The Great Gatsby - November 21- Pages 65 - 103

This week we read chapters four and five. I really like the book and I think the real plot of the story started to develop in these two chapters. Chapter four started out kind of weird. It was just telling us about a "list" that Nick kept one summer of all the people that came to Gatsby's house over the course of the summer. I'm not sure though what the first two paragraphs were even talking about at all?? It then quickly jumps to one morning in July when Gatsby showed up in Nick's driveway and asked, or more like told, Nick that they were going to have lunch. While driving into New York Gatsby suddenly opens up about his past. He first implies that he knows what people say about him and asks Nick what he thinks of him. Nick never really gives a definate answer. Gatsby goes on to tell Nick that he inherited a lot of money when all his family died. He spent most of it traveling and living in foreign cities. He did go to Oxford though, and was considered a kind of 'hero' in the war for leading his section of soldiers so far ahead that it was impossible for the other side to win, or something like that. For this great feat, he was given a medal of honor from almost every country, including Montenegro, which was significant for some reason I do not know. Also, to prove these two things, he carries that medal from Montenegro, and a picture of him at Oxford with a cricket bat in his hand. Why did he need to carry these things with him to prove it? Why wouldn't people just believe him anyways?? He then implies that Mrs. Baker is going to tell Nick something at the tea Nick and Mrs. Baker had planned. This doesn't really make sence at first, but later on in chapter five it all comes together. So, they go to New York and have lunch with another man, Mr. Wolfshiem, and nothing peculiar really happens at all. When they are leaving though, they see Tom, and go to say hello. After talking for a brief moment Nick turns to Gatsby and Gatsby has disappeared. Later on we find why he leaves so suddenly without anyone knowing why.
When Jordan and Nick has tea we find out possibly the most important bit of information in the story so far. Jordan tells Nick of a long story about the past. It pretty much ended up that at one time Gatsby and Daisy dated, Daisy broke it off, and Gatsby has never forgotten her. He deliberatly moved across the bay from her, and wants Nick to have Daisy over for tea so he can come too. I don't understand why this all had to come fro Jordan, was he just kind of embarrassed maybe?? I think Nick wondered the same thing.
In chapter five Nick has Jordan over and Gatsby is a nervous wreck before she even gets there. He wants to make sure everything is perfect. At first it is very awkward, Gatsby is so nervous he isn't even acting like himself. Daisy knows that Gatsby lives across the bay though, because she asked Jordan about him in the first chapter, when Tom was at their house and she made the connection by the description Jordan gave her. I think that if Daisy actually liked Gatsby she would have came to one of the parties, afterall they were thrown to try to attract her. The tea goes fairly well after awhile and soon Gatsby invites them to his house. Daisy is overwhelmed with the size and beauty of it. They were suppose to tour the outside too but it is raining. Therefore, they are all just standing inside looking out. I think this is kind of an awkward moment, there has to be quite a bit of tension amongst the three, because they all know the reason why there was a tea now. At the end of the chapter Nick goes home and leaves Daisy and Gatsby, who seem to be quite cozy at this point.
These two chapters were filled with alot of information. It was almost overwhelming trying to decifer between what is real and what is symbolism, and what is suppose to be drawn from every action and word. At this point I have few prediction, I think anything is possible.

The Great Gatsby - November 17,2007 - Pages 43-65

In the third chapter of The Great Gatsby a few important things happen. First off, Nick is actually invited by an invitation from Mr. Gatsby to one of his elaborate parties. He has these huge parties and only a handful of the people who actually come are invited, the rest just show up. At first Nick is kind of alone, but he soon runs into Jordan Baker, and remains pretty close to her for the rest of the evening. The second important event is is when Nick is talking to a man at his table. The man recognizes Nick from the war, and they start up a conversation. Nick tells the man that this is an unusual party for him, becaue he doesn't even know the host, and that "this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation." To Nick's surprise the man suddenly responds - "I'm Gatsby." I was completely shocked at the quick turn in the book. I wasn't sure if they would ever actually meet in the book and then BAM! Nick was talking to him and he didn't even know it. It was a great element of surprise that completely catches you off guard.
I think there were two more points made in this chapter and they both have to do with Jordan Baker. As the party is getting close to the end, Mr. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone. After about an hour she comes back out and tells Nick that she was told something amazing. She then gives Nick a name in the phonebook , which is her aunts, where he can meet with her and she will tell him what she found out, even though she isn't suppose to. The book never tells whether or not Nick does go to meet her, or what exactly Gatsby and Jordan talked about. I think that it will probably come up in the story later. Finally, we learn that Jordan is not very honest. Nick discovers this when she lies about whether or not she left the top down to a rental car when it was raining. Nick connects this lie to another that he had heard about while she was golfing. There was a scandal about whether or not she had improved her lie in the semi-finals of a golf championship. It ended up to never be proven, but I think that Nick thinks she did, because he states in the final sentence, " I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."
I think this chapter was a kind of turning point in the story. We finally meet the elusive Mr. Gatsby, and we find out a few more characteristics about Jordan and Mr. Gatsby. Everyone thinks that Mr. Gatsby is this no good criminal who killed a man. I personally don't think this is true at all, I think the poeple just like something good to gossip about. I also wondered why the Bucchanans weren't there??
At the end of the chapter Nick states that these three evenings that have consumed the book so far actually absorb much less of his time than his personal affairs, so why does he only write of these evenings so far then? Also, at the very end, when he is talking about whether or not he loves Jordan, he says he has been writing letters back home and signing then "love Nick". Does this mean that he is still sort of involved with that woman he supposedly proposed to before he came out East??

The Great Gatsby - November 7,2007 - Chapter 2

In Chapter two Nick sees Tom's other life. Nick and Tom were coming back from New York one day and Tom demanded that Nick meet his mistress. She lived with her husband, Mr. Wilson, above his car garage. It was located in the part of town where ashes covered everything. I think the ashes definately symbolize something, I'm not completely sure what though. Maybe something like, how just like in life, things are always covered up, like Tom's relationship with Myrtle. Daisy tries to cover it up, even though everyone knows about it.
Tom, Nick, and Myrtle then go up to Tom and Myrtle's apartment in New York and they host a sort of party. I think Nick feels kind of like an outsider, there are all these couples there or at least people that know Tom and Myrtle, and Nick is just drug along. He does meet Myrtle's sister, and they talk for quite some time. At the end of the night, Tom and Myrtle are arguing about whether or not it was appropriate for Myrtle to bring up Daisy's name. It didn't seem to be that big of deal, but all of the sudden Tom hit Myrtle and broke her nose!! This made me wonder how any woman could over love Tom. He cheats on his wife, is abusive, and seems to be kind of a control freak. So far it seems that Nick is the one with the only normal life. Everyone else in this book has some sort of secret, or double life.
I predict that in the coming chapters Nick will continue to find out more little details about Mr. Gatsby, becaues everyone else seems to know him and something about him. I also think that he will see a lot more of Tom. Tom seems to like being friends with Nick, whether he is at home with Daisy, or with Myrtle in New York.

The Great Gatsby - October, 31 - Pages - 5 - 27

In only the first few pages of The Great Gatsby we are introduced to quite a few characters. Nick, the main character, who is also narrarating the story. The Buchanan's, Tom and Daisy, a married couple that lives across the bay from Nick. Daisy is also Nick's second cousin, but they don't know each other very well. We are also introduced to Jordan Baker, whom at this time is just the girl who lives with the Buchanans, and Mr. Gatsby, Nick's neighbor.
At the beginning of the story Nick tells us that he has moved east, to New York, to work with bonds, because that's what everyone else is doing. He is renting a very cheap house that sits unnoticed between two very large mansions on Long Island Sound. Nick goes across the bay to have dinner with the Buchanans. At first the two women, Jordan and Daisy, don't seem very friendly. As the evening goes on, the conversation picks up though, and it doesn't seem too bad. Tom, a once great football player, gives the impression that he is better than everyone else though, and therefore makes every conversation a little uneasy. During dinner Tom gets a phone call, and Jordan informs Nick that it his probably his "other woman", in New York. Daisy also mentions something about Nick being engaged, but Nick denies it, and then says something about that's why he moved east. I don't know if I interpreted that right though??? It seems weird to move a long ways away just because of some rumor.
After dinner Nick goes back to his house, and for the first time, sees Mr. Gatsby. He is just standing outside staring at the stars. Nick thinks about calling him, but as soon as he turns back around, Mr. Gatsby is gone. This gives me the feeling that Mr. Gatsby is going to be that interesting/mysterious character that will play a big part in this book.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 29 - 30

Chapters 29 and 30 is the end of The Grapes of Wrath. Chapter 29 tells of the rain storm that is beginning to ruin the land. So much rain has fell it has ruined the cars and the people fear that it is going to come up into thier rail cars and ruin all of their belonings, too. Some people are trying to find higher ground to stay dry, and some have tried to get relief from t he government, but the government won't help them. People are stealing or begging for food, but still there is not enough to feed everyone. Disease starts to spread, and there are not enough doctors to see everyone. Finally, the rain stops. The people can finally look out and see how much damage has been done. They also realize that there will be no more work until spring.
In chapter 30 Rose of Sharon goes into labor. While she is trying to have her baby, the men of the camp try to build a sort of damn to stop the water from rushing into the rail cars. They build a high damn, but a cottonwood tree falls and and is too much for the damn to hold. The damn breaks and the water begins to rise under the rail cars. Meanwhile, Rose of Sharon has her baby, but it never even took a single breath.
Since the damn didn't work, the Joads, and most others, try to take the siding from their trucks and build high platforms in their rail cars to put their stuff on and keep it dry.
The next day, Ma decides that they have to get out and find a dry spot or Rose of Sharon is not going to make it. The adults carry Rose of Sharon and the kids through the chest high water until they reach the road. They walk for a short while before spotting a big barn. They decide to check it out, but as they start to head for the barn it begins to rain again. Once they reach the barn they find a man and his son that are also being sheltered by the barn, but the man is going to die because he has been giving all of the food to his son. The story ends with the rest of the family leaving Rose of Sharon and the boy alone in the barn.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 26 - 28

At the start of chapter 26 Ma takes control of the family and decides that they must leave the gov't camp because they only have food left for one more day, and there is no work to be found anywhere near. They leave the next morning without a clear destination. After driving for a while the Joads truck runs over a nail and they must stop to patch the tire. While stopped along the edge of the road a man in a suit stops and tells them they are looking for people to pick peaches about forty miles away at the Hooper Ranch. The Joads are pretty happy that there is finally some work so they decide to go. A little ways outside the ranch they are stopped by a police man and told to follow the cars through. The Joads assume there was some sort of accident or something because there are so many policemen. As they are led through they seem a crowd of people in the ditch yelling at them, but the Joads can't make out what they are saying. When they arrive at the gate of the ranch they are asked how many can pick peaches and are assigned a house. The house they are assigned is not more than a shack but it has a roof and a floor and that is all that Ma wanted. They begin picking peaches that afternoon and make one dollar in store credit which Ma eagerly spends at the store. After supper Tom decides he wants to go see what all the people and police were doing at the entrance of the ranch. He doesn't tell anyone besides Al. He makes his way out of the ranch by slipping under barb wire. He comes up to a tent where a few men are sitting around talking and before he realizes it he is face to face with Casey. Casey tells Tom that they are all on stike because they were promised 5 cents a crate, but when more workers showed up they dropped it to 2.5 cents per crate. As they talk some policemen begin to move in on their little group and oen of them has a board and strikes Casey along side the head and kills him. Tom is also hit, but it only breaks his nose. In anger, Tom picks up another board and swings at the man that killed Casey. After that, Tom has to run, and he makes his way back to the house before he is caught, but he knows that they wil be after him now. In the morning he tells the family what happened and they decide if it is best if he just hides out in the house and pretends to be sick because everyone will know it was him in the fight because of his face.
They pick peaches for a few more days, but they drop the price to 2.5 cents per crate. Also, everyone is on the lookout for Tom, because he killed the policeman, so they decide they should get out while they can. They put Tom between two mattresses and they get out without any problems. Once again they do not know where they are going so they decide to head North on the back roads as to avoud the most cops. After driving for a while they come across a bunch of rail cars and a sign that says "cotton pickers wanted". They pickers stay live in the old cars and pick cotton during the days. They Joads decide to try this, but Tom can't stay with them because his face is still very beat up. He decides then to stay and hide out in the brush not far from the rail cars and Ma will just bring him food and leave it in a culvert everyday. They do this for quite a few days and it is working quite well. Al also meets a girl and they are going to get married.
One day, Ruthie is eating Cracker Jacks that Ma had bought her and she gets in a fight with another girl. She accidentally tells the girl that Tom has already killed two people. Ma gets worried and runs and tells Tom. They decide that it would be best if he takes off and tries to go far away where nobody will look for him.
At the end of the chapter they pick cotton in a a new cotton field about a mile up the road. So many people show up that they can only pick until about noon though. On their way back to their rail car it starts to rain and Rose of Sharon gets the chills. The chapter ends with the rest of the family gathering sticks for a fire in the rain, while Ma tries to keep Rose of Sharon warm.

The Grapes of Wrath - Chapters 23 - 25

In these chapters the Saturday night dance takes place. Everyone in the camp gets dressed up and puts on their best clothes. In the previous chapters, they found out that there were going to be men that tried to start a riot so the cops could come in and break up the camp, but the camp officers were going to be ready. They set people all around the gates to watch, and then Tom and another man near the entrance to watch for suspicious people. A little way into the night Tom and his partner noticed three men that came in and looked suspicious. The three men told the guard that Mr. Johnson had invited him, but he hadn't. As soon as one of these men asked a girl to dance, the group of men closed in on all three of them. One of them let out a high whistle that indicated there would be a riot so the deputies came to the gate. The only problem with their little plan was that all three of the men were taken to the edge of the camp with their hands tied and mouths covered, therefore, they couldn't start a riot and the deputies had no reason to be allowed in. They threatened the three men and threw them back on the other side of the fence.
The last section doesn't really talk about the Joads, but intead about how the farmers are beginning to go broke. They can't make enough money to even harvest and sell their fruit so instead they must dump the fruit in the river, or burn it. They do this because if they just allow the people to come get the fruit for free nobody would ever buy any. The people are starting to get angry, their children are dieing from malnutrion as they watch them burn piles of oranges and guard them from fishing the potatoes out of the river.
I predict that in the coming chapters the government camp is going to be broken up by the deputies because whenever they want to push the Okies around they always find a way. I also think that the people are going to start getting together and figuring out ways to get to all of this food that is being burned our dumped into the rivers.