Kyle McCrossin

            I believe the world is out to get me.  I believe nobody can be trusted with my secrets.  I believe betrayal is the nature of every human being ever born onto this planet.  That’s why I believe imaginary friends are better than real friends.

            Imaginary friends can be beloved childhood characters who you can always trust.  Pikachu would never pants me in front of the school at the pep assembly.  Mickey Mouse would never steal the only girl to ever even slightly like me and take her to the 9^th grade dance.  Superman would never take my lunch money, and the Power Rangers are nothing like the cool kids who are only my friends because they need to copy my homework every morning.  The friends I create don’t leave me to go play with the kid across the street.  They sit with me at lunch and laugh at all my jokes.  They never forget my birthday, and they won’t change in middle school to become someone else’s best friends.  They can all join me when I get dragged to family reunions, and none of them ever call me names, or make fun of me for only wearing shorts.  However, even in my carefully created world all is not perfect.

            For intangible friends can’t play video games with you.  Things such as Frisbee and ping pong tend to be depressing.  We can’t play go fish or poker without me knowing their cards.  And whenever we play soccer and they’re the goalie, they always seem to let me score.  But these factors do not stop us from having fun. As long as I move the pieces, roll the dice, and read the cards we can spend any glorious Friday night in my basement playing “Dungeons and Dragons”.  We can spend our Saturdays watching all the Star Wars movies and our Sundays pretending we’re Frodo and the fellowship going to Mordor to destroy the ring.  The best part is every week night after I finish my homework we work on a 10,000 piece puzzle together.  The fun times we have hanging out mean the world to me and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

            I believe in many things, especially things that are real to me but not to others.  It is through my life experiences that I have come to realize that imaginary friends are more faithful, trustworthy, and compatible than any human life form.  That is why I don’t have a ring with BFF inscribed on it but a ring that spells IBFF.

1) I think Fitzgerald arguemnt about the American Dream is this:

The Amerian Dream of improving yourself from rags to riches is impossible.  Mostly because the upper class is based on families with continus money and proper manner/behavior.  Also you will always belong in part to which every class you were born into to.  Any kinda of improvemt in a family/name must take place over a few generations.

This being based on the fact that the two chaercters who sought to improve themselves most both ended up worse off because of it.  Mrtyle showedshe didn’t belong in the New York apartment witht he over stuffed furnitre and way of speaking in an obnoxiuos not sevilived manner.  Gatsby never truly belonged, chossing never to drink at his parties, trying to follow tom on a horse with his car, and nerver truly making connection with any one besides Nick or shifty charecters.  The Arguemnt about allways belonging to the calss you were born into to it shown with Nick leaving for the east to improve himself from a farmer to a stock banker, but he ends up returning after only a summer.  Gatsby’s dad is one of the few people who actully truly loved Gatsby and Nick a true freind of Gatsby were the baiscally it for GAtsby and both were in his origional class.

2) Nick was relly the only chaercter who devolped.  He had a profound realtionship with GAtsby and even though they couldn’t see eye to eye on everything, and GAtsby didn’t allways tell Nick the whole truth, they still had an understanding.  Based on Nick’s line in the prior chapter (see privious blog #2).    Nick stood by Gatsby when his guest, coworkers, and even love of his life desertaed him on his death bed.  Only his dad, Nick and for some reason owl man stood by Gatsby.  Nick in this chapter realizes how importune family, and the horrible ways of the rich/east.  What I really loved was how as he travelled back home it was snowing.  Giving the feeling of purity, (christmas) good cheer, and love.  Nick comes to realize where he belongs.

3)  White in the east seems to represent a fake purity.  White as in the color of dresses Jordan and Daisy were wearing while Daisy was in her affiar with Gatsby.  Also the describtion on pg. 185 of a white drunk woman who no one cared for is carried threw the street by servents, passed out, and with no place to go (the upper calss purity).  Though the whit eused to describe Nick going home.  Snow on the grounds, the shadows of wreaths hung on doors.  and just that being home feeling of good cheer.  That’s the kinda of imagrery we get with the white in ch. 9.  Also althought this doesn’t quite fit here.  Just like GAtsby and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, Mr. Gazts belives in one of GAtsby old childhood books / sheduale more than Gatsby as an adult.   I loved how simular they were in this way with thier symbolism.

HEY GUESS WHAT I’M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1)  I’m a little confused for Gatsby the man who chased the American dream for love is comepletely shot down at theis point (no pun intended but hey it works both ways so I’m keeping it).  Point being that he didn’t achive all of it, and it really wasn’t the besting for him.  Is Fitzgerald tring to say that triying to move one’s self up in society isn’t really a worthy effort?

2)  The main chaeracter devlopment in this cahpter focused on Gatsby and Daisy.  When Gatsby feel for DAisy what kept thema part wasn’t love but class.  Tom describes DAisy world at that time as being artificaial (pg 159).  This artifical world that comes with class is shown in Gatsby when on pg 160 he describe any feeligns DAisy might have ahd for Tom as being only personal.  This remark contradicts the older origional Gatsby who a few pages back we got to know very well.  All this proves is that in GAtsby’s dream to improve and make himslef worthy of Daisy, he lost some part of him and changed forever.  The other major charecter development came when Nick told Gatsby “your worth the whole damn bunch put together.”  This genuine compliment connect Nick to GAtsby in way that makes them2 of the same.  Although each for diffrent reason, they both are kinda placed in a class they don’t belong in socially.  This is just a pure moment when these two chaercters connect in such a meaningful way.  Meaningful because Gatsby invites people over to his house for a party not the other way around.  Also as far as chaercters go GAtsby dead… kinda a big development. (Thought I’d throw it in there)

3)  I think blue might represnet hopelessness, because on pg. 158 Gatsby longing for DAisy is described by a party where a song called “Beale Street Blues” is playing and Daisy’s with many rich people who are wearing gold and silver slippers (gold/silver meaning people in her class and the blue song represent only what GAtsby can hear of this world).  Also Blue comes back with Mr. Wilson who is most hopless with the whole situaton aduring the blue dawn pg.166-168.