"'Wreck!' said Tom. 'That's good. Wilson'll have a little business at last'" (The Great Gatsby, 137).
It's one of those books that gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling once you've finished. Okay, maybe not.
But there's plenty of humor! I'm into dark humor that makes me laugh and writhe around simultaneously, and this quote is an excellent example of what I like to read. Wilson's wife has just been hit by a car, but all that Tom knows is that there's a crowd of people and cars around his gas station. Here, Fitzgerald achieves dark humor through dramatic irony. The audience knows that Myrtle has died, and Tom has no idea that he has just said one of the most insensitive things that could have come out of his mouth.
But that's certainly not the only time I got the giggles! I particularly enjoy when Nick realizes, "'No . . . I just remembered that today's my birthday'" (135). At first, it seems like a juxtaposition of a celebratory event with the catastrophic events of the day. So I laughed when I read that part. But once Nick starts to follow up on his birthday comment, I start to realize that to him, turning thirty just adds to the list of catastrophic events. He has a little mid-life crisis: "Thirty -- the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair" (135). At that point, it isn't really all that funny anymore -- it just ends up being really sad.
This blog made me chuckle. I enjoy sarcasm, especially with a book I wasn't too fond of.
ReplyDeleteI found some humor in this story, too! Granted it's dark and somewhat sarcastic, it seems to get Fitzgerald's point extremely well. I found it most prevalent in Tom's hypocritical character when he states that women are too loose yet he capitalizes on that regularly.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really see the humor in the book (maybe because I was speed-reading it in my classes...) but I see what you mean now. The humor definitely isn't obvious, but it's there. But I didn't really think that being thirty was something to cry about. After all, like rap superstar Jay-Z said, "30's the new 20." And who can argue with the guy who married Beyonce?
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