Rewritten Scene

When Tom came to visit, I was glad to see him and I also noticed his friend, Nick.  He seemed like a moderate gentleman, but of course, I was mostly interested in Tom.  As usual, I enjoyed gossiping with the McKee’s and the rest of them about how bad my current husband is and also about Gatsby.  Nobody knows very much about that new money foreigner, and because we are all curious about him, we all spread rumors about that freak.  He is completely insignificant to the rest of us just because he is new money.  Also, I heard he got rich by working with the guy who caused the Cincinnati Reds to win the 1919 World Series, which was a huge deal in the Midwest.  Otherwise, I really don’t know that much about that guy.  Anyway, we all got really drunk, and I noticed Nick passed out for an hour there.  Eventually, we were all so drunk the group got to the topic of Daisy, Tom’s wife whom he is cheating on with me.  Who cares?  I’m much better than her anyway.  And so what if what I was telling about her were lies, anyway?  She doesn’t know about it, so she can’t hurt me.  Eventually, I started repeating her name annoyingly to Tom to bother him uncontrollably.  It was a bad idea in the end, of course, but I wanted to bother him.  After all, I’m drunk anyway.  Nonetheless, Tom hit me square in the nose, and he broke it.  I was bleeding all over the place, yet I still loved Tom a ton.  However, he doesn’t seem to like anyone bringing up his current wife.  He does think men are superior to women anyway, but so does everyone today.  I still love him though, and I don’t care at all about my current husband.  I hate him.

American Dream and Gatsby

Gatsby, after being a janitor to pay his way through college, was an assistant to a rich man with a yacht, where he was inspired to become rich and realized the American Dream.  Gatsby's American Dream was to be wealthy, have a huge house, and all the fine things that money is physically able to buy, such as expensive clothing, cars, parties, and multiple homes.  In his mind, attaining all of this would help him get his true love, Daisy.  In many respects, Gatsby's vision of achieving the American Dream still rings true today for many Americans.  Unfortunately, the economic realities Americans are faced with today are making the American Dream less achievable for young people today.  In the article, "Great Recession Means a Diminished American Dream for Young Adults," the author describes that "the house, the 2.5 kids, the stable career path might not be possible for an entire generation of Americans".  Faced with high unemployment, many people in their 20s and 30s are still living at home, renting apartments instead of purchasing homes, and putting off marriage and children.  According to this article, people will be occupied with their financial problems, and will focus less on the American Dream, which could be a huge cultural change for American society.  The optimism and persistence Americans like Gatsby once had to achieve this dream is now potentially less important to young people.


http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/10/19/great-recession-means-a-diminished-american-dream-for-young-adults_print.html