Brian Sutton argues in his article that light plays a big role in The Great Gatsby. It is both a symbol and a driving force behind Gatsby's dream. Summarize the article in a paragraph and then comment on the plausibility of his argument. Are you convinced? Why or why not?
Your comment is due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
Happy reading and writing!
Matthew Masangcay
ReplyDeleteAP Literature period 6
According to Sutton, light could represent romance itself. In Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Sutton compares the symbolism of light to Daisy, Gatsby's lover. In one instance, Sutton said the green light from the East Egg represented Daisy's love to Gatsby when he mentioned the Gatsby reached out “toward a green light that he associates with Daisy.” Daisy also appears to Gatsby's dream since he wanted to talk to her in the early parts of the novel. Coincidentally, in the novel summer is approaching when Sutton mentions days of maximum sunlight is coming. Sutton believes that the approaching sunlight represents” Gatsby’s romantic futures will soon be on the rise.” Sutton then comments that Gatsby could represent light himself. Gatsby could represent light and even romance himself when Gatsby’s mansion is usually all lit up during the many parties he hosts. However, this will not last very long. Gatsby’s dream of engaging to Daisy again begins to fall when autumn approaches when Fitzgerald describes the setting as a “cooling twilight” (Fitzgerald 143). Coincidentally, this is the part of the novel where Myrtle is killed, Gatsby waits for Daisy, and Nick disapproves Gatsby himself. And shortly afterward, Gatsby dies. Light played a significant role in this novel. For example, during the days of less light, Myrtle could not see the approaching car that ran her over. I agree on various things Sutton comment about the significance of light. Light has a significant relationship with romance. Romance is a bright mood because it represents a time of happiness and joy. It is not coincidental that Fitzgerald uses light as a symbol and even a plot device. In the novel, light brought people together since they were fascinated by the use of lights at Gatsby’s house. Just as rain, season, snow, and geography, light can be used to affect parts of the novel. However, there can be different interpretations of light. Light can also be very bright, powerful, and blinding that it could kill. Light may be romantic but it could also represent death. Overall, Sutton is very convincing about the use of light in The Great Gatsby but light could also represent a mood that is not necessarily joyful. One can picture light in various ways.
Sutton argues that light plays a prominent role in the story and how it plays out. Sutton says that even very early in the book, Daisy is symbolized with the sun and light through her various actions like stating that that the summer solstice is soon and she also seems to "glow" at various points in the story. Even Gatsby supports this idea, because he is seen standing in the darkness staring longingly at the green light at Daisy's house. Sutton then references many scenes in the story where Gatsby is supposed to represent darkness trying to find the Daisy, the light, to fill his empty void of darkness. Sutton even infers that the reader could obviously tell that Gatsby's relationship with Daisy was too late and will come to an end soon based on the patterns of the sun. Since it is rapidly approaching winter in the story, the reader can infer that the since the sun will set very fast and the night will be longer, Gatsby's love life is coming to an end. Sutton concludes his analysis with, "Gatsby's dream and Gatsby's life have been extinguished with the dying of the summer light.
ReplyDeleteI am still on the edge of whether I believe that light plays THIS amount of a role in the story. I can definitely agree that light in the story has important symbolism, but it is very hard to believe that the story revolves around the summer sun. I feel that the symbolism of the summer sun fit well for Fitzgerald to use in his story, but I feel it did not play a crucial part in the development of the story. I feel that the story focuses on a much deeper level about the symbolism of the failures of the American Dream, and not so much about the sun and light.However, the symbolism of light was used too much in the story to be ignored. Light definitely played an important role in the story to help describe the conflicts and goals of Daisy and Gatsby, but I feel that light plays no more than a plot device than an actual crucial part of the story. All in all, Sutton's idea is definitely plausible, but it would take more convincing for me to believe the story revolved around the sun (LOL puns are great aren't they).
Monique Ubungen
ReplyDeleteDelman
AP Lit 6
October 8, 2013
Brian Sutton’s critique on The Great Gatsby circles around the significance of light within the novel and the role it plays towards understanding the plot and individual characters. He notes several scenes regarding different forms of light, and then connects each passage to a symbolic meaning, such as the cycle of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan’s relationship seen through an array of bright light and complete darkness. Sutton claims that the presence of light can have either a positive or negative impact on the characters; that it could represent an idea, or a premonition of what may happen later in the book.
Sutton stresses greatly on the deeper essence of the light, but I find that he sometimes over exaggerates Fitzgerald’s simple diction, seeking deeper meanings than necessary. In class we discussed the thin difference between assuming and presenting a well- thought out argument, yet it’s really hard to depict Sutton’s case because he assumes a lot while also posing a great deal of evidence. His argument is quite plausible, but his most critical fault is found when he overanalyzes the story in a strong attempt to seek symbolism in everything.
In his article, Brian Sutton talks extensively about how Gastby and Daisy's relationship is driven by light, and how it coincides with the change from summer to autumn. He argues (quite convincingly) that Daisy is the sun and Gastby tries to impress her with a blazing display of artificial light. He goes on to describe how, as summer fades away and winter begins to loom on the horizon, Gatsby and Daisy's relationship begins to fade away as well, and finally, the growing lack of light leads indirectly to Gatsby's death.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be honest here: I don't entirely agree with Sutton about the whole "light romance" thing. I don't know about him, but I've read a lot of fantasy, so to me light evokes a sense of purity of virtue or heavenly splendour, not love, or as Matt mentioned, death. Nevertheless, his argument was very convincing, and many of his points make total sense when I look back at them. Some of them, however, seem tenuous and stretch the limits of interpretation. (For example, how he said the lack of light led to the accident and Gatsby's death.) And while he did have a well-constructed argument about how light represents Daisy and Gatsby's romance (and I'll admit, I was kind of convinced), I still couldn't connect "light" and "romance" in my mind. I think for me they'll always be unrelated.
In this article, Brian Sutton argues that light plays a huge role in The Great Gatsby. Through the changing of the seasons, various events occur. Sutton describes that Daisy began to glow upon noticing the upcoming summer solstice and hearing Gatsby’s name. At the same time, Gatsby, who is in the West Egg, reaches toward a green light near Daisy’s home in the East Egg. In this case, darkness may represent isolation, which Gatsby yearns to escape, so as summer approaches, Gatsby is excited and looks forward to an opportunity to see Daisy again. In addition, Sutton emphasizes that Gatsby hosts many parties with “enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree…” to flaunt his wealth and reinforce his desire to regain Daisy’s love, no matter how obscene it may be. In fact, when Gatsby first meets Daisy, it was in October, but as soon as the season changes to winter, with consists of little sunlight, Daisy decides to leave Gatsby for Tom. As the seasons change, so do people, especially in Daisy’s case. This is reflected when Gatsby patiently waits outside Daisy’s house after the incident with Myrtle, because Daisy does not look for Gatsby and turns off the lights, or Gatsby’s dream, instead, signaling an end to his dream. Interestingly, this was during the end of summer. When Gatsby requests for his butler to not drain the pool yet, it indicates that Gatsby doesn’t want the summer to end, but sadly, it was inevitable and Gatsby’s life fell apart.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I believe that this article was very plausible. Sutton used numerous types of evidence to justify the meaning of light, and all of his reasoning justified his one idea, which was that while light signifies desire and romanticism, it also doesn’t stay forever. This concept of light playing a crucial role in the story has a lot to do with the idea of the American Dream being misleading, because there are limits to what one can achieve or do, including going back in time. Lastly, I don’t think the fact that the approaching summer represented love and growth while the end of summer symbolized resentment and death was a coincidence. Light definitely plays a prominent role in The Great Gatsby, which was the basis of Sutton’s argument.
Brian Sutton’s paper on “The Great Gatsby” focuses on the relationship between light and the romantic relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. He makes several symbolic connections, such as how Daisy symbolizes the sun and how Gatsby is attempts to attract her through his magnificent displays of “artificial” light. He then goes on to suggest how the their relationship connects to the passage of the seasons of summer and fall, where summer has the most amount of light while fall has the least amount of light. He points out that the peak of their relationship occurs in the summer and the romance slowly fades as summer ends, bringing with it the beginning of fall with a tragic beginning.
ReplyDeleteI personally have been convinced that the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy romance and the presence of light and the seasons is certainly plausible. I think this because of Sutton's many points he points out, which that strongly suggest a relationship between the passage of the seasons and Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. However, I felt Sutton has over-exaggerated the importance of light and the seasons. Now, I recognize that the seasons are a great plot device and are a good indicator for foreshadowing in a novel, Though Sutton’s thorough and meticulous naming of several points in the story where light and seasons were involved, makes one feel the book was centered on the passage of the seasons and light than its historical context. Not to mention his very in depth analysis relating the summer solstice and the autumn equinox, with Gatsby’s most intimate time with Daisy in summer and his ultimate downfall in the beginning of fall. Now the seasons and light are very important symbols of “The Great Gatsby”, but they are not the only symbols. “The Great Gatsby” is a great piece of literature because if its ambiguous symbolism, so there are many more symbols that may even outshine this one.
In Brian Sutton’s article, Sutton is trying to prove that the concept of light is symbolic and significant to Gatsby and his dream of Daisy and true happiness. He uses the whole plot of the story to connect his ideas. He says that an important portrayal of light occurs when Daisy hears of Gatsby’s name, when Gatsby looks out to the green light, through Gatsby’s rich and colorful parties, through the heat wave on the last day of summer, and when Gatsby dies on the first day of autumn. Sutton explains well that the fading light of the summer season correlates with the eventual failure of Gatsby's dream. The use of the light of the season helps portray that Gatsby's dream of obtaining Daisy and her riches will eventually be futile and fade away, just like the light of the season will be less and less until summer ends and autumn comes.
ReplyDeleteLight does play a big role in The Great Gatsby. Sutton uses multiple quotes and textual evidence to make his statement believable. The fact that he went through the book and found many quotes and words that connected with the word “light” makes it believable. He uses events and descriptions that are seemingly unnoticeable at first, but when he explains it, the connection he's trying to make does make sense. Sutton is not completely plausible, though. He is often repetitious and sometimes he says ideas over and over again. Also, in contrast to what was said earlier, the use of his many and detailed quotes makes it feel like one has to really pay attention to every single detail to grasp the significance of light in the book. Therefore, Sutton’s argument of light connecting with Gatsby’s dream is convincing at times because he uses a lot of storyline from the beginning to the end of the book in his statement, but is also unconvincing at other times because he is repetitive and far too thorough.
In this essay, Sutton attempts to connect the motif of light throughout The Great Gatsby to Jay Gatsby’s hope of falling back in love with Daisy Buchanan. He explains that natural light, artificial light, and seasons are used in this book to reflect the rise and fall of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. In the first chapter, Daisy comments on the coming summer solstice, and Gatsby watches her green light across from the West Egg to the East. Light and summer symbolizes both Daisy and Gatsby’s feeling of hope for the future of their relationship together. The use of light during Gatsby’s parties suggests that his hope in his relationship with Daisy overpowers that of the sun, which may show that Gatsby is trying to overcome the passage of nature and to repeat the past. Light already begins do diminish after summer solstice, which includes shortening days. This symbolizes Gatsby’s love already running low on hope and time as the light of summer fades. Daisy’s feelings about the quickly fading relationship are shown through her turning the light off on Gatsby, symbolizing her giving up on Gatsby and his hope in the relationship. Sutton also states that the shortening of days and the coming autumn lead to Gatsby’s death, because Daisy did not see Myrtle in the dark early evening. Myrtle’s death leads her husband to kill Gatsby, therefore diminishing light in early autumn leads to Gatsby’s death and subsequently the end of his hope in repeating his past with Daisy.
ReplyDeleteI am for the most part convinced by Sutton’s argument because he makes proof of his thesis through countless unique instances of light in The Great Gatsby, but I think there are a few drawbacks to his overall thesis on the connection between light and Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship. Sutton uses many instances of light from the book to show the beginning to end of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, from the summer solstice, to Gatsby’s party lights, the use of seasons, to darkness. His arguments make a lot of sense because he thoroughly explains how the use of light during that time in the book connects in some way to Gatsby and Daisy, but he doesn’t seem to focus on one certain aspect of their relationship, or connect them all together. Rather, he connects light to hope, rivalry with nature, time, Daisy’s relationship with Tom, and death without necessarily tying them back to his thesis. Of course, all of these things do connect back to the love between Gatsby and Daisy, but his essay becomes confusing as he showcases light as a motif connecting to more and more aspects of the book. Overall, Sutton doesn’t stay completely true to his thesis, but has strong analysis and details from the book. His thesis seems to say that light represents Gatsby’s attempt to repeat the past he had with Daisy, but the rest of his essay connects light to subtopics only near to his thesis.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Womack
ReplyDelete10-8-13
AP English Literature and Composition 6*
Ms. Delman
Sutton is saying that all lights throughout “The Great Gatsby” correlate to Gatsby’s immense love for Daisy, and even Daisy’s affection for Gatsby. He is saying that in the beginning of the novel, as the summer solstice drew nearer and light became more prominent throughout the day, so too did the promise of magnificent romance between Daisy and Gatsby become greater. However, when the amount of light for each day began to fade, the possibility of love for Gatsby and Daisy began to dwindle. Their romance deteriorates until autumn, when it finally dies along with the triumph of day over night. Sutton also remarks on other instances of light such as the green light being the light of Daisy in the darkness of night, as well as Gatsby’s superfluous house lights being the sign of Gatsby trying to defy the light limits set by nature, just as he strives for lost dreams of the past that can never be recreated.
If I were to grade this essay on the AP scale, it would get a 7 or 8 in the section about being convinced. All of Sutton’s commentary seems reasonable and I understand what he is saying and why he sees it that way. On the other hand, I was not completely persuaded by his argument and would not openly defend it if it were to be opposed by another idea. However, the correlation between the height of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love being in the height of the summer and their love’s decline being in the beginning of autumn is undoubtable. But there is more than just difference of light to the passing of these seasons. There is vitality versus withering, there is warmth versus cold, and there is, of course as has been discussed, light versus darkness. Furthermore, the passing of the seasons is connected with Gatsby’s lost romance as well as his death, it is not explicitly related to the change of light which is a simple by-product of the change of season, and when Fitzgerald mentions the summer solstice, it is entirely possible that he is trying to convey that it is currently the height of summer rather than the height of light. Ultimately, the change of season is the prominent symbol in the book when dealing with the deterioration between Daisy and Gatsby which includes light to a degree, but not particularly.
I am fairly convinced about the green light representing Gatsby's longing for Daisy, or Daisy herself for that matter.
The article primarily compares Gatsby and Daisy’s love to the light given off by the sun, and how this changes during the seasons. Daisy is compared to the sun, and many quotes are referenced that relate to the season and the placement of the sun at the time. It argues that their love diminishes as the light in the days lessens.
ReplyDeleteThis article definitely enLIGHTened me to this idea, though it used a minimal amount of evidence to prove it. It’s quite unlikely that these seasonal dates aligning with their love are coincidental, so I’m convinced of the relation between them. I’m not entirely persuaded though of the Article’s arguments, while it seems very plausible, it’s also a very bold claim to make that isn’t directly supported by many quotes. The conclusions he comes to from the quotes sometimes seem more circumstantial and assuming of too much. It is clear that light plays a heavy presence in the Great Gatsby, and overall the article makes great connections with themes revolving around light and the book.
-Forest Reid
Alexanderson V. Reyes
ReplyDeleteDelman 6
Brian Sutton argues that in the "Great Gatsby" light is one of the key components to symbols and the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy throughout the story. He says that Daisy represents the sun and Gatsby tries to win her over with artificial light. Also, he talks about how West egg is in the Darkness while East egg is in the light. He uses many types of examples such as the summer solstice and maximum sunlight to tie in with Gatsby and Daisy. He then explains how the time passes from Summer to Autumn, which is when Gatsby's death occurs, connecting the loss of sun because of time change to Gatsby's fate. Thus, saying that light is what showed the contrast of the relations between Gatsby and Daisy.
I believe that the light represents something through the story, but I don't agree completely with Sutton with how the light contrasts the relationship because the light can be taken as only daisy, being the green light, but it wouldn't represent the sun, because if he were to have been staring at the sun, does that mean he is blinded from what he really wants? the way Sutton argues the light makes the light look as if it is an oblivious object throughout the story, instead of something even bigger than itself. Along with that, usually light would not be seen as romance or love, but a purity of being or being clean of sins type situations, where the light would bring in the good, not love. However, even though I am contradicting my opinion, I believe that Sutton has some good points such as the fading light after Gatsby's death as a sign of gloominess and sorrow, or Myrtle's death on how the car was in the darkness and that was a sign of death because no light is shown to uncover the truth. Overall, I do not see the light to just be the romance between Daisy and Gatsby.
Sutton argues that lights play a prominent role throughout the story as it is commonly associated with Daisy and Gatsby. Variations of light is used to represent the two lovers and foreshadow the outcome of their affair. Sutton describes Gatsby as stellar light, and Daisy as the sun, something Gatsby tries to attract through displays of 'artificial light' but fails to do so. According to Sutton, the seasons of summer and fall are also significant to their relationship. Their romance begins in the summer, the season with the most light, peaks at the summer solstice, and ends along with the fading light of summer days into the beginning of fall. Sutton then connects the transition from summer to fall with Gatsby's death. Gatsby tells his butler to hold off the draining of the pool, 'an end-of-summer ritual', but the end of summer, like his death, was inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI find Sutton's argument to be a bit of a stretch. He exaggerates many small details to make them seem significant to the entirety of the plot, specifically Gatsby's romance with Daisy. Much of the sensory language Fitzgerald used for visualization is forced into something symbolic. Sutton takes the coincidence of certain aspects and events and portrays them as though they were the author's explicit intention. Although he was able to show evidence of the impact of light on the characters and events, I find it difficult to believe that the plot, or even the romance, was essentially represented by light.
Reniel Nuqui
ReplyDeleteAPLit Period: 6
10/8/13
Brian Sutton associates light with being connected to the love and romance between Gatsby and Daisy. The examples he provides show that during the times where light is more eminent and longer lasting, especially during the summer, the attraction that Daisy has with Gatsby is strengthened, but during summer’s end, where daylight hours are cut shorter, Gatsby’s dream of fully rekindling his love with Daisy comes to a great decline. Sutton was able to gather various examples of light used in The Great Gatsby and further justified light as being directly related to Gatsby’s love for Daisy so effectively and ended his essay with stating that, “Gatsby’s dream and Gatsby’s life have been extinguished with the dying of summer light.”
Sutton’s argument was well thought up with some substantial evidence and analysis, but I believe that light itself is not the true and only reason for the whole relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. His reasons for each example of light shown in the book seemed to lean toward being great assumptions in a sense where he thought too much of each example being directly related to light, that he left out other possible explanations for why Gatsby’s dream to recreate the past was a failure.
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ReplyDeleteAnthony Liu
ReplyDelete10 – 8 – 13
In this essay, Brian Sutton explains how Fitzgerald uses light in The Great Gatsby to foreshadow many aspects of Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy. In the very beginning of the story, long before Nick learns of Gatsby’s feelings towards Daisy, Nick sees Gatsby reach for a mysterious green light. Nick later discovers that Daisy is the source of this light, so this scene serves to establish the connection between light and Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. This metaphor is strengthened by the fact that Fitzgerald uses words like “radiantly” to describe Daisy because this suggests that she is the sun. Sutton continues by pointing out the intense brightness of Gatsby’s elaborate parties, which he claims is an attempt to lure Daisy into Gatsby’s home. In addition, Sutton also shows how the seasons parallel events in the story. For instance, Daisy and Gatsby break up in the autumn, and it’s summer, the brightest season of all, when Daisy first renews her interest in Gatsby. In this way, the intensity of light due to season corresponds to the state of Gatsby and Daisy’s love for one another. Even more, Gatsby and Daisy’s newfound love hits its peak in the summertime, and they begin to drift apart a few months later in the fall. When fall finally begins, judging by all the falling leaves, Gatsby is killed and his relationship with Daisy is ended forever.
I found this article’s central claim to be extremely convincing, but I don’t agree with all of its parts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor taught me to pay attention to season, and I think Sutton has effectively showed that season in The Great Gatsby is intimately connected to the story’s plot. If one temporarily ignores how season is connected to light, there is still a clear relationship between what season it is and how Gatsby and Daisy are getting along. Sutton traces these changes from the beginning of the book, when Daisy fiddles with a candle, to the very end, when Gatsby dies. The fact that this explanation is consistent from beginning to end proves there’s something interesting going on there. Bringing light back into the equation, Sutton provides many examples of how season and light are related, but more importantly, how light and Gatsby are related. I find the argument about green light representing Gatsby’s love for Daisy to be plausible because Fitzgerald would not have included such a random, unimportant detail if it did not serve a purpose. Sutton’s theory about light provides the perfect framework for this symbol and several others. However, one argument I disagree with is that the lights of Gatsby’s party are meant to attract Daisy. Large parties require a lot of light, and I think it’s much more likely that Gatsby meant to attract Daisy by virtue of his popularity rather than by how bright of a house he had. Nevertheless, this article as a whole is very persuasive, and it has answered several questions I had about this book.
In Brian Sutton’s article, he explores the role of light in the Great Gatsby and explains that Daisy symbolizes light and the sun. Sutton argues that Fitzgerald’s extensive use of sun-related imagery (using descriptive words such as radiant, glowing, dazzling) confirms Daisy’s representation of the sun. Sutton notes that Gatsby, who is often surrounded by darkness, tries to obtain Daisy who is essentially the light of his life. He then connects Daisy’s symbolism of the sun with the time and setting of the story. Since the story ends in autumn, Sutton further discusses how the days of autumn are short implying that Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship will ultimately come to an end and there’s no helping it.
ReplyDeleteSutton definitely has great points about the representation of light and Daisy however I find myself disagreeing with him near the end of the article. Symbols in literature are open to different interpretations. It’s possible that Fitzgerald had intended Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship to revolve around the seasons, however, Sutton may have exaggerated on the little details using them to prove a whole concept that envelopes the whole story. I feel as if he assumed too much and his points were not enough to convince me of his big idea. I admit that his article suggests an interesting idea nevertheless his analysis shows that he assumed too much of the novel which would cause some people to disagree with his argument.
What Sutton is trying to convey in this article is the importance of light in this book with its constant appearance throughout and how it enhances the reading experience. He touches on several aspects of how light appears in the book: sun-related imagery, season changes, and other miscellaneous lights that are either artificial or natural. Using quotes, Sutton adds proof and analysis to convince the reader of his points especially on the subject of the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, this article is simply amazing and I would have to say I agree. I am convinced that this is what Fitzgerald had in mind when writing the novel. All throughout the book, I've noticed so many appearances of lights, seasons, and colors. Now, with all of the quotes listed and analysis stated, it is clear to me. Daisy HAS always been associated with sunlight and the sun. As the seasons changed, the love between Gatsby and Daisy changed. So did the sun. Sutton makes use of so much textual evidence to back up his ideas and it definitely helps to provide a cushion to fall on in case of doubts. In this case, there weren't any. However, I wasn't really sure about the content in the last paragraph. For the majority of the article, he attempts to prove that sunlight represents Daisy, but in the last sentence he states "Gatsby's dream and Gatsby's life have been extinguished with the dying of the summer light". Daisy does not die. Instead, she realizes her love for Tom or knows that Gatsby meant trouble and wished to run away from the unpredictable problems that may or may not arise just for safe measure. Other than that, Sutton's extensive use of analysis and proof have made sense. All I can say now is, genius.
In Sutton’s article, he points out how light is a very prominent symbol in the book. He points out that Daisy is often described as light or with terms that would normally be used to describe light. He also compares the changing of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship to that of the changing of light that comes with the changing of the seasons. When Gatsby and Daisy first meet, the days are short, and so is their relationship. In the beginning of summer of ’22, the days are long, and Gatsby is confident in restarting his relationship with Daisy. By the end, the days are getting shorter, and their relationship is becoming less and less achievable. Sutton also argues that Gatsby’s brightly lit house and bright, colorful parties are to attract Daisy, and to compete with her “sun-status”.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very convincing. Some points seem far stretched, like comparing the darkness to Gatsby’s death and suggesting that it is foreshadowing. Other than that one point, I am convinced that Fitzgerald used light to deepen Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. I understand how their relationship is like the changing of the seasons and it makes complete sense.
Florance Wu
ReplyDeleteBrian Sutton argues that light plays a significant role in The Great Gatsby. Different types of light is used to connect to Gatsby's and Daisy relationship. After Jordan Baker mentions Gatsby's name, Daisy starts to emit this glow, making Daisy seem like the sun. The green light represents Gatsby's hope of reuniting with Daisy again and having their relationship continue where it left off. Gatsby attempts to attract Daisy through the use of colored lights like a moth to a lantern. Sutton states that as summer ends, their relationship is approaching in the same direction. Brian Sutton believes that the shortened days of autumn gives readers a hint of the Gatsby's death.
I personally think that part of Sutton's argument is convincing but not all of it.He forces a connection using Fitzgerald's use of visualization. He tries to make a connection between the beginning of summer and the start of fall with Gatsby's and Daisy's relationship, which I believe is a stretch. Another thing would be the lack of light that he associated with Gatsby's death. He's over analyzing Fitzgerald's work. Other parts like how he associated Daisy with the sun and how Gatsby was standing there looking at the green light at Daisy's dock as if it were her, I found it convincing. It makes sense because it's coming from her dock which is in a way part of her. Overall, Sutton did well in certain parts of his argument but not all.
In Brian Sutton's article about "The Great Gatsby." Sutton provides the argument for the relationship between light and the romance between Gatsby and Daisy. He provides plentiful factual evidence and quotes to support his position. He argues that light represents the rekindling of Gatsby and Daisy's romance from the very moment that Daisy heard his (Gatsby) name after 5 years. After this, light is described more radiantly and is associated with many of Daisy's expressions. Towards the end, when they have their falling out, the seasons change and things start getting dimmer and less full of light. Sutton supports these facts with many quotes from "The Great Gatsby."
ReplyDeleteSutton provides a very interesting argument, and after taking the time to consider it, it seems reasonable to make that connection. Light seems to definitely correspond to Gatsby and Daisy's love in the beginning of the book, however, I am not thoroughly convinced by his second argument. It is true that the setting get's gloomier after some of the more tragic events occur in the book, and I can see where he get's his argument from. Overall, it seems to be a bit of a stretch to say that light fully represents anything in the book, considering other powerful motifs such as color that are prominent as well. For now, it seems plausible that this is quite accurate, but the fact of the matter is, this is the only side of the argument that I have seen so far, and I did not particularly notice this trend whilst reading the novel myself.
In the article, Brian Sutton deals with light as a prominent role in the telling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby”. Sutton digs deep into light as a motif, equating Daisy to a much beloved source of light, (a star) in its finest aspects, warmth, joy, happiness. Sutton also uses light to describe many of the conflicts within the story, such as Gatsby’s struggle to attract the attention of Daisy in the hopes of an “accidental” reunion, pointing out that Gatsby endeavors to throw such bright and lively parties, often times unnaturally illuminating the night in his attempts. Sutton also points out that Gatsby obsesses over the green light, of which he has come to associate with Daisy, in her ever so radiant beauty, and how many other writers have compared Gatsby to characters in Greek mythology, like Icarus and Apollo, two legendary men whose dealings with the sun, and thereby light, are integral to their character.
ReplyDeletePersonally, after reading the article, I am amazed at how such minute details can come together to construct such a powerful motif. It is hard to imagine that Fitzgerald could so intricately weave these details into the story. Moreover, when all the facts are put out before me, light’s role as a motif does seem to work well with the main conflicts in the story. For example, Sutton describes all of Gatsby’s gaudy opulence and superfluity as the ultimate romantic plea for Daisy’s attention, the endeavor so extreme as to defy the natural progression of time in its design. What I took from this was that Fitzgerald used light in such a way as to comment on the lives of people in the 1920’s, most working tirelessly in an effort to achieve some semblance of the American Dream and others who were living the dream striving to reach something higher, something more enticing than power of wealth to the heart of Man. Summarily, I find it incredible how light, a symbol most recognized with having to do with good and happiness, can be used to capture and distill such a terrible and tragic conflict.
In this article Brian Sutton argues that light can tell us the course that Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship will run. He starts off by saying that Daisy represents the sun and that Gatsby tries to attract her using artificial light, which ultimately fails in the end. He continues by explaining that Daisy affiliates her love for Gatsby with sunlight. He then goes on to explain why Daisy is the sun, saying that Gatsby stands in the darkness of West Egg reaching towards the green light, in the East Egg. The next point he makes is that Gatsby is trying to be worthy enough for Daisy’s love by throwing these huge parties with a huge amount of artificial lights that shine like stars. Sutton then lists various instances in the book where the time of year and amount of sunlight corresponds with the changes in Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. The next thing he suggests is that readers can tell that Gatsby’s dreams is hopeless because when he first approaches Daisy, the seasons are changing and there are less daylight hours. His next point is that readers can predict that Tom will win Daisy because light is rapidly fading with the approach of autumn. The fading light is also the cause of Myrtle and Gatsby’s death, he proposes. His last point is that the end of summer signifies the end of Gatsby’s life and dreams.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with some points that Sutton makes, some things I just wasn’t convinced about. I think his analysis about how the change of seasons represents the death of Gatsby’s life and dream is very convincing. This argument convinced me because summer traditionally represents the flourishing of life and autumn is when all the leaves fall off of trees. His argument that Daisy is the sun doesn’t convince me. He says that she is in the east, representing the position of the rising sun. This is not believable for me because her placement in the east is more about her being traditionally rich, not about her being the sun. His argument that Gatsby is using artificial light to try to be worthy of the sun is believable because Gatsby has always been trying to climb his way to the top of the social ladder to achieve Daisy. All in all, Sutton’s in-depth look at light in The Great Gatsby is a bit far-fetched and seems to be as if he is looking for symbolism where there is none.
In the essay, the author speaks about how Daisy represents the sun and how Gatsby represents artificial light, always trying to imitate and surpass the suns light, He compares Gatsby to Icarus, who flew too close to the sun and his wings melted and he fell to his death. When Gatsby tries to impress daisy with his light, he is flying and he reaches a point where he gets close to truly attaining her- but he has gotten too close and he falls. Later on in the essay it tells about how Daisy only loves Gatsby when the seasons have the most light. It gives many examples of this, and it is plausible. I am convinced of his argument, because when Daisy and Gatsby's relationship works its the summer time with the most light, and as the summer leaves it takes their love with it. the only part that i do not agree with is the green light, because it is a fake light and Daisy is a sun not artificial light. Other than that, his perception of the light in the relationship and the light around them seem to have a sense of truth in them.
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ReplyDeleteIn his article, Brian Sutton exploits the correlation between light and Gatsby’s dream, as well as light’s purpose as a symbol in The Great Gatsby. Sutton starts off saying that Daisy is a symbol for the sun—the ultimate source of light. Sutton believes that the light Daisy emits represents the romantic relationship between herself and Gatsby. Through his extravagant, late night parties, Sutton argues that Gatsby uses them as an attempt to create a “false light” in order to catch Daisy’s attention—showing her that he can be just as great as she is. However, because light is dependent on the patterns on the sun, Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship is affected by the changing seasons. Therefore, the light Gatsby exemplifies, dims as a result of the passing of the summer equinox because the days are becoming increasingly shorter. Sutton concludes by stating that Gatsby’s dream was predetermined by the timing he attempted to achieve his dream, and there was no way he could have succeeded.
ReplyDeleteMany of the points Sutton covered in this article were strongly backed up with evidence from the book. I found no problems with his argument, as I had already come up with a few of the ones he mentioned prior to reading the article. One idea we had in common was the moth aspect, the idea that the “false light” Gatsby put out there attracted “moths”—people who attended his parties. Principally, Sutton’s argument is, in my eyes, tenable, particularly because he incorporated scenes all throughout the book rather than just one section. He picked up on light related details – many that I personally failed to catch – and developed a strong logic from Fitzgerald’s words. Lastly, the flow as well as the professional feel of his article also contributed to its credibility in my opinion.
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ReplyDeleteAccording to Brian Sutton, the presence of light in the novel plays a prominent role in the novel by associating it with Daisy and Gatsby’s romance. In the beginning of the story, Gatsby reaches out longingly towards a green light that represents Daisy and Gatsby’s hope for a future relationship with her. Sutton goes on to say that Daisy’s “radiance” is a result from her recalling her and Gatsby’s past relationship. Also, at Gatsby’s grand parties, he illuminates his entire house, making it incredibly bright. All the lights are meant to get Daisy to attend the parties and rekindle their romance. Sutton also points to the fact that seasons also play a role in the association between light and Daisy and Gatsby’s romance. Sutton links the two by suggesting that summer represents love and life with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, while autumn represents death with Gatsby’s sudden passing.
ReplyDeleteI find most of Sutton’s ideas to be very plausible. Sutton has many strong points that lead me to believe that light proves to represent the romance between Gatsby and Daisy. Also, the change of seasons and how the end of the summer signified the end of Gatsby’s life and dreams is extremely persuasive and convincing. Although I agree with those points, there are still some that I do not completely agree with. At one point in his article, Sutton points to the fact that when Gatsby reaches to East Egg, that “it is the East and Juliet is the sun”. I’m not sure if that was meant to be a reference to Romeo and Juliet in order to attempt to link light to their relationship, but I feel as though that was a bit stretched. The fact that Daisy lives on East Egg revolves more around the fact that she comes from old money rather than her being the sun/light of Gatsby’s life. Of course, while I agree with many of Sutton’s points, I cannot completely agree with him.
Ellis Manning-Villar
ReplyDeleteDelman 6th Period
October 8, 2013
In an article that attempts to link "The Great Gatsby" and the symbol of light, Brian Sutton uses an incredible amount of evidence that helps show how Fitzgerald uses light in his book. Sutton looks at different forms of light, from the sun, to the different seasons, and is quite able to find analogies between the two. But the article falls short in a couple of key aspects that could make Sutton's analysis much more meaningful.
There are some parts of Sutton's argument that make it quite believable. For instance, Sutton uses numerous examples and quotes from the book to show how the phases of the Earth's position are analogous with phases of Gatsby's romance. These sort of analogies are convincing because it would be hard for Fitzgerald to accidentally slip in such a specific symbol, making it more likely that he purposefully added them in.
On the other hand, when Sutton decides to argue that Daisy is a symbol for the sun, or vice versa, the claim is not as convincing. While this is not necessarily a bad premise, the evidence for it is rather shaky. Sutton lists imagery that helps describe the sun and similar examples of imagery used by Fitzgerald to describe Daisy. The problem with this is that Fitzgerald could have been using this sort of writing device to show that Daisy was precious to Gatsby, but it does not quite show the link between her and the sun. For example, Fitzgerald says that Daisy is "radiant", but this could be compared to many things, such as precious metals or sought after objects jewels. This means that Sutton's interpretation of Fitzgerald writing assumes a bit too much, at least in this argument.
Lastly, Sutton uses much of the paper to highlight brief mentions of light in the book. And while these examples are interesting, Sutton often fails to tell us the significance of some of the segments that he includes in his paper. This lack of direction, makes us beg the question, "So what?" If what Sutton writes is true, and he has correctly proven analogies between the book and the sun, what is the point. Not once does Sutton use his analysis to prove what Fitzgerald is attempting to say. So, while this article is convincing in showing the book's correlation to light, it has yet to connect light's meaning to the bigger ideas that Fitzgerald was trying to put out there.
In this article, Sutton argues that light is a significant motif in The Great Gatsby, mainly connecting it with the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. He supports this by using numerous quotes from throughout the book, all of them mentioning light or the sun in some variation. Sutton believes that to Gatsby, Daisy is the sun, and he proves this by discussing her "radiance" and how Gatsby reaches out towards her house in East Egg (such as how the sun sets in the east). Sutton also discusses how seasons are used in Daisy and Gatsby's relationship. For example, how it is summer when Jordan first mentions Gatsby to Daisy and fall when Gatsby dies.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I do believe that light and seasons ARE very important motifs in the book, but I have trouble believing that they play as much of a role as Sutton is suggesting. Some of the arguments he makes are bit of a stretch, such as Daisy and the candles. Perhaps if he had gone more in detail about that it would have made a bit more sense, but it seemed like he just threw it in to connect with the whole light theme. However, I do believe he puts up a very compelling argument about the seasons, especially how the relationship of Gatsby and Daisy changes over the months with the rise and fall of the different seasons. I especially found his mentioning of the length of the days interesting, such as how the days are getting shorter as Gatsby is losing Daisy.
In this essay, Sutton indicates that light is a reoccurring image of Jay Gatsby's love for Daisy. Throughout the article he stresses the meaning of their relationship, Gatsby reaching out towards the green light is his ambitions and wanting for true love which can only be satisfied through the love of Daisy. Speculating that Daisy is the light from the sun, as time passes by, Gatsby's love will remain to subside and seasons will begin to change. Sutton attempts to explain that the parties thrown at Gatsby's house was affiliated with the sunlight of Daisy, he glorifies the meaning for the stars in the sky, contributing to the fact that as the sun goes down the stars shine and Gatsby's parties ignites more light. Prevailing a stronger love for Daisy and his goals. Sutton emphasizes season as he gives examples on Gatsby's and Daisy's past and how the seasons were changing as Daisy was waiting for Gatsby to come back. As Gatsby was making his way his light began to die out, being the reason that Daisy is married to Tom. When the time came like the occurrence of Gatsby's death the autumn leaves will begin to fall and there will be no more light. Darkness will prevail and his goals and love will dwindle.
ReplyDeleteThough Brian Sutton seemingly argued his way into trying to convince the reader that light was a main symbol for the relationship of Tom and Daisy, I cant help, but to say that I did not really buy into it . The motif behind the relationship is demonstrated through color and vary little through light. As I might say so myself the green light is one of the strongest symbols proclaiming Gatsby's determination reaching fro his goals in life, in this article it was vaguely attributes. It almost seemed like he was repeating the same stuff over jumping from light to season which got a little confusing. For the most part he put this article in a very thoughtful and organized way, determined to give his opinion on what symbol expresses the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. He gave a strong well put argument, but I would have to disagree with him, because I don't have enough information to agree that light was the main motif, but Sutton was very clear and it was very useful to analyze.
In Brian Sutton’s article on The Great Gatsby, he argues that light is a huge benefactor in the novel to Gatsby and his dream. He starts off by mentioning that Jay Gatsby himself was compared to Greek Mythology associated with the sun and then proceeds to cover every instance where light was a symbol in the novel for Daisy, Gatsby’s love for her, his parties, the summer, or his death. Sutton’s first argument is that Daisy is a beacon of light for Gatsby and that everything about her is bright and illuminating. He goes in depth on how Daisy attracts attention by “radiating” and how she is the only light Gatsby sees at a time of darkness. Sutton then argues that Gatsby had lived his dream of being together with Daisy for a while in such a pattern similar to the course of summer. At the start of summer, Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy was a bit gloomy after being reunited with her after all these years, just as the weather was gloomy on that day; but as soon as the two of them began to reconnect, the skies opened up and shown a light down upon their relationship. In the middle of the summer on supposedly the “hottest day”, that was when their romance was in full blossom and when Gatsby’s dream was fulfilled the most and everything went uphill from there but as the summer crept toward its end, Daisy’s love for Tom was reignited while hers for Gatsby began to diminish until finally, “Gatsby’s dream and Gatsby’s life have been extinguished with the dying of the summer light” (Sutton).
ReplyDeleteYeah. Wow. Totally. This article is pretty much spot on. I am convinced because I completely agree with Brian Sutton’s argument of light playing a huge role in The Great Gatsby. Sutton details all parts of the novel from beginning to end where light is mentioned and what it symbolizes. The argument that, “Gatsby’s dream and Gatsby’s life have been extinguished with the dying of the summer light” (Sutton) really caught my attention and really spoke out to me because I totally see the connection between the climax and plot of Gatsby’s relationship with daisy and the amount of sunlight each day gets. What really made me feel like he did a great job on this article was that he covered how every characteristic of light is compared to an event or object in the novel, from the illumination of Daisy, to the contrast of the green on the dock in the darkness, to the dimming of the summer, and to the evanescent of Gatsby’s life and dreams.
This article discusses Brian Sutton's views of how light (or the lack thereof) is used and related to the story, "The Great Gatsby." He compares scenes and ideas from the first chapter of the book all the way to the end, to light and it's role in each situation. He talks a lot about the various ways Gatsby and Daisy represent light and the the sun. Not only this, but he also discusses how the setting (in terms of light/dark or artificial light) affects the scene. Sutton strongly believes that light plays an important role in this book.
ReplyDeleteDespite Sutton's efforts, I am not convinced on the importance of light in this book. Though every situation he analyzed in his article made sense, most of them seemed to stretch a little bit too far from the text as is acceptable; I believe that he assumed too much. I got the feeling while reading his essay that, yes, if one is to look at the book in terms of light, a good deal of connections can be made, but that those connections were not all intentional. I am sure that Fitzgerald used light thoughtfully and with meaning while writing, but I do not believe that all of the underlying themes, symbols, and connections that Sutton made were the conscious doing of Fitzgerald. Sutton had some string arguments, but not strong enough for me to believe that light is as important in the book as he thinks.