Kurtz & Gatsby React to the Horror

I am pleased that I was, in the same class in high school, forced to read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness twice. I had to read it again in college. And muddlesome though it may be to read through it the first time, my, what a good book is Heart of Darkness. It is a rich and detailed, short stew of a book about a sailor traveling to the heart of the Congo in search of a man named Kurtz. It contains the famous line, spoken by Kurtz on his deathbed, of "The horror! The horror!" And the narrator, Marlow, says that he admires Kurtz for making this final proclamation and reaction to the world--or something like that.

That's what much of the book is: Marlow talking about Kurtz, first because of the curiosity he had about this man he was searching for and then because of the admiration he forms for Kurtz's final words. And that reminds me of how Nick spends the length of The Great Gatsby talking about Gatsby. First he is curious who this man, whose name is spoken so much and in such a specific way, is; and then he is fascinated by Gatsby's ability to hold onto and look up to the green light--however you interpret the green light.

With their reactions to the world, both men (Kurtz and Gatsby, not the narrators, that is) die in the end. And I wonder, are their reactions similar or completely opposite? Kurtz acknowledges what a great lump of chaos the world is and that it cannot be easily smoothed out. He calls that horror, which is the complete awareness of what there is to fear (as opposed to terror, which is when you don't know what it is that you're afraid of). I think Gatsby also recognizes that the world is not simple and does not always go the way you want it to go: his plans to gain back Daisy only work up to a certain point. And then along comes someone to kill him while he ponders and he hardly seems phased by it, he just seems to take it in stride as the natural next thing to happen. Is that a sense of horror? Gatsby seems to acknowledge the world as horrific, but to take a more passive view to it all than Kurtz does.

Maybe the difference is because Gatsby, not long before, thought he was about to achieve all that he wanted; he was a man with a shattered dream. Kurtz, on the other hand, was just a regular man who went out into the world (aka the European presence in the Congo) and found out what it is made out of.  So for Kurtz, acknowledging that this world of imperialism is not good is a big step and an important one. Gatsby is a disappointed man, who I think want wants to still live in the part of his mind that created his dream; the importance of his perspective is not so much that he saw the imperfection of the world but that he knew what it was to dream of something more.

I think a further study of these two perspectives could be nice. It is absolutely essential to see what Kurtz saw: to see that the world is tarnished and fallen and corrupt and many things that contrast with what is good and beautiful. But then it is also necessary to be able to dream: only through the eyes of dreams can we, from day to day, spread the difference of light onto the chaos.

 

Celebrating the Americans

With the Fourth of July being tomorrow, here is a list of a fewAmerican authors/works I have found notable. Some are expected, while others are a bit lesser known. As usual, the list is in no particular order.

1) The Great Gatsby - I would just say F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I haven't yet read any of his other books--I know I'll have to make the time to eventually since this book at least is amazing. The first time I read it, I didn't even care what it was about: the language is just stunning, while still remaining simple. Then you can move into themes, of hope, of loss, etc., and also of the American Dream (though, of course, there is no single interpretation of this book, which is one of the things that makes it so wonderful).

2) Little House on the Prairie - This series of books I find very valuable: they are almost like folk tales of pioneers. Some things in them are based purely on fact, some are adjusted, and some may simply be based on stories heard during that time. However the case is, these books set up a story both loving and somewhat sad of what these prairie days were like.

3) Edgar Allan Poe - Though not the most uplifting of artists, Poe was talented enough that British anthologies often try to steal him as one of their own. But, no, even a couple centuries ago Americans had talent, too.

4) Gone with the Wind - I know, I haven't yet finished the book (and of course I'm waiting until I do to watch the movie), but it's finely written and centers on one of the great American tragedies, the Civil War. It's considered by many a must-read for a reason.

5) The Wizard of Oz - I suppose I'm actually referring more to the movie than the book here. Going back to the idea of mythologies, this story has become something of an American mythology. There are so many references made to it, even by people who haven't seen the movie ten times. Its story and characters have entered the collective consciousness, and that is no small accomplishment.

6) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - This is a very depressing book, but also a very good one that I think ought to be read more--it's completely a classic, in my view. It handles problems of identity, of fitting into a culture, of being accepted and not being accepted, of making one's way in the world. Specifically, its character is a black man struggling with his life and career around mid-20th century; but it is as much relevant to any human being who has lived or tried to live.

7) Hmmm, I can't quite think of a seventh, though I'll probably think of ten more in half hour's time. I suppose I could always list the Declaration of Independence, couldn't I?

Favorite Fictional Couples

My last post gave me the idea for this one. Fittingly, then, I will start with the couple I mentioned there; after that, there will be no particular order to the list. Also, these are mainly supposed to be instances where it is the pair I like, not just one individual.

1) Abby & Connor (TV: Primeval) - I probably talked enough about these two last time, so I'll just repeat that I love them together. They just make the world brighter and happier when they're together.

2) Jane & Rochester (Book: Jane Eyre) - This relationship has taken on such a symbolic meaning to me. The two can only properly come together once they have learned to be individuals. Yet they are drawn to each other because of their differing elements, the elements that complete each other.

3) Jeannie & Major Nelson (TV: I Dream of Jeannie) - Even when they're having their spats, these two still adore each other. Their love is like some spark of magic that refuses to go away.

4) Nat & Daisy (Book: Little Men & Jo's Boys) - I suppose I like this pairing mainly because of Nat. He comes from such a sad background, then he and Daisy meet and never look back. They're both very demure.

5) Eowyn & Faramir (Book: The Lord of the Rings) - There is a similar Jane/Rochester thing that happens here: the coming together of these two characters marks certain other changes in their lives. Eowyn in particular must learn something more about herself while she is in the Houses of Healing, where she meets Faramir.

6) Cathy & Heathcliff (Book: Wuthering Heights) - How could I do a list like this and not include these two? People who say that this book is just about hate and not love are simplifying it too much; there is a love story in it, and I think the love is probably just the easiest part of the novel to grasp onto. There's nothing so compelling as tragic love, eh?

7) Gatsby & Daisy (Book: The Great Gatsby) - Speaking of tragic love, I also felt compelled to include these two. It's true, I'm not so interested in Daisy as Gatsby, but his love for her is wonderful. The green light is wonderful. Their story is tragic, sweet, and simultaneously hopeless and hopeful.

8) John Keats & Fanny Brawne (Movie: Bright Star) - Watch this movie and you'll never read a John Keats poem the same. More tragic love here, though much sweeter. There are similarities to Nat/Daisy, just with poetry and death added in--a couple little differences . . .

9) Caspian & Ramandu's Daughter (Book: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader & The Silver Chair) - I love this pairing because, being part of a children's story, it's so subtle. No superfluous romance or flirting, just two characters who fall in love--it's fairy tale-like.

10) Anakin & Padme (Movie: Star Wars) - I wasn't going to add these two in because of all the hate the prequel trilogy tends to get. But I have to admit that I like characters' stories in the entire six part arc. There is so much character conflict in this love story and so much fate and fear/hate challenging love that I do have to include it.


I'm sensing some patterns here. Four out of ten are tragic stories. I think you could easily say that three of the six leftover could have very nearly been tragic. Four out of ten couples either pick on each other or something similar. Six out of ten of the women step out in some particular way from the traditional women's side of things--some of them being (like Eowyn) a little more wild, I guess, than their counterparts (Faramir, though a soldier, has a very gentle nature that is contrary to Eowyn's).

Since all of these characteristics were still just percents out of a whole, I can't say how much they tell about my own tastes without comparing my list to ones made by other people. After all, though I know I tend to like the tragic loves, don't many of us? That's one reason why Titanic (which I actually don't like much) did so well in theatres and why Romeo and Juliet (which I don't really like, either--but I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare in general) is probably the first Shakespeare play children hear of.