Gossip Gatsby

     Well hello, Old Sport. In this week's reading of The Great Gatsby, I felt as though the events of the book were very...high school. Audacious as it may sound, and be, the characters' actions brought to mind the often foolish, and irrational actions of teenagers. Though Gatsby's setting feels very Gossip Girl, the events themselves mimic those of any-and every-stereotypical high school movie/TV show. But, I'm a self proclaimed 'Math Diva' so I guess that means these types of statements are okay-if I can back them up with mediocre and somewhat vague examples.

     Nick was appalled when he found that guests at Gatsby's party didn't even know him. Yet, how many shows and movies have you seen where the teen's party goes completely out of control and he or she ends up with a house full of strangers? I've ended up as a plus one at parties where I didn't know the host, or been at gatherings at a friend's house without the owner of the house even being home. At the time it seemed totally logical that I was in those situations; even in retrospect it seems at least somewhat logical. On a Friday or Saturday night everyone is just looking for a place to be, and things to do. Much like Gatsby's party, it isn't about why you're there-it's about being there. In the world of 1920's New York and in the modern day world of High School seeing-and being seen trumps most everything.

      Up next would be the 'private time' between Daisy and Gatsby. The entire set up of Nick inviting Daisy over and Gatsby being nervous like a little school boy feels like the plot of a sitcom. Nick inviting Daisy over to 'hang out' with him and Gatsby seems quite a bit like being set up by a mutual friend. The way Nick decides to leave the room to stop being a third wheel had me laughing to myself; the situation was so awkward in such a familiar way. The chat between Gatsby and Nick after Gatsby and Daisy had their private 'chats' seemed like an old timey version of, 'Dude, did you guys hookup?' Because how often do two 'exes' just hang out alone in a room and just talk all night? 

     Finally, the way drinking is portrayed in Gatsby mirrors binge drinking in High School. The fact that the setting is during prohibition adds to the similarities; drinking is illegal for Gatsby and his guests just the way drinking is illegal for high school students. Yet, drinking takes place-and when it does it's pretty hardcore drinking. The guests at Gatsby's parties are a lot like high school parties in the sense that no one is just having a drink with dinner; both groups are drinking to get drunk. But, both groups need to keep this fact on the down low. The fiasco that was Daisy's wedding morning is much like the running joke that it's not a party until some girl cries about a boy not liking her. Daisy was the epitome of a girl getting drunk and crying over boys. But, rather than having just kissed a bad boy at a party, she married a bad guy and had a baby with him. #sadface
    So all in all, I think I mean to say that I relate to The Great Gatsby? Or maybe just my inner Serena Van Der Woodsen does... But, I think that I can see the events of Gatsby as so 'High School' because Fitzgerald wants to show the characters and their actions as immature. No one, is quite so immature and selfish as teenagers. So the real question is, do we need to thank the teens for doing dumb things? As their actions serve as inspiration for the American Classic, The Great Gatsby. Or do we have The Great Gatsby to blame for the regrettable choices of today's youth?

xoxo
Gatsby Girl