The Great Gatsby

The relationship between the wealthy and the less fortunate, or the poor, has always been a very interesting affair, and it is one that has captivated my interest. Throughout history, this relationship has been the cause of many revolutions, political issues, and civil unrest. When I read the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it really got me thinking about this relationship. I mean, what other book portrays this issue so thoroughly. In the novel, which is based in the Long Island Sound, East Egg represents the wealthy, the aristocracy. West Egg, on the other hand, represents the middle and lower classes. In the novel, Fitzgerald portrays the wealthy people of East Egg as pompous individuals who seem to only care about money and appearance. At Gatsby's extraordinary parties, only the rich attend, and during some of the conversations at the parties, these wealthy people are portrayed as being completely oblivious to West Egg and its struggles. Fitzgerald is exposing the ignorance of the wealthy to us as readers, that they do not care about others in society. The rich do not care about the poor. They care only about themselves, and as long as they are living comfortably, everything is fine. This really struck me as I read this novel, because it occurred to me that I, yes I, was a part of this wealthy society. Do I not care about those who are less fortunate than I am? Do I not pay attention to their struggles? Am I similar to those people attending Gatsby's parties? After reading this novel, I realized that I too was ignorant to the difficulties of the people less fortunate than I am. Yes, I was IGNORANT. I realized that as a part of this wealthy society, it is my job, no, my duty, to help those in need. Attending a school with the majority of the people being very rich, it is easy to forget that many people struggle to even afford an apartment, people who live paycheck by paycheck. This narrow-mindedness of the upper class as a whole, I realized, is prevalent throughout every community, every country. Just look at politics. The numbers of the middle class are slowly diminishing, the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer, all due to government policy. Is that OK? To me, it is not. How can people stand around and let millions of citizens struggle to even live in a house, let alone a small apartment? The power is in the rich, right? Giving the rich what they want seems to be the dominant theme in society, because it is in the best interest of individuals. That, to me, is unacceptable. The poor deserve help from the wealthy. Most of the laboring workers in the middle and lower classes work more hours than the upper class, struggling in difficult day jobs. And for What? To get taxed outrageously and have their money given to the government, and the rich. Their piece of the pie is getting smaller, while that of the rich is getting bigger. WOW. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with that. Yes, it is easy to forget about the struggles of the poor when you live and are around the upper class for the majority of the time. I understand that fully. But, what Fitzgerald, and this novel, taught me was that this unknowledgeable way of thinking is not OK. In fact, I believe that Fitzgerald, when he wrote the novel, wanted to expose this issue in order to get the wealthy to change their ways, to fix this problem. After reading the novel, I started to do more community service, to at least do something to help the poor. No, I didn't stop world poverty, or save the world from unemployment, but at least I did something. I did something, and I cared, which is all that truly matters. That, in the end, is Fitzgerald's true purpose in using the contrast between West and East Egg, to get people to care about this problem in our community, our society, our country. Caring, and knowing, are the first steps toward fixing something, which is what Fitzgerald wanted his readers to realize. We can make a difference. That is what he was trying to explain. And, if you take his word, and my word, maybe we can start turning our society into a better place.

The Namesake

The Namesake, a novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a very unique and interesting novel that really left a deep impression on me. The novel explains the difficulties of an Indian family adapting to a new culture and environment as they make the change from India to America. The Ganguli family members each try their best to adapt to the new environment, some of which do better than others. This is the story of the novel, but its most interesting component is in the main character Gogol, or Nikhil. The Indian tradition is for a person to have two names, a pet name and a formal name. The pet name is only supposed to be used by family members and relatives. The formal name is the person's name in public, or what most people call them. Gogol is the main character's pet name, and Nikhil is his formal name. His father names him Gogol due to the fact that his father was severely injured in a train accident, and a book written by the famous author Gogol is what got him noticed by rescuers and eventually saved his life. Through a series of events, it becomes his real name, or his name in public as well due to the fact that he refuses to go by the name Nikhil in public. But, as he gets older, he becomes very shy and basically embarrassed of his name. In one scene, he goes to a party where he kisses a girl and tells her his name is Nikhil. This change of name used by Lahiri really creates a very interesting theme, because now this character has two personas, two identities. After the party, Nikhil states that Gogol did not kiss that girl, Nikhil did. We then learn that he changes his name formally to Nikhil and goes by that name throughout college and afterward, and once he changes his name he becomes an open and social person. So, just based on a name change, a character evolved from a shy, anti-social person to someone who is both open and confident. One identity is based upon the traditions of India and its heritage, whereas the other is breaking apart from that culture and conforming to that of its new society. Lahiri uses this conflict of identities perfectly throughout the novel, as Nikhil slowly grows apart from his family and heritage the longer he has the name Nikhil. As Nikhil, he is an American who is just as much a part of the culture as anyone. He is well liked, he dates plenty of women, and he starts to become successful. As Gogol, he is Indian, he is a part of a tradition, and he is uncomfortable. This changing of names symbolizes the Americanization that occurs when immigrants move to the United States, as well as the conflicts and issues that go along with it. Each name represents a different culture, and the effects of Gogol's name change symbolize the changes that an immigrant faces when he or she moves to a new country. This relates to me because as a Jewish American, I have many Jewish relatives who moved from very Jewish, European communities to America. They also had many issues in terms of traditions and cultural issues because Jewish communities are very rigid about keeping them. Here, many of them did not fit in well due to these customs, similarly to how Gogol felt. They have both Hebrew names and American names, just like Gogol does, which connect them to each culture respectively. They started to connect more with the American community when they let go of all their traditions and embraced their new society, which to me is what Gogol's name change truly represents. Lahiri is showing the controversy and difficulty of changing cultures and customs through Gogol's name change and how he changes based on which name he goes by.  She shows the full immigrant experience in a way very few other authors have been able to portray. Once he changes his name he is more comfortable with himself because he feels connected to the American society. This conflict between the two personas is what interested me most about the novel, because it really showed me the issues many immigrants have to face when it comes to tradition and heritage, and also made me think of my own family and the similarities. It is a conflict between conforming to a new society or keeping a tradition that is not practiced by anyone else in that society. The power of a name, Lahiri feels, is the ability to reinvent oneself, to become someone new, which is what Gogol does when he becomes Nikhil. In this case, changing names makes Gogol become more American, more a part of society.  Many immigrants are forced to reinvent themselves in order to succeed in their new society, which is what Gogol's change in names is representing. This, to me, is the most interesting part of The Namesake as it shows the conflicts faced by many immigrants just by using something as simple as a name.