Trus 1

Rachel Trus
Mrs. Storer
English 3 Honors Block 4
20 February 2020
Socratic Circle Reflection on The Great Gatsby
During inner circle number three, we discussed The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The first topic we discussed was the meaning of colors in the novel. Green is the color of spring,
which represents confidence, life, and hope. In The Great Gatsby green is seen throughout the
entire novel and represents Gatsby’s short life. Green symbolizes Gatsby’s dream: “…he
stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could
have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing
except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been at the end of a dock”
(Fitzgerald 21). The green light is at the end of Daisy’s dock, a woman he is in pursuit of. Gatsby
believes that by becoming wealthy and buying the biggest house near Daisy’s, he can win her
back. Although the green light is minute and far away, Gatsby tries his best to pursue it, to touch
the green light, to hold his dream. However, the green light is always far away and shows that
Gatsby’s dream is destined to fail. We also discussed the “amazing last sentence” of the novel.
These final words emphasize the theme that the past determines the dreams of the future (green
light). Nick focuses on the battle’s humans face to achieve their dreams. This battle happens
because humans try to re-create the past to have the future they want. The “current” (Fitzgerald
180) draws humans backward as they row forward to try to achieve their dreams. Despite this
difficulty, humans remain optimistic. In the end, the American dream is portrayed as
unattainable. Inner circle number three offered insightful thoughts and different perspectives.
One of the most original arguments made in inner circle number three was made by Sara.
She offered the insight that Jordan is a neutral character. Jordan’s eyes are gray, and gray is a
neutral color. She acts as a buffer between the West and East Eggers. Another interpretation that
Sara offered of Jordan’s eye color is that the gray shows how Jordan sees a loss of morality and
hope in the eyes of the Eggers. Another original argument that was made in inner circle number
three was made by George. He saw the color green as a hopeful and realistic color. The words he
said were, “life is not a fairy tale”. Gatsby lives his life as if it is a fairy tale, leading him to
failure. He longs to win the heart of his fair maiden, Daisy. He behaves like Prince Charming,
holding the most lavish parties and living frivolously. He tries to charm Daisy to his heart.
Gatsby is so set on winning over his true love that he is consumed in this pursuit and hurts other,
even Daisy. He ends up dying because he lived his life like a fairy tale. I do not know what page
to find the evidence, but the most original piece of evidence used was the color of Jordan’s eyes.
I had never thought about the meaning behind Jordan’s eyes and how they change the dynamic
of the novel.
Gatsby has lived the majority of his adult life in love with Daisy. He believes he so in
love with Daisy that everything he accomplishes is driven by the desire to win over Daisy. This
“love” he feels drives his unending pursuit to gain Daisy’s attention and to get her to leave Tom.
Daisy is Gatsby’s dream. She represents the wealth, power, prestige, and respectability he so
badly desires. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy is never fulfilled. Gatsby is not in love with
Daisy; he is in love with what she represents—wealth, power, and respectability.
Gatsby loves the challenge of chasing after Daisy. Daisy rejects Gatsby in their young
adulthood because he is too poor. Now, he flexes his wealth to everyone on Long Island to prove
he is worthy of Daisy and the social status she represents. Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy is not kind,
 Trus 2

patience, and is self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Gatsby tries to recreate the past. He has an
image of what a perfect life of Daisy is like, and this vision does not come to fruition. He tries
his best to establish this vison as reality and ends up hurting Daisy is the process. Gatsby is
obsessed with Daisy.
Donald Trump does not love America, he loves power. He says, “make America great
again,” but proves time and time again that his goal in his presidency is to make the rich richer
by taxing the middle class more and more. Donald Trump is like Gatsby. Donald Trump is able
to blind many American citizens with his radical stance on immigration (Gatsby’s smile), but is
really just looking to gain wealth, fame, and prestige.

Fitzgerald portrays the new social freedoms women enjoy during the roaring twenties in
the lives of Daisy Buchannan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. Although each of these
women are liberated, the men in the novel, Tom Buchannan, Nick Carraway, and Jay
Gatsby, still hold a patriarchal power over them.