Indifferent Proximity?
"Did you ever see an amusement park?"
"No, Father."
"Well, go and see an amusement park." The priest waved his hand vaguely. "It's like a fair, only much more glittering. Go to one at night and stand a little way off from it in a dark place- under dark trees. You'll see a big wheel made of lights turning in the air, and a long slide shooting boats down into the water. A band playing somewhere, and a smell of peanuts-and everything will twinkle. But it won't remind you of anything you see. It will all just hang out there in the night like a colored balloon-like a big yellow lantern on a pole." Father Schwartz frowned as he suddenely thought of something. "But don't get up close," he warned Rudolph, " because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald, from Absolution
What does the aformentioned passage imply about the "American Dream", and what is your reaction to this possible modernist (pgs. 523-536 in Am. Lit. text) commentary? Please comment and incorporate specific references to lines from the passage, Winter Dreams, and The Great Gatsby. (Due By 2:30p.m. On Wednesday, Feb. 29th.)
"No, Father."
"Well, go and see an amusement park." The priest waved his hand vaguely. "It's like a fair, only much more glittering. Go to one at night and stand a little way off from it in a dark place- under dark trees. You'll see a big wheel made of lights turning in the air, and a long slide shooting boats down into the water. A band playing somewhere, and a smell of peanuts-and everything will twinkle. But it won't remind you of anything you see. It will all just hang out there in the night like a colored balloon-like a big yellow lantern on a pole." Father Schwartz frowned as he suddenely thought of something. "But don't get up close," he warned Rudolph, " because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald, from Absolution
What does the aformentioned passage imply about the "American Dream", and what is your reaction to this possible modernist (pgs. 523-536 in Am. Lit. text) commentary? Please comment and incorporate specific references to lines from the passage, Winter Dreams, and The Great Gatsby. (Due By 2:30p.m. On Wednesday, Feb. 29th.)
posted by Greg T at Tuesday, February 28, 2012
23 Comments:
This passage is troublesome. According to the passage from Absolution by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Father Schwartz explains the extravagant opportunities that come with life. However, he tells Rudolph only to look at the beauty from a distance. It seems that Father Schwartz is horrified by what life can bring and is trying to hide reality in the shade from young people. In modern times, I believe that too many kids are being exposed only to the benefits the future will bring by being excluded from what it truly takes to achieve success, including hard work, stress, and lose. This then leads children to find out what the outside world is truly like later on in life, not fully prepared for the struggle that lies ahead. This passage ties into what people portray the American Dream as being. People think about success and crave to achieve it, but do not fully understand that it takes time and hard work to achieve outstanding accomplishment. In the short story, Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dexter Green visits his first love Judy Jones accompanied by other successful men. Dexter looks around the room and believes that he is better than any other man in the room because of his self made wealth compared to the other bachelors inherited wealth. Dexter experienced the outside world, while the other men were more than pampered never fully exposed to the outside world.
This passage is a criticism of the American Dream. When the priest is first talking to Rudolph he makes the amusement park seem glorious, happy and "much more glittering". He then tells Rudolph not to get close because he will see a different side of the amusement park, a much darker and depressing side. "you'll only feel the heat and sweat..." I think this passage juxtaposes the amusement park to the American Dream. Saying that from the outside the American Dream seems great and everyone wants to take part. But once you get into the thick of pursuing the American Dream reality sets in and you realize its not what you expected. The book The Great Gatsby also has something similar to this passage, it is referred to in the book as the "valley of ashes". This is a place where all of the ashes of the city are dumped. I find them to represent the lost American Dreams of the people. Much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work seems to criticize the American Dream and show that it is unattainable.
The passage from Absolutism, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, implies that the "American Dream" isn't always about experiencing everything but getting happiness from just seeing. Father Schwartz seems as if he doesn't want Rudolph to get involved and experience life first hand. In Father Schwartz' mind this would cause the "American Dream" of his to not be so happy and successful. So by watching instead of actually doing Rudolph isn't having the opportunity to complicate his life. I disagree with Father Swartz, I believe experiencing life first hand is going to make you more successful at accomplishing the "American Dream" by the struggle and hardships throughout life .
The passage implies that the "American Dream" is always what we would expect it to be. Basically it says that when we look into the future at what we think our life will be life or what we want our life to be life we picture it pretty much as being perfect. We imagine how great life will be when we reach it. However when we actually reach our dream it could disappoint us. It could either be not what we expected or it could be what we expected but without all of the benefits we thought it would have. The passage can also mean that it isn't as easy to get to the dream as we originally think it will be. Once we start to work for our dream we may not want to reach it anymore because we loose sight of it or think it will be too much work. The passage basically says that from afar our dream seems great because we don't think of what it will actually be like and because we haven't tried to reach it yet. I think that at times the American Dream is like this but many times it is not. If people never reached their American Dream we would have less successful people in the world. I think that Dexter from Winter Dreams realizes how the American Dream works. He realizes that the best way to reach it is through hard work. He also realizes that it may not be exactly what he wants but he is prepared to reach it anyway. Judy on the other hand doesn't really understand the American Dream. She knows what she wants but doesn't realize the struggles she might have to go through in order to get it.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's passage from Absolution, a priest explains to a boy that the amusement park that appears so wonderful from afar is a nightmare up close. This passage implies that the "American Dream" can look great to an outsider, but can be horrible to the people who are actually living it. This is an upsetting thought because it means that people work so hard to achieve their dream just to be disappointed. In The Great Gatsby, Nick also experiences how situations look perfect from the outside, but troublesome in the inside. Nick sees his cousin Daisy with one stereotypical "American Dream," which is owning a nice house with a husband and a child. However, once he talks with Daisy, he realizes that she is unhappy because her husband is cheating on her. He realizes that situations can appear better than they actually are.
The aforementioned passage talks about how many things in America is pretty to look at from afar but come close and one realizes how dirty it really is. In "Winter Dreams", Dexter dreams about becoming a rich man. He wants to play golf with the men he caddies for and maybe even beat them. Because of this dreaming, Dexter takes some big risks. He quits his caddying job and also goes to a prestigious school where he might not succeed. He wants to live an extravagant life style and believes his dreams will allow him to do so. However, dreams are not reality and although pretty from afar Dexter might soon realize how dirty the reality actually is.
At the end of the passage, Rudolph says, "But don't get up close," he warned Rudolph, " because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life." It sounds like he is trying to show the American Dream in a bad light. It seems like hes trying to compare the amusment park to the American dream because there is a dark side to the dream. Things aren't always what it seems per say. This also occurs in the Great Gatsby when Daisy is living the dream with being married and having a house, to getting cheated on and living in disappointment.
This passage is claiming that things look good from afar but when you actually get up close and personal it really isn't so great. It is claiming that the American Dream is like. It is desirable to have a goal in sight but it might turn out that that goal wasn't what was actually desired, turning out to be a disappointment. This passage relates to the Great Gatsby because Gatsby was overwhelmed by Daisy's house with a porch that "was bright with the bought luxury of star-shine... Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot struggles of the poor.” The house and life of Daisy looked so desirable to Gatsby but when you looked harder at her life it was filled with sadness and cheating.
After reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's passage I came to a conclusion that the short story points out that even though, "You'll see a big wheel made of lights turning in the air, and a long slide shooting boats down into the water. A band playing somewhere, and a smell of peanuts-and everything will twinkle," the reality of it as you come closer and enter the amusement park is that it's much more intense than what it looks like from far away. The American Dream might seem amusing and exciting, but as you enter reality it's a lot more difficult to succeed. In the Great Gatsby Nick notices that his cousin Daisy is trying to live the American Dream. He later realizes that she is sad and stressed about making life successful. Both situtations show that even though it might look beautiful on the outside, it's tough on the inside to survive in the real world.
In this passage, what looks to be fantastic is really bad up close. There is a sort of dream like characteristic to the far away view. This connects to the American Dream because like many from far away the American dream seems too great, but when you get up close to what the American Dream is you find that it takes a lot of work to achieve the American Dream. In Winter Dreams the main character looks at Judy Jones as amazing, but by what we have heard so far she may be just interested in men for their money. There is a difference between looking from afar and looking up close. As you narrow your viewing spectrum, many things come into view that may not always be pleasant. The amusement park may look great from afar, but the amusement park is not that great up close.
This aformentioned passage implies that the "American Dream" seems really nice in the distance. as well as seeming so beautiful and "full of lights", but the closer and closer one gets, it only gets harder. People over look the path to get to the "American Dream." To everyone, it looks like the best thing that could ever happen to them, but the overlook the path and industriousness it takes in order to reach the "The American Dream". I agree with what this is saying. He compares being far away from the amusement park as being far away from the "American Dream". This is a good reference because he describes how nice everything looks from a distance and does not really worry about the path. Later on in the passage, Scott Fitxgerald ends with, "Because if you do you'll ony feel the heat and the sweat and the life", to show how the "American Dream" is pretty hard to reach. I agree with this becaus the "American Dream" takes a driving passion to get to. this will only be obtained through hard work and dedication. What Fitzgerald does is put people back into perspective on how the "American Dream" is not an easy task. Once you reach it, it is brilliant, but the path is what could be the roadblock.
The passage Absolution written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about a priest who is explaining the amusement park to the boy who had never been. The passage conveys that the "American Dream" is something everyone wants to be a part of, but when pursing the American Dream in reality, it is depressing and dark, more then anyone imagined it to be. Fitzgerald states, "But don't get up close, because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life," (Fitzgerald). This quote demonstrates the American Dream perfectly in a sense that it looks like fun and games from afar, but when your actually taking part in pursing it, you feel the "heat and the sweat".
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I think the aforementioned passage is a metaphor for how Fitzgerald viewed the American Dream. He implies that the American Dream can sometimes be an illusion that is shiny and bright on the outside but has a sweaty and dark reality underneath. Fitzgerald says "But don't get too close, because you'll only feel the sweat of life." In this quote he is implying that the American Dream is not what it seems. This is consistent with the modernists' turn from idealism to cynicism after the war. The implication is that if you examine your life too
closely, you may find it lacking. In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald exposes the Gatsby's relationship, which seems ideal from the outside, is far from it when looked at in detail. Daisy and Tom have wealth, a nice house and family but their marriage is deeply troubled. Similarly in Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald depicts two characters in Dexter and Judy that seem to live the American Dream. Judy is wealthy and beautiful on the outside but shallow and manipulative on the inside. This is demonstrated when she says, “I’m more beautiful than anyone else, why can’t I be happy?” Dexter is a successful business man who becomes obsessed with Judy even though she treats him poorly. I think that many aspects of our current society can be shallow and empty upon closer inspection similar to the amusement park in the quote. Our society has such a focus on success as defined by making money, the size of your house etc rather than the quality of your character.
This quote shows how the American dream is very glamoriuse at first but when you get into it and start working for it sometimes the things you have to do aren't so glamoriuse. Sometimes they are very nasty an disturbing. In Fitzgerald's the great gastby, he introduces Ritchie characters in the first chapter. It seems like they have a lot of wealth and are living very conferatlable lives but also it is shown that they might not very morally sound.
F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the American Dream by relating it to a carnival. He describes the exciting mood and anticipation of the idea when looked at from afar. However, he mentions that once one gets up close, the American Dream isn't all its thought to be. The American Dream only pays off when looked at afterwards. During the process, much hard work and struggle must be done to achieve one's goals. Sometimes, being in the moment masks the advantages of achievement. However, by looking from afar or after the fact, the achievement pays off and one can see the results of their hard work.
The passage is talking about the American Dream stating the positive and the negative side. The priest starts with the good side of the Dream and says that, "It's like a fair, only much more glittering". Meaning that it's fun, big, and exciting from a distance giving a sight worth fighting for. But as the passgae continues the father ruins the image when he says, "But don't get up close, because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life." Describing the hardships and non-glamorous aspects of life. The story "Winter Dreams" models this passage quite well through the relationship between Dexter and Judy. Dexter begins loving her from the view at a distance and becomes basically obsessed even when he is up close and sees her flaws in being with a dozen men at the same time, but it's to late for Dexter to stop liking her because of the view from the distance.
in this passage it shows how the american dream sometimes look great from a distance but when you actualy get there it is much harder than exspected. like many things the american dream looks great from afar but it takes more work than you thoght. but the American dream to be a dream has to take work to get there witch is what makes it a dream. this relates to the short story in that this guy has a dream of this girl but even know hes already sucsessful he still has to work to get her
In the passage from Absolution by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Father Schwartz explains that the American Dream isn't what you expected it to be when you get up close and start to live it. People start to realize that they have to deal with so many responsibilities and risks as you live looking forward to that American Dream thrill. He is stating that it is more fun to look at the Amusement Park than experience it.
I think what he is trying to say is that at a distance the American Dream can look beautiful and fun but once you get up close you cannot reach it and the it truly looks bad. I think he is warning him about the things that are unreachable in the world using the ferris wheel as a symbol. Symbolizing the American dream and how it can look small at a distance but is truly large when up close to it.
In this passage, Father Schwartz tells the listener to go to a dark place and view the amusement park, but dont get to close or else you will be sucked into the life and the action. This American Dream looks like the Amusement park. Sometimes it looks so fun and awesome but until you experience the hardships and responsibilities, you will always look up the the ferris wheel, wishing you could take a ride. What Fitzgerald is saying in this passage, is that the american dream seems to be great but it is safer to not get involved in it because it comes with great resopsibilities that can not be seen or known until you acheive the american dream.
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it seems as though he is describing something wonderfull kind of like the american dream for children. He says "A band playing somewhere, and a smell of peanuts-and everything will twinkle. However he also says, "It will just hand out there in the night like a colored balloon-like a big yellow lantern in a pole. "Father Schwartz frowned as he suddenely thought of something. "but don't get up close he warned Rudolf, "because if you do you'll only feel the heat and the sweat and the life." I think when he says that he is meaning children have to grow up at some point but they can enjoy those type of things when they are young, and if they never leave that place they will never be able to join the real world. i really am struggling tieing this to the american dream.
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