Subject:

Comments:
: : : Haley wrote, : : : " Hi, just wondering some stuff about this quote in the 1st chapter. What exactly do you find preyed on Gatsby? What clearly was this interest Nick had that ended with Gatsby? : : : : "No--Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and shorwinded elations of men." : : : ========================================== : : : Considering that, at the end of the story, Nick turns away from the selfish world that destroyed Gatsby, yet fuelled his dreams, I venture that the "foul dust" is the world of Tom and Daisy. : : : But I hope we see here other explanations of this curious page, one of several in which Fitzgerald so confusingly rhapsodizes. : : : L. Swilley : : Well, I think essentially it is Tom and Daisy's : : self-absorption and snobbery which preys : : directly on Jay. However, Fitzgerald may be : : hinting at something much larger here. The foul : : dust that floated in the wake of Gatsby's dreams may : : have a bit to do with the disillusionments of : : adulthood and the impossibility of any reality : : ever living up to what a man build up : : in his "ghostly heart." There is a terrible loss : : we experience when our dreams come true, and a terible price for carrying dreams "from age to age." : : As for the closing out of interest... Well, : : haven't you ever felt that? Haven't you ever : : experienced something so heartbreaking or : : repulsive that you simply wanted nothing more : : to do with anyone ever again-- something where you : : just said to yourself "That's it for this human : : being business. I'm not dealing with anyone on any : : level, except as instruments, ever again. Scott deals more vividly with this idea in the 'Crack-Up' essays. : : What foul dust? I cannot pin down the exact locgic of it. But these clues may be helpful. The Valley of the ashes where everyone was covered in dust. The powder that puffs up off Daisy I think some where in the book ( Hey it has been 27 years since I read it). White and dust and ash I think come up quite a lot. : But how do Daisy and Tom's world float like fould dust in the wake of Gatsby's dreams? Perhaps it is that Gatsby is gone and his dreams of an almost heavenly love with Daisy are gone and all he stirs up in its wake , all that is left is this white fould morally corrupt dust, rather empty people. I think Nick says he stands at a type of "moral attention". : Cheers : Robert : P.S. Bought a first edition F Scott's Fitzgerald in the Charing Cross Road. Unfortunately it was his play the Vegetable. But it is better than nothing. However, in Colarado I bought a few copies of Picture Post with some of my favourite short stories in them. I had quite a thing about the man years and years ago. I sort of grew out of it. Guess I am back now!

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL: