Dreamers
Please answer the following questions. Make sure to respond off one another; if you feel so inclined, please pose a question for others to ponder.
If you are a dreamer, do you have to be more careful/vigilant? Do the characters in Gatsby have a dream? Is idealism a way for people to escape reality? How might this be true for someone like Jay Gatsby/James Gatz?
Nick says to Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past." Do you believe this is true? Are there repercussions of bringing the past to the present?
If you are a dreamer, do you have to be more careful/vigilant? Do the characters in Gatsby have a dream? Is idealism a way for people to escape reality? How might this be true for someone like Jay Gatsby/James Gatz?
Nick says to Gatsby, "You can't repeat the past." Do you believe this is true? Are there repercussions of bringing the past to the present?
posted by Jessie C. at 6:01 PM
17 Comments:
I am a dreamer; that's how I succeed in my life: by acheiving the dreams and goals that I have set for myself. If I see or hear of something I would love to do or accomplish, I put my whole heart and sould into that matter. When it comes to whether one has to be careful or not when dreaming, I believe that it completely depends on that person's ability to recover, move on, and also their determination. This is because if someone is not careful and \their dreams are fairly far-fethced, they need to be able to take some truth that they might not accomplish it. However, if someone is extremely determined and accepting of failure, they can dream as big as they want. When it comes to The Great Gatsby, I do not think that any of the characters have dreams that will get them anywhere in life. The dreams of this world consist of being rich, marrying rich, and being high up in status. No one cares about love or the kind of happiness that comes with having a family or being healthy. It is a materialistic worl where money and status are the only things that matter. Dreams? There are no dreams. There are selfish pushes to be the best and have the most. I also believe that people use dreams and idealism to escape, yet are they really escaping? How can someones ideas of a perfect world be true in any way? How could this bring them out of what really is when everyone knows no one can have "their perfect world." The past cannot reoccur; what is done, is done and people must learn from their mistakes or remember their joys. Everything happens for a reason; time goes on because it is supposed to be that way and yesterday is yesterday, not today also.
I am a dreamer myself. I don't think you have to be more careful when you are a dreamer. How fun would your dreams be if you thought inside the box? Dreams allow you to think outside the box, and even sometimes, let you know that there isn't a box. I don't think that the people in Gatsby have a dream. They just want the next bext thing, which is fine if you always want to come up short in life. I think that Gatsby has everything he wants and now he is looking for a dream. He can have anything he wants, thats why he has nothing. I don't think that you can bring back the past. You have to make decisions in life and live with them whether they were for right or wrong. I have only traveled back in time once, it was cool, then once I got back my machine broke so now I am sure time travel isn't possible. Well, you could try acid I guess
If you are a dreamer, I would have to agree with Lauren in that you do have to be careful to some extent because if your dream fails then you have to be able to accept that and move on. The characters in Gatsby have some dreams, such as Gatsby himself who dreams of getting Daisy back. I also think that Daisy has a dream of just being rich and not caring whether she is happy or not. Also in Gatsby I think that most characters have forgotten about their dreams or have just given up on accomplishing them. Idealism to an extent is a way to escape reality because some might dream a lot about what their life could be like. However, dreams can also be goals that you want to accomplish in life and actually try to achieve. In Gatsby's case, I think that his dream is really just a goal he wants to achieve to get back together with Daisy. He may not accomplish his dream because I don't think that you can repeat the past. People always change and you can never fully go back to the ways things used to be in the past. So you can't bring the past to the present because what's done is done. You can't go back and change the past just like you can bring it to the present.
I have a different idea of what a dream is than Lauren, TJ and Kristie in that I consider a dream to be something that you don’t believe that you will achieve. They are often far-fetched ideas that in all likelihood are beyond the reach of that person. What people really commit to are ambitions and goals for these are the achievable dreams. Those who dream must always be vigilant because the chances for failure are great and if they truly dedicated themselves to this, are at a high risk for being hurt. People do look to these dreams as an escape from reality for these dreams make them someone else than they are and takes them from the harsh reality of life. I consider those in Gatsby to have dreams but rather stubborn connotations about their selves. Daisy thinks she should be with someone very rich but still cares for her; Tom believes he should be able to do whatever he wants with no repercussions such as having a wife and a mistress while Myrtle believes she deserves to be in high society. Gatsby believes that things should be as they were, nothing changing. None of this is real though because the world will not change for one person’s desires. It is impossible to repeat the past because things happen between the past and present that greatly change the situation and there are forces that no human can resist such as age, jealousy and opinion. The events that have occurred are final and as Lauren stated, “people must learn from their mistakes or remember their joys.” James Gatz is the only character who had a goal, not a dream. He knew he wouldn’t end up poor like his parents and worked hard and networked himself to accumulate his fortune.
Ps, don’t try acid as TJ suggested. It’s one hell of an addiction to kick.
I don't think there are limitations on dreams; there are no boundaries on how wild your dream is. I think they all have dreams, everyone has them and strives and wants something more. They may be rich but lack something else that they wish they had. You can't repeat the past, it already happened, but you can learn from the past. Dreams are called dreams for a reason; they are quite hard to reach and requires a lot of work to get there. There are many dreams that are unreasonable but I think we dream so we can strive for something along those lines. I believe that people strive to be better than one another because now sports are being taught at a younger age.
Being careful as a dreamer, is it possible? When I think of someone who dreams I think that person is daring, because you may dream things but more often than not those dreams don’t seem to come true as planned. So personally i think that as a dreamer you need to be daring you need to dare yourself and pick yourself back up when you fall. I think that the characters in The Great Gatsby have a dream I think the main dream all the characters have is to be loved and adored, I think that the so desperately want to be liked, they all want to be something they are not so their dreams are not necessarily to improve upon themselves but to be something entirely. Daisy wants to be dumb, Jordan wants to be the best golfer (at all costs), James Gatz wants to be Gatsby to win Daisy's heart. Tom wants to be smart, Nick wants to understand and be cool like Gatsby. They all want something that they are not! It is the biggest escape I can think of to want to or to pretend to be something that you are not it is an escape from dealing with the problems faced by their own lives these characters can place on the mask of what they want to be and become the perfect view of a person they have. I believe that James aka Jay is the best example of this he so badly wants to be loved by Daisy he changed his entire identity to be with her, I believe that is how he developed his Gatsby persona and so that’s why when he doesn’t have her he feels a large part of himself is gone. That is why Nick so wants Gatsby to live in the present and realize all the things that he has all the accomplishments he wishes he could make! I think that we all live in the past to some extent and that is because quite honestly what is scarier than growing up?
I agree with TJ when it comes to dreams. When people have a dream it is mostly a dream that can not be acheived. Although I believe that there are two types of dream. There is the dream that TJ is talking about that is "out of the box" and can't be achieved and there is the type of realistic dream that could become your future goal and may one day become reality. Your dream all depend on your current actions during every day life. I do not believe that the present can corrolate with the past. All dream whether they are realistic dreams or unrealistic dreams can be achieve by your actions as TJ said in the present. It seems as if only some of the characters in the book have a dream. It seems as if Gatsby along with Nick are searching for a better life with may be one anothers dream. Every character in Great Gatsby have already obtained most of their dreams.
I am definitely a dreamer. Without dreams, why live? Is there really any reason for living if you have nothing to reach for? I believe that everyone should have a dream because even if you fail in achieving it, that dream gave you a direction in life. I agree with TJ on that point, dreams don't necessarilly have to be something we can achieve, just something to go for in life to give us a purpose to live.Ii think the characters in Gatsby do have dreams. Mostly just Gatsby and Nick and the others seem to have already achieved theirs. I believe that you can't repeat the past, even if a team wins back to back championships, there are many different things. There are different players, you play different teams and there is nothing the same about it except that you won consecutive championships.
I like to think that I am a dreamer. Dreams are what to push you to suceed. If you don;t have dreams then you don't have goals. So therefore you will never push yourself to succed. I agree with tj in the fact that dreams don't have to be something you can acheive they can just be somthing to push you. But I do believe that you have to be careful and not get to caught up in your dreams like Gatsby. You have to be able to not succed and still be ok with it. Unlike Gatsby who is too caught up in living in the past with Daisy. You can't repeat the past. Once something special has happened it is impossible to have the same exact thing happen. I think that trying to bring back the past can have a negative effect on the present. you have to be able to move on.
I agree whole heartedly with Tucker's comment. There is a huge difference between dreaming and goal setting. We are all pushed to be goal setters so that we can pick waht we can have in life and try to achieve it. I thin that as a goal setter however, your carefulness is more required. Setting goals sets you up with a huge chance for failure and disappointment. At least with dreaming you know it won't come true. There is a lot to be said of people's dreams-they reveal what people want and of what they take advantage.
The Characters seem to be dreamers, and like Tucker said only Gatsby has set goals. He has formulated a way to reunite with Daisy. His parties have long had the purpose of perhaps bringing Daisy there, and finally he gives in and brings Nick into the equation. I agree with Nick that the past cannot be repeated. As much as we want the good things in life to be good again, new people have come into our lives and we have lived different experiences. Perhaps it was only good at the time, and if it were to happen again it would be worthless, or worse than before.
On the note of acid-I am a dreamer, and it keeps me from needing acid.
I don't think that you have to be more careful if you are a dreamer but one who dreams big must know that their dream might not come true. The characters in gatsby all have dreams but they don't all chase them. Jay wants Daisy so he persues her and Tom persues his mistress but he is still upset when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby. Idealism is a way for people to escape reality if there is a bad situation one can imagine the circumstances were more favorable and thus live in a fake sense of happiness. Perhaps Jay imagines that Daisy will leave Tom and that they will get married, perhaps he thinks that there will be no reprocussions for his actions. trying to repeat the past can ruin the present if you bring something up that people have gotten over it might drag up negative or burried feelings.
A dreamer is the only way to be. Now its if you live out your dreams or wish them away or not. A dream is a passion a will to better your life and/or make it more exciting to live. For me there is no future without a dream. For what am I living for? I can live in the moment but its all in preperation for a future yet to live that I pray will have my dreams become a reality. About the past. The past is a part of you weather you want it to be or not. "Dont let your past dictate your future but let it be a part of who you will become". You learn from your past so you can make a better future. I agree with TJ :People in Gatsby are looking for the next best thing and not even thinking about a dream. There thoughts are about what can we do now now now. Because Gatsby has all that he wants he is looking for a dream and failing because he put so much stuff in the way for him to not be able to concoct a dream. he is filled with so much other junk that he cant let himself be free and dream. Thats sad to live ain a box type of mind.
To be a dreamer, one must be careful not to get distracted from the goals set to achieve the dream. Jay Gatsby has a dream to live out his life once again with Daisy, just how they were five years ago. He did so many things that normal people dream about doing, just so he might at least catch her name in conversation, or see her once again. It seems that Gatsby does not truly care about money or material items; they were just a way to win Daisy back. I also think that Nick dreams about once just settling down with Jordan and living out their lives together. I think it is impossible to repeat the past. Sure there were fun and exciting memories in the past that you always look back to, but would bringing back that past make it not as special? I do not think we would appreciate how precious time is if we could just redo things. Also, it is impossible to recreate something exactly. If you try, odds are you will be dissappointed because it wont be as great as the first time.
If you are a dreamer you must be willing to open up and share and explorar every asspect of a dream.
I think to be a dreamer you have to risk everything. It's not about being reserved and hoping the dream will come to you. I agree with Tucker's idea of the dream, that of it being something unachievable. Something you have to set your goals way ahead of the achievable so that you're always working. I think that one of the only characters in The Great Gatsby with a dream is Gatsby himself. He aspires and works to be with Daisy, despite the hardships.I think that you can't repeat the past much like Nick says. Once it as been done once things can never be the same. By trying to repeat what you once had or where the present becomes a constant time of struggle for something that will never happen.
I do believe that if you are a dreamer you do have to be careful. We don't get everything we want in life and that is just reality. But being a dreamer is not always bad because it helps people look forward to their future and it is fun to always set goals in life and make it happen. But people also have to realize that not all of their dreams will come true.I think most of the characters in Gatsby have a dream. Especially Gatsby, his dream is to get Daisy back in his life. It might happen or it might not. It all just depends on how the story goes. I seriously agree that "You can't repeat the past". I mean I wish I could repeat the past and spend more time with my aunt and I wish I could have told her more I love you's than goodbye's. But I can't do that because I can't repeat the past.
I am a dreamer. I strive to do my best and help all others around me do their best as well. I believe that if you try you succeed, its like the quote "you only miss 100% of the shots you dont take". In the Great Gatsby just as Lauren said it does not seem like any of the people in the book have any real goals except to deceit other people's relationship's for their own growth and happiness. Yes I think that you can repeat the past if you did not learn from it, it will happen in the future. For example, World War 1..I guess that one was not enough because then we had a second World War, because people got selfish and stayed that way. Just as in Gatsby.
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