Thoreau's nonconformity: Hearing a different drummer

Henry David Thoreau talks about individuality through his quote: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."  This quote states that if an individual does not go with the trend, or the norm of whatever it is that others are doing, then it means that said individual is simply going forth to do what pleases him/her.  This is the act of individuality, or nonconformity.  Like the nonconformist example that Thoreau mentions, I have heard a "different drummer" all my life.  I don't dress the same as everyone else, I don't talk like everyone else, and I can guarantee that no one else can think the same way that I do.  I don't play sports like the jocks, instead I practice martial arts, swordsmanship, and parkour.  I don't watch tv, I go on my laptop and watch animes from Japan.  Some kids don't like school, I view it as a challenge that should be accomplished.  In conclusion, I believe that I hear a very different "drummer" than the rhythm to which everyone else marches.  

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 Thoreau writes in "Walden", "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  This quote from the author shows the tenet of simple living without materialistic possessions through Thoreau's wishes to come face to face with the bare facts of life, and learn what these facts had to teach him, and discover if he had lived or not.  

Thoreau believes that living simply with only the bare necessities is the way to truly live.  I do not fully believe in that, although my belief is that nature has much to teach.  Humans have the right to live how they wish, whether that way of life neglects their needs of others and themselves, or whether they take in full account the needs of others and their own requirements to grow.  My belief is that an individual will do what is necessary to grow, or will commit lack thereof. 

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 7-8-9 questions

Chapter 7 Qustions

1.  Why does Gatsby let all his domestic help go?  Whom does he use instead?

Gatsby lets all of his help go because he believes that they will gossip about him.  In their stead, he hires people suggested by Wolfsheim.

2.  Why do the characters decide to go to New York?  Who rides with Gatsby?

The characters decide to go to New York because of the hot weather.  Daisy rides with Gatsby in Tom's car.

3.  Describe Days and Gatsby's new relationship.

Daisy and Gatsby are now in an intimate relationship.


4.  Compare George Wilson and Tom.  What did each man learn about his wife and how did they each react?

Both George and Tom realized that their wives have been cheating on them.  The audience should by now know that Tom was cheating with George's wife, and that Tom's wife has been in a more intimate relationship with Gatsby as of late.  George locks Myrtle, his wife, up in their room and intends to leave New York with her soon, whereas Tom is simply giving in to his anger as he notices the very close relationship his wife has with Gatsby.

5.  Tom is accusing Gatsby of having a romantic relationship with his wife, to which Gatsby does not deny.  However, remaining very calm, he states that Daisy does not love Tom, nor has she ever loved him.  Tom thinks Gatsby is trying to cause chaos in his house for whatever reason he has, and Gatsby simply thinks that Daisy has never loved Tom.

6.  What was the significance of Nick's 30th birthday?

The significance of Nick's birthday was that it marked his epiphany of his desire to not be lonely and that he had Jordan by his side.

Chapter eight Questions

1.  Why won't Gatsby leave the area, so he doesn't get blamed for the death of Myrtle?

Gatsby does not want to leave unless Daisy wishes to leave.

2.  How has "Jay Gatsby broken like glass against Tom's hard malice"?  What does this mean?

This quote refers to Gatsby's image and dreams being broken by Tom's assault upon him in chapter seven, where he calls Gatsby out on his illegal business of  selling alcohol.


3.  How does Gatsby deceive Daisy when they first meet?

Gatsby gave her a sense of false security.

4.  Why does Daisy ultimately choose Tom Buchanan over Gatsby?  Why is it ironic that her letter reaches him while he is at Oxford?



5.  Why is Myrtle's death called a "tragic achievement'?

Myrtle's death is considered a "tragic achievement" because it covered up the evidence of Tom's affair with her.

6.  How do Jordan and Nick leave their relationship?

Jordan and Nick left their relationship in a very distant manner.

7.  What arouses George's suspicions about Myrtle's affair?

George remembers the time that Myrtle came home bleeding with her nose broken.

8.  Who discovers the bodies at the end of the chapter?  What has happened?

The chauffeur heard the shots, but he was later accompanied by the butler, gardener and Nick who found the bodies by the pool.  George Wilson and Gatsby have died at the end of the chapter.



Chapter nine questions

1 Why does Catherine lie about Myrtle's marriage?

Catherine probably lied about Myrtle's marriage situation to save her sister's honor.

2.  What does Nick discover about Gatsby's life as he tries to "get someone" for him?

Nick discovers that Gatsby was actually just an average kid before he got into illegal business.

3.  Who is Slagle, and what does he want?

Slagle is a man who calls the Gatsby house from Chicago.  He wanted to know if Gatsby got his "wire".

4.  How does Fitzgerald characterize Gatsby's father?

Fitzgerald displays Gatsby's father as a "solemn old man, very helpless and dismayed, bundled up in a long cheap ulster against the warm September day".

5.  What does Gatsby's father show Nick from Gatsby's youth?

Mr. Gatz shows Nick a book from Gatsby's childhood which has a list of things to do on the back page.

6.  Who attends Gatsby's funeral?  Why do they call Gatsby a "Poor son-of-a-bitch"?

The man with the thick glasses, whom attended one of Gatsby's parties, attends his funeral.  He calls Gatsby a "Poor son-of-a-bitch" because he suffered the tragedy of losing his one goal in life--Daisy--and then dying almost immediately afterwards, without even recovering from it.

7.  Why does Nick call this "A story of the West" (184)?

Nick calls this "A story of the West" because the main characters come from the Midwest, and their culture is more family-oriented and morally sound, which clashes against the cold and distant principles of Modernism which can be seen in the setting of New York in the Great Gatsby.

8.  What role did Tom play in Gatsby's death?

Tom told Wilson that it was Gatsby's car that ran Myrtle over.

9.  "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they made..." (188).  Nick differentiates himself from Tom and Daisy here.  How, and why?  How has he behaved differently than they in this situation?

Nick differentiates himself from Tom and Daisy by showing their moral flaws in this quote.  He is different from them because as he stated in the beginning chapters, he was a moral person.  This also supports why Nick creates a schism between himself and the Buchanans.  He himself does not shy away from the situation as the Buchanans have, as he has stuck by Gatsby's side until the bitter end, even though he states that he disapproved of him in earlier chapters.

10.  Pay close attnetion to the closing paragraphs of the novel.  The last lines, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," hold an importance not only for Gatsby and the characters in his story, but for Fitzgerald.  What might Fitzgerald be trying to say about the pursuit of dreams?  Contemplate this for at least a few sentences.

Fitzgerald is trying to say that the characters, and himself, have been battered and confused by the circumstances in life, but they believed in their dreams and continued to reach for them.  Like Gatsby for instance, he used the green light as a symbol of hope to achieve his dreams, to obtain Daisy, and to wake up to, as Fitzgerald words it, the "One fine morning".

Quotes from Gatsby: Gatsby's Wealth and Obsession with Daisy

Gatsby's main goal in life is to be with Daisy.  This is shown in Nick's narrative in the story.  "Possibly it occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever."  The green light represents Gatsby's dream, which is to be with Daisy, and the significance, which in Nick's perspective, possibly faded for eternity, is the opportunity to be with Daisy, making it the goal he's wanted for most of his life.  There is another instance where Nick muses on Gatsby's position with Daisy:  "There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams."  This quote directly addresses that Daisy was a dream for Gatsby to obtain, and it shows how he struggles with it throughout his life until the afternoon that he meets her for the first time for five years.  Albeit Daisy and Gatsby have been together before, the only detail that would ever make her leave Tom Buchanan would be Gatsby's wealth.  Through the narration that Nick provides, he gives insight to Gatsby's deep pockets so to speak.  "Recovering himself in a minute he opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing-gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high".  Most common folk only have one or two suits, if at all, and do not have such a plethora of attire at hand in their wardrobe, but Gatsby has plenty to last him throughout the years.  But aside from his wardrobe, what awaits his in the restroom is astonishingly luxurious to say the least.  "His bedroom was the simplest of all--except where the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold."  Most johns are not really classy at all, and most of the time not even properly cleaned, but Gatsby's is not only spotless, it is adorned with golden accessories.  The importance of his wealth shows how much more attracted Daisy will be towards Gatsby now that he has money, ergo, creating a window of opportunity for Gatsby to be with her.

Gatsby: "Peculiarly American"

In chapter four of "The Great Gatsby", Gatsby is depicted as "peculiarly American", being impatient, hyper, eager to bring Nick along with him in his luxurious car.  This shows that the American dream changed from values of freedom and security to a value of pride in material possession and adopting a monetary caste system in society.  Gatsby expresses these concepts through his eagerness to drive Nick around and showing off his expensive vehicle .  Through Nick's perspective, this action justifies his reasoning of describing him as "peculiarly American".

The Rumors of Gatsby

In the third chapter, Gatsby is introduced, along with some rumors about him following shortly after.  Some people believe that he is the nephew of the Kaiser Willhelm, some people think that he killed someone, that he studied at Oxford, etc.  Fitzgerald most likely introduced the rumors rather than the truth first as a tool to emphasize the mystique of Gatsby due to his bleak past.  If a candid history of Gatsby were to be revealed first, then his entire character would be exposed, leaving nothing to be desired to be known about him.  The first time that Nick, the main character and narrator of the story, he was surprised that Gatsby was in the same age range as him, as well as having served in the army.  Being utterly charmed by his smile, Nick devotes an entire monologue describing his gleaming grin, never mind him being intrigued by Gatsby's wealth and mystery. 

Nick and Fitzgerald's opinion on the upper class/high society

Nick's comment suggests that Tom and Daisy are upper class folk.  When he describes Daisy smirking, it shows their arrogance, which, according to Nick, asserts their position in society.  Nick also uses the word distinguished, meaning that Tom and Daisy are of a social circle that stands out, indicating that they are of high society.   His opinion of is a mixed bag of befuddlement and feeling repulsed by them. Nick comes from the Midwest, where he is used to being polite, but now that he is in New York, he is bombarded by the new social behavior and culture which Is different from Minnesota, which in the book is first introduced via Tom and Daisy.  Nick's comment correlates to Fitzgerald's quote through the similarities of their situations. Fitzgerald was always around the upper class social circles even though he didn't have the kind of money that they had, and Nick has the same financial and social situation. Quoting Fitzgerald, "I will never forgive the rich for being rich", like Nick, he is not used to the culture of the wealthy, even though he is actually surrounded by said culture.

Myrtle Wilson

In Chapter two, Myrtle Wilson is introduced at the garage of her husband.  She appears to be demanding, however very quiet and calm.  This can be seen when she asks her husband to get chairs for Tom and Nick who are visiting him.  During her outing with Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway, she buys a copy of Town Tattle, a moving-picture magazine, then she stops at a drug store to pick up cold cream and a flask of perfume, and finally she spends ten dollars on a dog to bring home.  Later at her apartment, she is no longer as docile, but rather brash and outgoing as she brings guest after guest into her living space.  She displays her more intense attitude by changing her dress, which everyone is complimenting her on.  However she insists that she only wears it when she doesn't care what she looks like.