Comapre Great Gatsby And Cat’s Eye – Characters Are Defined By What They Can And Can Not Accept Essay, Research Paper

-NOVEL STUDY ESSAY-

- Characters are defined by what they can and can not accept

People can be defined as a result of their actions toward particular incidents, as they act according to their beliefs. Authors try to encourage their reader to understand the key characters in their novel by building up their emotional worth, personality and nature. Authors will generally try to describe a character by capturing their emotions, feelings and actions in an event in the novel. We can determine a character’s personality by how they respond to the events. In the novels Cat’s Eye, written by Margaret Atwood, and The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, situations are presented and the characters in the novel respond according to their beliefs. A character reacts in a particular way towards certain situations which shows that they are in agreement to or that they oppose the idea being presented. This suggests that characters are defined by what they can and can not accept about themselves and others.

Individual characters can be interpreted by what they can accept about themselves. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson is the woman with whom Tom Buchanan is having an affair. Myrtle want to be a part of Tom’s life because he has a lot of money. She lets Tom push her around and treat her however he wants. She always thought she should have done better than her current husband and having an affair with Tom reinforces this belief of hers. Her current husband, George Wilson, is just a poor gas station owner. Myrtle would rather be treated like a dog by someone who has money instead of being cared for by someone who has no money. Myrtle’s regret of marrying her husband is apparent when she is talking with Catherine on [page 59]:

Myrtle: I married him because I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.

Catherine: You were crazy about him for a while.

Myrtle: Crazy about him! The only crazy I was, was when I married

him.

It is also apparent on [page 37] that Myrtle is using an excuse for neglecting her responsibility to be faithful to her husband. She declares “You can’t live forever; you can’t live for ever.” Myrtle has allowed herself to talk poorly about her husband and to have an affair which are both displays of her acceptance of her behaviour.

In the novel Cat’s Eye, a young girl named Elaine was teased and tormented by another girl named Cordelia. Elaine was a pushover and did not fight back for herself. Cordelia would comment on everything about Elaine — what kind of lunch she had, how she chewed, walked and talked. It is illustrated on [page 127] that Elaine believes Cordelia is her friend and what she is doing is for her own benefit. She thinks that Cordelia is trying to help her. As well on [page 168] Elaine’s mother has a notion that Elaine is being pushed around by her friends and tells Elaine that she has to learn to stand up for herself. She explains to her daughter that she should not let anyone push her around. Elaine accepts her passive behaviour without argument. We can determine Elaine’s character by her passive reactions and her excuse for her behaviour. Characters in a novel respond to situations according to their personality. We can perceive what a character is like by what they accept about themselves.

Characters can also be defined by what they can not accept about themselves. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker is the woman who connects Gatsby to Nick and consequently Gatsby to Daisy. Jordan is also a friend of Daisy’s while she has a relationship with Nick during the story. She has short hair and plays golf which back in the twenties was uncommon for women. Therefore you can assume she acts like a guy. She is very into the Roaring Twenties party scene and is carelessly going through life. The carelessness comes out when she is driving with Nick on [page 59]:

Nick: You’re a rotten driver, either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn’t to drive at all.

Jordan: I am careful.

Nick: No you’re not.

Jordan: Well, other people are.

Nick: What’s that got to do with it

Jordan: They’ll keep out of my way, It takes two to make an

accident

Nick: Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself?

Jordan: I hope I never will, I hate careless people. That’s why I like you.

This also shows her as a hypocrite when she says “I hate careless people” being a careless person herself. Jordan can not accept that she has certain qualities she dislikes in other people.

As Elaine, the character from Cat’s Eye, grows up she begins to discard her old passive behaviour. Elaine was haunted throughout her life with feelings of inadequacy and guilt, which goes back to when she was bullied as a child. When she enters grade eleven, on [page 251], she has become known for her mean mouth. She says things like “pain in the ass,” or “suck much?” Elaine is treated with caution by other students because of her mouth and takes pleasure from this. She knows that she is very unlike her old self but enjoys the attention. She no longer accepts her previous behaviour. Characters behave in regard to their ideologies. We can determine a character’s disposition by observing what they can not accept about themselves.

Characters can also be illustrated by what they can accept about others. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is a rich girl who was once in love with a man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby was a lieutenant and unfortunately he did not have enough money to keep her interested in him while he was overseas. When Gatsby got back Daisy had married to Tom but that did not dissuade Gatsby in the least. Gatsby’s whole efforts in this novel are focused on trying to bring him and Daisy back to the point in time before he joined the army. Except this time he would ahve enough money for her to be interested. Daisy is mainly focused on money. Tom bought her love with a three hundred thousand dollar necklace, and now Gatsby is trying to do it with his huge mansion. Although Daisy is married to Tom she knows that Gatsby wishes to have her back and accepts the fact that Gatsby is trying to impress her with money. Daisy’s acceptance of Gatsby’s intentions are clear on [page 106 - 107] when Gatsby tells Tom he should be ‘the polo player.’ Tom dislikes this idea, which is exactly what Gatsby wants so that Tom will leave and he could be alone with Daisy. Daisy stood by Gatsby as he spoke discourteously to Tom. Due to her lack of respect for Tom, we can assume she is accepting Gatsby’s behaviour. A character’s response or lack of, can determine their personality and what they accept about others.

In Cat’s Eye, two girls named Grace and Carol follow whatever Cordelia says. Even though Cordelia is quite bossy and much of the time she is focused on making Elaine miserable, the girls continue to obey her. Grace and Carol carry out whatever Cordelia wants them to and look to her for praise. After Christmas Elaine was offered a job to baby-sit an infant boy. Cordelia hassles Elaine because the boy is Jewish and gets Grace and Carol to follow. This is reveled on [page 143] while Elaine is taking the baby for a carriage ride:

Carol: What is his name?

Elaine: Brian Finestein.

Grace: Finestein is a Jewish name.

Carol: Jews are kikes. (She glances at Cordelia for approval)

This displays how Carol and Grace follow Cordelia and look to her for support. Characters act in respect to their feelings. We can define a character by recognizing what they can accept about other people.

The last way characters can be defined is by what they can not accept about others. Gatsby, a character in The Great Gatsby, has lost the woman he loves, Daisy, to another man. However, Gatsby does not have the fame and fortune a classy lady like Daisy desires. Gatsby decides to devote his whole life to achieving material goods to satisfy Daisy so that she will come back to him. Gatsby says it himself on [page 111], “Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can”! In some ways you have to admire a man who lives his whole life devoting himself to his passion and never getting sidetracked. You also have to realize that some things are foolish to live your whole life for, because nothing ever stays the same. Gatsby is set on getting Daisy back and will not accept the fact that she is married and he can not have her.

From Cat’s Eye, Stephen, Elaine’s brother, proves to have power over Elaine, as she does whatever he tells her to. The power can be noticed on [page 26] when Elaine and her brother play a game together:

Stephen: You’re dead!

Elaine: No I’m not. Stephen: Yes you are. Lie down.

Elaine complies and continues by explaining that “there is no arguing with Stephen, since he can see the enemy and I can’t.” Elaine gives excuses for her behaviour but we can confirm that her course of action shows that she accepts what other people do.

People are defined by their actions towards certain situations. We can determine a character by how they react to occurrences in a novel. Characters respond in particular ways in certain situations. Characters can be defined according to what they can and can not accept about themselves and others. If a character accepts or does not accept a certain type of behaviour about themselves or another person, it allows us to describe their personality traits and feelings by their actions and thoughts.