Diving In

In the novel "The Great Gatsby," we are able to see the immense regret felt by Gatsby and Daisy for not staying with each other. This is shown many times throughout chapters five and six when Gatsby reminisces about the past and tries to get Daisy back. Daisy also regrets her past, which is shown when she "bend[s] her head into the shirts" and begins to cry profusely (Fitzgerald 92). Daisy regrets not being able to stay with Gatsby and be a part of his seemingly unlimited wealth. Gatsby also seems remorseful of the time he lost with Daisy by commenting that the last time they met was "'Five years next November,'" which illustrates how deeply he cares about Daisy. He has remembered how long it has been since he has last seen Daisy to the month, a task only done by someone who cares very deeply about something (Fitzgerald 87).  This predicament of the two made me think about my own regrets. As I look back on my young life, even I have fo...

Art Speigelman gave himself a very hard job in trying to accurately convey the Holocaust to the best of his ability. The method he chose to represent his dad's story was through a graphic novel using animals as representations of different races. In both volumes of the graphic novel Maus , Art draws images for each title of the chapter. Many of these images include the representation of Jews as mice, but chapter three of volume 1 is one of the few chapters that showcase Art's representation of Nazis as cats. Closely analyzing the picture reveals two cats finding a mouse and presumably taking the mouse as a prisoner of war as written by the title. The mouse is actually Vladek, Art's father, but it showcases a larger theme of complete and total dominance by the Nazis over the Jews. No matter what the Jews could do to hide or run away to protect themselves, as the mouse is doing, the cats (Nazis) will always accomplish the hunt. Furthering the motif of complete domination, ...

As I get ready for the synthesis write that could definitely destroy or save my grade this quarter, I can't help but to actually think about Sontag's point. This is a very touchy subject because of the wide range of an audience and the different tastes and preferences each person has. While I disagree that the "only people" that should be allowed to look at graphic images are those "who could learn from it" or "do something to alleviate it," there is merit to the fact that not everyone is suited to look at any image (Sontag 42). How could anyone expect a mere child to gaze upon the innards of a brave young man spilled on the ground while maggots satiate their appetite inside a nation's will to fight? These images can't be censored however. They can't be obstructed, shielded, or kept hidden. They must be available to those as a reminder. An eye-opener of sorts. If these photographs were taken away, how much of our ability to com...

On page 125 of Art Spiegelman's graphic novel "Maus," Vladek and Anja finally make it out of the ghetto they were placed in and escape from hiding. This, however, didn't necessarily help them in their quest for survival and safety. On one of the last panels of the page, a scene is depicted of Anja and Vladek walking together with three different possible paths for them to go to. The obvious symbol of the Nazis rule over Vladek and Anja's life is the swastika that is created by the path. First and foremost, the swastika represents that the only paths left for Art's parents involve Hitler's destructive and oppressive rule. Even though they have escaped the ghetto they were confined in, there is still no viable option for them to continue to be safe. Analyzing the panel to a closer degree reveals that one path leads to a factory of some sort, all blackened out. While some may dismiss this as just another factory, I see it as a reference to the places whe...