Gatsby: A Feel-Good Story

"'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.

"Not only did she do them wrong, she did every one of them in."

"'The curse of hell from me shall ye bear, / Mother, Mother, / The curse of hell from me shall ye bear, / Such counsels you gave to me, O'" ("Edward," 53-56).

Apparently, this poem is brought to you by horrible parenting. If I wrote this poem, I would remain anonymous, too.

The repetitious repetition in this poem added a lot of emotion and suspense. And for me, black humor. I totally read the words to this poem with a song in my head -- how could I not? I was dancing around a bonfire in my head singing a song about some upper class guy who killed his dad, abandoned his family, and left his mother the curse of hell. Does it get any more jolly than that?

I'm more than willing to write a tune to this poem if nobody else has already. It would stand alongside such classic Tom Lehrer hits as "The Irish Ballad" about a maid who killed her entire family.

Speaking of Tom Lehrer, I am very confident that I can draw a parallel between the song "To His Coy Mistress" and the song "When You Are Old and Gray." I mean, that song was running through my head during the entire class discussion. Sorry about the Tom Lehrer overload.