Post by jonathanb02 on Apr 6, 2008 23:37:35 GMT -5
Jonathan Berman
4/4/08
Period 2
Deceit and Denial: The Foundation of the American Family
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the family is seen as the basic sense of community. In these communities, people lie to each other and to themselves. Whether purposefully or unintentionally, these falsehoods damage relationships between the members of the families. With so much dishonesty and deception, the families’ links among its respective members are damaged leaving a string of vulnerable family relationships. The deceit and denial demonstrated by families in The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie exposes the instability of family life in the twentieth century.
In The Great Gatsby, the numerous affairs between characters show marital cheating was treated casually in that society, but also demonstrate the angst of Americans during the 1920’s. Tom Buchanan cheats on Daisy in seek of self-fulfillment. He is a “supercilious man” with arrogant eyes that give him dominance and aggression,” but that egotism “no longer nourishes his peremptory heart” (Fitzgerald 11, 25). His affair with Myrtle Wilson is driven by his angst because his stable marriage with Daisy does not satisfy his need for control. His anxiety “makes him nibble at the edge of stale ideas,” so getting out and seeing Myrtle makes him feel like someone significant, like when he buys her whatever her heart desires (25). Myrtle has a similar situation, because “neither of them can stand the person they’re married to” (37). Their relationship is beneficial for both of them because it is a way to cope with their lives; just like Tom, “it does her good to get away” (30). Myrtle escapes from her life “living over that garage for eleven years” by drinking whiskey and spending time with Tom (39). Daisy is unhappy with her life with Tom just as much as he is because he feeling restricted and going out to see Myrtle makes Daisy feels abandoned. When Daisy’s baby girl was born, “Tom was God knows where” so she woke up with an “utterly abandoned feeling” (21). She is missing something from her relationship with her husband, and the reemergence of Gatsby in her life provides that intangibility of escape that both Tom and Myrtle find away from their marriages. Just like the Buchanan’s and the Wilson’s, many couples at Gatsby’s party seem unhappy with their spouses. Nick notices that many of the party going “women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands” (56). Everyone seems universally unhappy with their marital status and goes to parties or cheats on their spouses in an attempt to escape from their relationship.
Lying doesn’t tear apart families in Death of a Salesman, but rather brings the Loman family together. However, while this union may seem positive, it actually destroys the family because it is run by lies and allusion. The “death of a salesman” goes beyond its literal meaning, because all of the Lomans, not just Willy, are salesmen; they sell lies to each other. Biff’s realization of his societal role in conjunction with Willy’s suicide brings an end to this family of liars, this family of salesmen. Willy and Linda trade lies throughout the play, both of them aware of these transactions. For example, when Willy says he is having trouble driving, Linda makes excuses blaming his glasses, his tiredness, and his over activity. Also, she assures him that he’s “the handsomest man in the world,” when they both know he is unattractive as one of his buyers said he looked like a fat walrus (Miller 27). The whole family tries to manufacture truth by repeatedly lying to themselves repeatedly regarding Willy and his suicidal tendencies. They eventually break away from this circle of lies by means of Biff insight. By exposing that the family “never told the truth for ten minutes in the house” and that neither he nor Willy are “leaders of men,” he breaks this continuous cycle. When he does so, however, he breaks the union that held the family together and Willy kills himself. The truth hurts the Loman family because lies were the glue that connected all of family members. When the denial is exposed, the instability of the family is exposed as well.
Just as in Death of a Salesman, in The Glass Menagerie, lies and refutation of the truth lead the Wingfield family to a life of blindness that when exposed, destroys the family. Amanda is ignorant of the fact that Laura cannot attract callers like she once did. So she considers Jim as a legitimate possibility for Laura, and tries to sell her daughter by telling Jim “it’s rare for a girl as sweet and pretty as Laura to be domestic” (Williams 64). It is clear, however, that Laura is not especially pretty and Amanda ignores that in an attempt to marry her daughter off. That night Amanda is “rejuvenated” because she ignores the information presented in front of her because she wishes for Laura to be beautiful and attractive to male callers (92). In addition to Amanda lying to herself, Laura lies to Amanda about her attendance at the university. Instead of being in class, Laura goes to the art museum and the bird house at the zoo. Amanda is again unaware, and when the truth is exposed, she thinks that Laura did it “just for deception” (15). She ignores Laura’s explanation because the reality contradicts what she expects. Amanda’s self-directed lies about the potential for her family ultimately tears it apart.
The three aforementioned works all focus on the instability of the twentieth century family and they show how cheating and lying damages family relationships. Dishonesty and disregard of the truth disrupt relationships between family members in The Great Gatsby, The Glass Menagerie, and Death of a Salesman. This concept of the fragility of a family is still relevant today with twenty-first century families. The concepts of disobedience and denial are timeless because they evolve with the society and with the situation. Today, still, families are torn apart because of lying and infidelity. For example, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s family’s reputation was destroyed by his relationship with a prostitute. Society’s view on these issues has changed in some ways; in the 1920’s, when the The Great Gatsby takes place, it was socially acceptable to cheat on one’s spouse, but in the twenty-first century a leader’s name was tarnished for the same act. While the issue of family instability has remained unchanged since the twentieth century, the weaknesses of twenty-first century families are more criticized because society’s view on family issues has changed in the past hundred years.
4/4/08
Period 2
Deceit and Denial: The Foundation of the American Family
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the family is seen as the basic sense of community. In these communities, people lie to each other and to themselves. Whether purposefully or unintentionally, these falsehoods damage relationships between the members of the families. With so much dishonesty and deception, the families’ links among its respective members are damaged leaving a string of vulnerable family relationships. The deceit and denial demonstrated by families in The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, and The Glass Menagerie exposes the instability of family life in the twentieth century.
In The Great Gatsby, the numerous affairs between characters show marital cheating was treated casually in that society, but also demonstrate the angst of Americans during the 1920’s. Tom Buchanan cheats on Daisy in seek of self-fulfillment. He is a “supercilious man” with arrogant eyes that give him dominance and aggression,” but that egotism “no longer nourishes his peremptory heart” (Fitzgerald 11, 25). His affair with Myrtle Wilson is driven by his angst because his stable marriage with Daisy does not satisfy his need for control. His anxiety “makes him nibble at the edge of stale ideas,” so getting out and seeing Myrtle makes him feel like someone significant, like when he buys her whatever her heart desires (25). Myrtle has a similar situation, because “neither of them can stand the person they’re married to” (37). Their relationship is beneficial for both of them because it is a way to cope with their lives; just like Tom, “it does her good to get away” (30). Myrtle escapes from her life “living over that garage for eleven years” by drinking whiskey and spending time with Tom (39). Daisy is unhappy with her life with Tom just as much as he is because he feeling restricted and going out to see Myrtle makes Daisy feels abandoned. When Daisy’s baby girl was born, “Tom was God knows where” so she woke up with an “utterly abandoned feeling” (21). She is missing something from her relationship with her husband, and the reemergence of Gatsby in her life provides that intangibility of escape that both Tom and Myrtle find away from their marriages. Just like the Buchanan’s and the Wilson’s, many couples at Gatsby’s party seem unhappy with their spouses. Nick notices that many of the party going “women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands” (56). Everyone seems universally unhappy with their marital status and goes to parties or cheats on their spouses in an attempt to escape from their relationship.
Lying doesn’t tear apart families in Death of a Salesman, but rather brings the Loman family together. However, while this union may seem positive, it actually destroys the family because it is run by lies and allusion. The “death of a salesman” goes beyond its literal meaning, because all of the Lomans, not just Willy, are salesmen; they sell lies to each other. Biff’s realization of his societal role in conjunction with Willy’s suicide brings an end to this family of liars, this family of salesmen. Willy and Linda trade lies throughout the play, both of them aware of these transactions. For example, when Willy says he is having trouble driving, Linda makes excuses blaming his glasses, his tiredness, and his over activity. Also, she assures him that he’s “the handsomest man in the world,” when they both know he is unattractive as one of his buyers said he looked like a fat walrus (Miller 27). The whole family tries to manufacture truth by repeatedly lying to themselves repeatedly regarding Willy and his suicidal tendencies. They eventually break away from this circle of lies by means of Biff insight. By exposing that the family “never told the truth for ten minutes in the house” and that neither he nor Willy are “leaders of men,” he breaks this continuous cycle. When he does so, however, he breaks the union that held the family together and Willy kills himself. The truth hurts the Loman family because lies were the glue that connected all of family members. When the denial is exposed, the instability of the family is exposed as well.
Just as in Death of a Salesman, in The Glass Menagerie, lies and refutation of the truth lead the Wingfield family to a life of blindness that when exposed, destroys the family. Amanda is ignorant of the fact that Laura cannot attract callers like she once did. So she considers Jim as a legitimate possibility for Laura, and tries to sell her daughter by telling Jim “it’s rare for a girl as sweet and pretty as Laura to be domestic” (Williams 64). It is clear, however, that Laura is not especially pretty and Amanda ignores that in an attempt to marry her daughter off. That night Amanda is “rejuvenated” because she ignores the information presented in front of her because she wishes for Laura to be beautiful and attractive to male callers (92). In addition to Amanda lying to herself, Laura lies to Amanda about her attendance at the university. Instead of being in class, Laura goes to the art museum and the bird house at the zoo. Amanda is again unaware, and when the truth is exposed, she thinks that Laura did it “just for deception” (15). She ignores Laura’s explanation because the reality contradicts what she expects. Amanda’s self-directed lies about the potential for her family ultimately tears it apart.
The three aforementioned works all focus on the instability of the twentieth century family and they show how cheating and lying damages family relationships. Dishonesty and disregard of the truth disrupt relationships between family members in The Great Gatsby, The Glass Menagerie, and Death of a Salesman. This concept of the fragility of a family is still relevant today with twenty-first century families. The concepts of disobedience and denial are timeless because they evolve with the society and with the situation. Today, still, families are torn apart because of lying and infidelity. For example, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s family’s reputation was destroyed by his relationship with a prostitute. Society’s view on these issues has changed in some ways; in the 1920’s, when the The Great Gatsby takes place, it was socially acceptable to cheat on one’s spouse, but in the twenty-first century a leader’s name was tarnished for the same act. While the issue of family instability has remained unchanged since the twentieth century, the weaknesses of twenty-first century families are more criticized because society’s view on family issues has changed in the past hundred years.