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Alienation from society in literature
Alienation from society in literature
Alienation from society in literature
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Throughout life, everyone feels alienated or left out by society at one point or another. Since it is a familiar feeling to people, this idea has become a popular center point of many books. Many novels revolve around the stories of characters struggling to find their place in society. Three examples of books that show the different ways people are left out of society are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is a young boy who is abandoned by his drunk father and cared for by two women. The two ladies, Miss Watson and Widow Douglas, attempt to “civilize” Huck. They want Huck to be more
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formal and religious, while Huck would rather run away and be his own person, leaving society behind. With this story line, it is shown that Huck doesn’t fit into the normal, proper societal norms. When Huck finally does run away from his father, the two women, and society as a whole, he adventures with Miss Watson’s runaway slave, Jim. In this time period, most people obviously would have turned Jim in as soon as they saw him, but Huck grows to care for and love Jim. Later in the novel, the duke and dauphin sell Jim for forty dollars while Huck is away. When this happens, Huck is extremely upset, which once again shows his differences from society. As an attempt to “fix” what he’s done, Huck tries to pray. This is his solution because he’s starting to think that everything’s he’s done for Jim is wrong. While he is trying to pray, Huck realizes he can’t. He describes it saying, “I knowed very well why they wouldn’t come. It was because my heart warn’t right; it was because I warn’t square; it was because I was playing double.” Huck then later says, “I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that nigger’s owner and tell where he was; but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie- and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie- I found that out.” With this Huck means that deep down, he knows he’s doing the right thing by helping Jim and that it would be a lie for him to ask God to help him with this. The relationship between Huck and Jim is yet another example of Huck being left out of society. Throughout The Great Gatsby, two of the main characters feel they don’t belong in society.
In Jay Gatsby’s previous life, he is known as James Gatz. At this point in his life, he doesn’t feel he belongs in his society. Born into a poor family, James never feels he is meant to be in that world. This time of his life is described saying, “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” This shows the audience that although he lives an extravagant life, he really doesn’t feel he belongs. Another character in The Great Gatsby who struggles with not fitting into society is Nick Carraway. As the novel develops, Nick is thrown into the chaos of West and East Egg, which are full of wealthy people. At this point, Nick isn’t familiar with this life that consists of mansions and huge parties. Nick clearly does not fit in with the society surrounding him, and this is shown many times. One particular instance occurred after Gatsby and Daisy hit Myrtle, killing her instantly. All of the people he previously considered friends moved on after this as if nothing happened. When this happens, Nick says, “I’d be damned if I’d go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day and suddenly that included Jordan too.” For one of the first times, the audience sees that Nick is uncomfortable and doesn’t feel quite right in his society. Between both Gatsby and Nick, the theme of feeling left out of society is portrayed in The Great
Gatsby. One last novel that displays the theme of struggling to find a place in society is Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. The main character in this book is a sixteen year old named Simon. Simon is gay, but no one knows except the anonymous guy he spends his time talking to online, Blue. Just like Simon, Blue is also secretly gay. Throughout the novel, Simon and Blue struggle to feel comfortable with the idea of everyone knowing about them. When he thinks about coming out to the world, Simon ponders the consequences of this. Simon explains this dilemma with the quote, “Maybe it would be different if we lived in New York, but I don’t know how to be gay in Georgia. We’re right outside Atlanta, so I know it could be worse. But Shady Creek isn’t exactly a progressive paradise. At school, there are one or two guys who are out, and people definitely give them crap.” This shows that in his environment, Simon doesn’t know how to be his true self and still fit into society. As Simon and Blue’s stories progress, the audience sees first hand how the two boys don’t feel they fit in with the “normal” people and feel left on the outskirts. In conclusion, books can portray many themes that are familiar to the average person. One of these common themes is the idea of people feeling left out and struggling to find their place in society. Three novels that display these themes are The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. In Huck Finn, a young boy doesn’t feel he fits into the mold of the perfect, prim and proper child. The Great Gatsby shows the audience a man who never felt he belonged in his family and another man who doesn’t fit into his new town. Lastly, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda tells the story of two secretly gay teenage boys. The two don’t feel they belong in their small town in Georgia and struggle to find a way to fit in. Although these are only three examples, this theme is portrayed not only in many other pieces of literature, but is also shown in everyday life.
In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the ignorance of society becomes extremely evident at many parts of the book. Society forms ideals for all walks of life and then lets them become like stone in their minds. Thus, once a person has been put into a group they will remain there forever. The ignorance of society is clearly seen when one looks at Huck Finn, Jim the Slave, Pap, and the senseless violence of the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons.
Nick Carroway is not a very judgmental person, in fact, he himself states that he withholds judgment so that he can get the entire story out of the person to whom he is listening. To say that Nick is both approving and disapproving is not suspiring, for Nick rarely looks at things from only one perspective. Nick finds Gatsby to be ignorantly honest, in that Gatsby could not fathom the idea of saying something without really meaning it. He respects Gatsby for his determination to fit in with the East Egg crowd, though Gatsby does not realize that he does not really fit in with them. On the other hand, Nick sees Gatsby to be excessively flashy and, in the words of Holden Caulfield, 'phony.' Gatsby's whole life is a lie from the moment he left behind the name James Gatz and became Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lies about his past to try to have people perceive him as an 'old money' guy when that really is not necessary. Gatsby's valiant efforts to lure Daisy are respectable, yet they show Gatsby's failure to accept reality and give up on his long lost dream.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is about the great adventures that Huck finn has with his slave Jim on the Missouri River. The story tells not only about the adventures Huck has, but more of a deeper understanding of the society he lives in. Twain had Huck born into a low class society of white people; his father was a drunken bum and his mother was dead. He was adopted by the widow Douglas who tried to teach him morals, ethics, and manners that she thought fit in a civilized society. Huck never cared for these values and ran away to be free of them. During Huck’s adventure with Jim he unknowingly realized that he didn't agree with society’s values and could have his own assumptions and moral values. Twain uses this realization to show how the civilized and morally correct social values that was introduced to Huck was now the civilized and morally contradicting values.
Mark Twain, the author of Huckleberry Finn, has written a story that all will enjoy. Huck is a young boy with not much love in his life, his mother died when he was very young, and he had drunk for a father. Huck lives with the widow and she tried to raise him right. While at the widow's, Huck went to school and learned to read and write. The widow also tried to civilize him. She would buy him nice clothes, and make him do his homework.
In the beginning of this thrilling novel The Great Gatsby, one of the main characters named Nick tells us he is a non-judgemental person, the most honest person he knows, and that he doesn’t let people influence his outlook on life. As he witnesses first hand the differences between the rich and the not so wealthy with his new friend. But towards the ending of this book we see all of that change due to certain events that take place and he recognises this and regrets everything.
Jordan’s and Gatsby’s memories of Daisy, the piecing together of Gatsby’s actual history and Nick’s reflections on his own life belong to different eras and possibly jumping between these different timelines and impressions and Nick’s present impressions would have been inelegant. Fitzgerald places him in this hard position for a reason, to help him reveal just how befoul the society was becoming. Rather, William Voegeli, a critic of “Gatsby and the pursuit of happiness” shows a different side to this, he states, “Nick rents, Gatsby buys, and the Buchanans inherit,” also stating “”you’re no better than anybody else and no one else is better than you” (William Voegeli 1). Which shown in the novel is not true, Nick is a middle class character compared to the magnificent West Egg class.
The Great Gatsby is a book about Jay Gatsby’s quest for Daisy Buchanan. During the book, Jay tries numerous times at his best to grasp his dream of being with Daisy. The narrator of the book Nick Carraway finds himself in a pool of corruption and material wealth. Near the end, Nick finally realizes that what he is involved in isn’t the lifestyle that he thought it was previously, and he tries to correct his mistake.
This essay discusses the role of social mobility in The Great Gatsby. It argues that not all people can reach the highest social class, this is a class you must belong to from the beginning of life or marry in to. However, the characters are living the American dream which makes social mobility to the other social classes available. The essay addresses the American Dream, the difference in social class between the main characters and how some social mobility is unreachable.
Nick Carraway is the only character worth knowing in The Great Gatsby. He is living in East Egg with the rich and powerful people. He is on the guest lists to all of their parties and yet he is the person most worthy of attending such parties because he is well bread and his family is certainly not poor. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” (Ch1, P1). These words were taught to Nick by his father showing the qualities that a man with goals and values would have in a place where goals and values was no existent. His Judgmental eye for character and guts of using them when desired makes him more interesting. He has a greatest fear that he will be all alone by himself.
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald relates the story of the mysterious Jay Gatsby through the eyes of an idealistic man that moves in next door to the eccentric millionaire. Nick Carraway comes to the east coast with dreams of wealth, high society, and success on his mind. It is not long before Gatsby becomes one of his closest friends who offers him the very lifestyle and status that Nick came looking for. As the story unfolds, it is easy to see that the focus on Jay Gatsby creates a false sense of what the story truly is. The Great Gatsby is not the tragic tale of James Gatz (Jay Gatsby), but rather the coming of age story of Nick Carraway. In many ways the journeys of Gatsby and Nick are parallel to one another, but in the end it’s Nick’s initiation into the real world that wins out.
To begin with, after the party from the city returns to Tom’s home, Jordan invites him inside, but he responds, “‘No, thanks…’ I’d be damned if I’s go in; I’d had enough of all of them for one day, and suddenly that included Jordan too” (142). By refusing to enter Tom’s house, he symbolically declines the acceptance of the upper class; something he, Gatsby, and Myrtle all avidly desired and worked towards up to this point. Rather than value those material characteristics that had appealed to him before, he chooses his moral principles instead. His relationship with Jordan perfectly symbolizes his primary choice . Later on, after Gatsby’s death, Nick “found himself on Gatsby’s side, and alone…it grew upon me that I was responsible [for Gatsby’s funeral], because… [Gatsby deserved] that intense personal interest to which every one has some vague right at the end” (164). Once again, Nick favors his personal beliefs over following societal expectations. He stands by the mysterious figure of Gatsby, who possessed “an extraordinary gift for hope”(2) that Nick admired, while everyone else keeps a safe distance and watches, as onlookers in a zoo does to the animals. By admitting his part in the events that took place, primarily Gatsby’s downfall, Nick shows he is not the same careless person as Tom and Daisy who leave their mistakes for others to fix . Whether Nick’s belief that everyone should have a living person stand by h im/her after death is a universal truth or not, he follows his heart rather than the crowd. Finally, before he leaves to the Midwest, Nick “wanted to leave things in order and not just trust that obliging and indifferent sea to sweep my refuse away” (177). Particularly, Nick wanted to end his relationship with Jordan, supporting his original belief that a person should only have one
Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, there is a constant theme present: social class. Fitzgerald makes a connection between the theme of social class, and the settings in the novel for example The Valley of Ashes which is described as a “desolate area of land” (p.21) and a “solemn dumping ground” (p.21) which is where the poor people live. The Valley of Ashes is situated between West Egg and New York, West Egg being the place where the aspiring classes are situated, which is the “less fashionable of the two” (p.8), this is where Gatsby lives. West Egg is the place of ‘new money’, Fitzgerald shows this by the idea of the main character Jay Gatsby, rumoured to be selling illegal alcohol (prohibition) which means he is quickly making vast amounts of money.” Who is this Gatsby anyhow? Some big bootlegger?”(p.86) Gatsby shows off the amount of wealth he has by his fabulous parties and oversized mansion. “There was music from my neighbour's house through those summer nights. In his enchanted gardens, men and girls came and went like moths, among the whispering and the champagne and the stars.”(p.33) Fitzgerald uses the word ‘enchanted’ to paint a visual picture of what the house and the scene looks like, a magical and enchanted castle, with elegant furniture. This is in comparison to East Egg where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live, in a house where “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (p.10). East Egg being the place of ‘old money’ which is made from the inheritance of their past generations, the people who live it East Egg are mainly well educated, historically wealthy and live quite elegantly, but they are also quite ‘snobbish’. Gatsby’s background does not fit into the social standards of East Egg...
In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain a young boy by the name of Huckleberry Finn learns what life is like growing up in Missouri. The story follows young Huckleberry as he floats down the Mississippi River on his raft. On his journey he is accompanied by his friend Jim, a runaway slave. Throughout this novel Huckleberry Finn is influenced by a number of people he meets along the way. Huckleberry Finn was brought up in an interesting household. His father was rarely ever home and if he was, he was drunk, his mother had passed away so Huck had no one to really look out for him or take care of him. Huckleberry had the life that many teenagers dream of, no parents to watch you or tell you what to do, but when Huckleberry finds himself in the care of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson things start to drastically change. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are two relatively old women and think that raising a child means turning him into an adult. In order for Huckleberry to become a young man, he was required to attend school, religion was forced upon him, and a behavior that was highly unlike Huck became what was expected of him by the older ladies. Not to long after moving in, Huckleberry ran away. When he finally came home he respected the ladies wishes and did what they wanted, but was never happy with it. When Tom Sawyer enters the picture, he is the immediate apple of Huckleberry's eye. Huckleberry sees Tom as the person that he used to be and was envious of Tom's life. Huckleberry saw freedom and adventure in this young man and soon became very close friends with him. Huck then joins Tom's little "group" to feel that sense of belonging and adventure that he misses out on due to living with the two older ladies. Soon enough Huck realizes that all of Tom's stories are a little exagerated and that his promises of adventure really are not that adventurous. Tom gives Huckleberry a false sense of excitement and eventually Huck leaves Tom's gang. Later on Huckleberry 's father, Pap, enters the story and tries to change everything about Huckleberry that the two women have taught him.
In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays a world filled with rich societal happenings and love affairs. His main character, Gatsby, is flamboyant, pompous, and only cares about impressing the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. Nick is Fitzgerald's narrator for the story, and is a curious choice as a narrator because he is of a different class and almost a different world than Gatsby and most of the other characters in the book. Nick relates the plot to the reader as a member of Gatsby's circle, yet he expresses repeatedly his dislike for the man. Nick cannot relate to Gatsby because of their fundamental personality differences. Moreover, he disapproves of Gatsby's desire to impress Daisy at all costs. However, Nick continues to follow Gatsby because by doing so he can ensure his relationship with Jordan, a celebrity socialite, and because, in a perverse way, Nick can use Gatsby to bolster his own self-esteem.
The "American Dream" supposedly allows everyone to climb the "social/economic ladder," if they wish to do so. Anyone that works hard is supposed to be able to move to a higher class. However, society often prevents social mobility. Social classes dictate who moves to a higher class and who does not. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this issue was especially prevalent. The rigidity of classes was often an underlying theme in many novels during this time period. For example, The Age of Innocence and The Great Gatsby both feature the exclusive nature of social classes as a motif. In both The Age of Innocence and The Great Gatsby, the rigidity of social classes and the desire for social mobility leads to the downfall of several