The Inequality of America Past
Recently, I have been watching Mad Men, a TV series detailing the lives of prominent, white-collar men. The show takes place in the 1960s, yet the actions of the men parallel those living in the “Roaring Twenties”. This decade was filled with excitement and unconcerned spirits. Life flew by without entertaining the thought of the great problems that stained the integrity of America. As with any influential book, Great Gatsby addresses the social issues that we failed to confront. Men and women were held to different standards in the early 20 th century. Men like Don Draper in Mad Men could run around indulging in evil while Betsy Draper would be severely reprimanded for doing the same. Similarly, Tom Buchanan embodies this hypocrisy. He “turned up in popular restaurants with his mistress”, openly and unashamedly embracing his adultery. Although “his acquaintances resented this fact...
Nice post. It really hit on the difficult yet possible nature of looking at life positively. I like that you explained how our thoughts become self centered through the toils of life - this provided a nice transition from your anecdote to your analysis of Wallace's speech.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I really enjoyed the video you added! It was so touching in so many ways, in fact before I wrote about a topic very similar in my blog about how students let their fear take over. I agree with your view on this topic and can't wait to see more from posts from you!
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