book is “Jake, reinvented”. Gordon Korman tells us the story that is much alike “The Great Gatsby”. But this story happened during our time. Although this book is not about love, but it is about selfishness and betray. The “Gatsby” in “Jake, reinvented” is Jake Garret. Nobody knew who is he and where he came from. Although he is the beast new long-snapper the Fitz football team has ever had. But everybody knows him because of his legendary parties. Every single Friday Jake hosts the parties. Every single Fitz High School student wants to be invited.

    Read More

  • Dont Care High - Summary

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    This novel is based in various High Schools in New York City. One of the main characters Paul, just moved to New York from Saskatoon, Alberta. This novel takes place in the mid 1980’s. At this high school, Don Carey High, none of the students or teachers care about anything that goes on within the school. They have no team spirit at all, there are no teams or clubs because no one shows interest.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    377 Words  | 1 Pages

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, the pursuit of the American dream in a corrupt period is a central theme. This theme exemplifies itself in the downfall of Gatsby. In a time of disillusionment the ideals of the American dream are lost. The classic American dream is one of materialism and when Gatsby incorporates Daisy, a human being, into the dream he is doomed to fail.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Passion Quotes

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s conflicts between passion and responsibility demonstrate that chasing empty dreams can only lead to suffering. Gatsby’s motivation to achieve his dream of prosperity is interrupted when his fantasy becomes motivated by love. His eternal struggle for something more mirrors cultural views that more is always better. By ultimately suffering an immense tragedy, Jay Gatsby transforms into a romantic and tragic hero paying the capital price for his actions. Gatsby envokes a deeper Conclusion sentence

    Read More

  • Flaws In The Great Gatsby

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    By distinguishing Gatsby from the flaws he possesses allows the reader to care for Gatsby, and the impact of his death all the more powerful when it finally occurs. By making Gatsby a victim of the American Dream rather than just the embodiment of it, Fitzgerald is able to convince his audience of the iniquity of the American Dream by making them mourn the life of the poor son-of-a-bitch from West Egg.

    Read More

  • Consequences In The Great Gatsby

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the iconic novel published from the 1920's, the author displays many themes such as appearance vs reality, disillusion, love and relationship, corruption, and differences in social class. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald believes that belief in romantic destiny has dire consequences as demonstrated throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Desperation In The Great Gatsby

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    In F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel The Great Gatsby, common themes integrated into the story include love, wealth, the past and desperation. Of these themes, desperation is the most prominent. Fitzgerald writes desperation into his characters so deeply that the reader can feel what the characters feel. Examples of desperation within characters include the unreachable love, wealth, new life, and overall happiness.

    Read More

  • Catcher in the Rye Essay: Levels of Meaning

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Protected by a cocoon of naiveté, Holden Caulfield, the principal character in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, therapeutically relates his lonely 24 hour stay in downtown New York city, experiencing the "phony" adult world while dealing with the death of his innocent younger brother.  Through this well-developed teenage character, JD Salinger, uses simple language and dialogue to outline many of the complex underlying problems haunting adolescents.  With a unique beginning and ending, and an original look at our new society, The Catcher in the Rye is understood and appreciated on multiple levels of comprehension. The book provides new insights and a fresh view of the world in which adolescents live.

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Wealth, Power, and Pleasure in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Society's Effect on Relationships in Othello, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Great Gatsby,

    1984 Words  | 4 Pages

    Another theme of “The Great Gatsby” is the idea of new and old money and how that affects who society thinks you should be with. Society in all of these texts has a great influence on why couples or lovers find it so hard to express and show or maintain their love.... ... middle of paper ... ... Fitzgerald has shown this with the differences between Gatsby and Tom. Tom is all about representing old money and inheriting his fortune alongside the old dynamics of American society, while Gatsby is representing the new money and the new change in society.

    Read More

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ethics of society in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby are clearly noted through the endless partying, fancy houses, and the lavishness of their lives. Time and time again Fitzgerald displays his skills of developing his characters through plots and scenes of enchanting parties and mansions. Through these scenarios, the reader develops a sense of the purposelessness of the rich, the values of West and East Egg society, and Gatsby. Each individual scene reveals the subtle nuances of each and every character. Is shown to the reader in such a way that the reader picks up an idea of who each character is. By a landslide, the Great Gatsby owes a lot of its character development to its settings. The settings of The Great Gatsby provides for its substantial character development.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1388 Words  | 3 Pages

    The roaring twenties was a time for happiness and celebration, but the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows a different side of this dynamic decade. Fitzgerald uses a poignant, yet hopeful tone to show the shadier side of the nineteen twenties most refuse to look at, while tying in the brighter side. In The Great Gatsby, the reader is sucked into a story of corruption, and empowerment by the rich hidden by extravagant parties and bright colors. Jay Gatsby, who only dreamt of wealth and love had an ideal dream life, that ideal life could be defined as his “American Dream”. His dreams were later crushed by very powerful people, careless people, people who used and abused others to get their way, no matter the consequences. Those people were Tom and Daisy Buchanan, they were the empowered rich. They crushed Gatsby’s American Dream, by being careless. Gatsby created this extravagant life for one reason, and one reason only; to impress the girl he fell in love with, years ago. The girl he gave his heart to hold forever, but after Gatsby left for war, she married someone else, someone who was from old money, like her. She married Tom Buchanan. Although Daisy was married, Gatsby held onto the hope that they would find a way to be together again, and forever. Close to the end, the reader wonders if matters will work out in Gatsby’s favor or not, but after the tragic accident that bring three dreams to an end, the reader ignores Gatsby’s hopefulness and just hopes for a happier ending, when in reality, nothing ends the way anyone wishes it to.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Theme Essay

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities. Gatsby has many issues of repeating his past instead of living in the present.

    Read More

  • Film Analysis Of The Great Gatsby

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott and directed by Baz Lurhmann, is a story narrated in the first person by the character Nick Carraway , about a man called Jay Gatsby , and his love/obsession for a girl called Daisy Fay Buchanan , who is married to a man called Tom Buchanan . In this story, the director uses film techniques like characterization, setting, cinematography, soundtrack, and visual elements to portray particular ideas and themes in the story - but these techniques are over-the-top, inefficient, and sometimes completely unnecessary. Some of the themes of The Great Gatsby that will be discussed here are wealth, hope, and infatuation.

    Read More

  • Relationships in About a Boy by Nick Hornby

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    The statement "The relationships in our lives are one of the main reasons why we function as human beings.” In this text About a Boy by Nick Hornby there are elements where relationships between characters help them develop and without these relationships these characters would not be able to 'grow'. The relationship between will and Marcus and also the relationship between Marcus and Ellie proves how relationships in our lives are the reason that we function as human beings.

    Read More

More about The Relationship between Brett and Jake in The Sun Also Rises

Open Document