Emma Rosendale

Mrs. Storer
English III Honors, Block 1
February 19, 2020
Socratic Circle Reflection The Great Gatsby
The first question we answered was how Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolic colors in The
Great Gatsby, and naturally the discussion started with what the green light meant. Sophia
thought that the green light was healing and therapeutic for Gatsby, but she also added that
the green light represented him being selfish and immature since he help onto Daisy for so
long. Damian agreed with this statement while Sabrina thought that the green light showed
Gatsby’s grown in his social status and success. Damian then brought up the question asking if
you were in Gatsby’s place, would you rather die happy or knowing the truth. Sophia and
Damian agreed that dying thinking you were successful or have some uncertainty is better than
knowing the harsh reality. On the other hand, Ben and Miguel thought that the truth is better
because then you can learn from it. another topic that war bough up in the discussion was the
Gatsby was a Christlike figure. Throughout this part of the discussion many examples were
brought up relating Gatsby to Christ. Miguel brought up that Jesus was mysterious and not
many people knew who he really was, and the same went for Gatsby, there were many rumors
about who he was. Another example was that Gatsby died for the sins of Tom and Daisy. Ben
also added that Gatsby went to his garden before he died, the same was Jesus went to the
garden before his crucifixion.
One of the most original arguments made in the discussion was that Gatsby died for the sins
of Tom and Daisy. Miguel brought up this point and he talked about how Toms infidelity to
Daisy and vice versa, and the murder of Myrtle was what Gatsby died for. Miguel did not use
specific evidence to supports this claim, but he still used examples from the novel. He talked
about how Tom cheated on his wife and then lied to George Wilson, making it seem like Gatsby
was having the affair with Myrtle. He also talked about Daisy killed Myrtle but ultimately, he
took the blame for that too. This is Christlike because Jesus died on the cross because of our
since and Gatsby died because of Tom and Daisy’s sins. Another original argument was that was
when Sabrina said that the green light represented growth. I thought this was interesting
because everyone else was saying that the light either meant youth/hope or selfishness/greed.
No one said that it represented his growth in his social status. She talked about how he was
able to build his won success and the light represented this because he did all of this to be with
daisy, which is why the light resided at her house. I thought that the most original piece of
evidence were Miguel’s examples because he used them and used an analysis that no one else
had used.
If I were to write and essay on this Socratic seminar, my thesis would be: The green light
in the novel represents Gatsby’s greed, for money, social status, and Daisy. In the first body I
would talk about how Gatsby wanted to be successful because he liked living an extravagant
lifestyle. In the next body paragraph, I would talk about how since he lived an extravagant
lifestyle, he threw many parties which came with a lot of attention. He wanted this attention
because it would acknowledge his social status and help him move up the social pyramid.
Finally, in the last body paragraph I would talk about how he was greedy when it came to Daisy
because he would not let her be happy with the life he had. He still tried to go after her even
when she had a family established and they had not seen each other in years.
I can relate to this novel because there are a lot of people that want to be known for
throwing the best party or being the best partier. Ive been to parties and the same people are
the ones under the influence every time, and people continue to cheer them on. I will be talking
about someone with my friends and we will refer to them as the other that did this or that at a
specific party. There are also times when someone will say “Should I go to ____’s party?” and
someone will respond saying “Oh her parties are always fun you should definitely go”. It seems
like some people’s lives revolve around social events and posting about them so everyone
knows or thinks they are fun to be around.