Poison (final draft)
2013-03-19~2013-03-31
English class essay about the book “The Great Gatsby” and the American society from 1920s to 1970s
The poison
Melody Park
When I was a child, I met a Korean man in Paris. He was my uncle’s friend and we had dinners together to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, and many other events. I played with his two sons, but I enjoyed having serious conversation with him. I asked him about serious political or scientific questions with curiosity. He could have treated me like a little child whom annoyed him with nonsense questions. However, this man always answered, encouraged, and supported me like my father. As a 10 year-old girl, he was like a trusty man whom I could rely on when I was living alone at my uncle’s house. When I was questioning to myself about my unpredictable and fearful future, he told me that it is important to stay as the way I was, because that was what made me unique. He is the one whom people usually call a millionaire. His job is an art collector and he has famous art pieces made by Pablo Picasso, Philippe Pasqua, and many other artists. How did he get this particular and special job called ‘art collector’ in such a beautiful country, France?
The man from Paris whom I still miss, possessed everything when he was a young man. He had money, intelligence, handsome face, and a loving wife. However, he got to love another beautiful but poor woman whom he used to know from his childhood. He escaped Korea with this poor lady to the wonderful city, Paris and forgave every good opportunity he could have gained in Korea. Even though he was competent and skillful man, he couldn’t get respected job anymore due to the runaway and couldn’t go back to Korea for 10 years. The one thing that tortured him the most was criticizes and demoralizations he had from his friends and neighbors. No matter how agonizing the rumors were, he overcame and now he has two children and a joyful life. He also became a successful art collector in Paris.
It was typical Sunday when I first read the book ‘The Great Gatsby’. My family went to a book café where we used to go whenever we were bored of ‘typical Sunday afternoon’. This café’s wall, which was all covered by bookshelves, seemed to whisper to me to read books. When we ordered our food and drinks, my mom suggested me to choose one book and to read it all before we leave. I was curious if I were capable to finish any book in one hour. I felt as if I were challenged to a special mission. It was then when I first encountered ‘The Great Gatsby’. I heard of this book several times before and I thought the name ‘Gatsby’ was cool. I concentrated myself ever than before to finish that book in a given time. When I accomplished the mission, that short reading influenced me so hard that I thought of Gatsby whenever I had a free time to think about anything in bus or subway. Then I realized that both Gatsby and the man from Paris shared several similarities.
“There are too many women who try to allure me.”
When the man from Paris said this, I realized that he didn’t have any respect for women. How could he say that when his loving wife was sitting right next to him? I felt so bad as if he looked like a fake person. So did Gatsby. He didn’t exist in reality. He was described like a shapeless and flowing person in the air. Why didn’t he ever suspect about the fact that Daisy actually deserved his devoting and everlasting love? Was he 100 percent certain about his love for Daisy? These things were the main reason why I liked Gatsby. I admired his straight, passionate, and loyal love for Daisy.
I have a dream like any other people in the world. I have various and specific plans which will support me to achieve the dream. Will I be able to live like my dream or my plans? I asked this question to myself. Then, what would be Gatsby’s dream? His dream was getting Daisy’s love. What did Gatsby do to achieve that dream? Ever since Daisy broke the promise to wait for Gatsby until his return from the war, he tried his best to become rich. When he heard about Daisy’s marriage with Tom, he realized that the reason why Daisy didn’t choose him was all actually because of the money. Since then, Gatsby started from the very bottom to earn money and attained honor. When he eventually became rich, he learned that there was another society for wealthy people. Then he commenced to hide his past and learned how to be the richest and finest man among those rich people. When he accomplished all of his goals, he went to achieve his ultimate dream. He met Daisy and he finally attained Daisy’s love for the second time.
The American society of 1920s in the book was full of fake faces and lies. People had common thought that abundance of wealth was directly related to an eternal happiness. Daisy was no different from those American people. As her life became wealthier, it became more dishonest. Gatsby could see and judge the dishonest things that Daisy did, however, he stayed silent and chose absolute love for Daisy. In order to protect and keep Daisy safe from her miseries, Gatsby’s love had to be greater than Daisy’s contradicted life. Their love became sweeter when it became a secret, however, it was fatal.
Daisy couldn’t control her life from the money. When Gatsby appeared like a sudden hopeful light in front of Daisy, he eventually saved her life from miseries such as Tom’s cheating and her unlimited consumption of money. However, Daisy’s money was different from Gatsby’s money. Or were they really different? Their money was both dollars and could be used to buy lots of expensive and beautiful products of that era. However, Daisy’s money was less valuable than that of Gatsby’s because it certainly was not the money she earned by her pure hard work. Gatsby worked hard to gain wealth and honored position. Therefore Gatsby’s money was proved and honest money. How happy would it be if Daisy kept herself far away from the miserable life that was strongly attached with vague money? She lost Gatsby once when she decided to have a marriage with Tom. Then she lost Gatsby again and forever, because Gatsby died of a car accident.
The man from Paris never told me about his past and love affairs he had previously. I got to know about his past life in Korea from other people. He perhaps didn’t tell me because he thought I was too young. The city of art ‘Paris’ and the man match well to each other. French people are famous for their eagerness to get freedom. They have gone through ‘the French Revolution’ and strikes are one of the most common event in France. However, I used to hate French people’s freedom when I was living in France. It was especially because of the love. Most of my friends’ parents were divorced. Some of them had gone through several times of divorces just because their love was not passionate enough to live together. But now, I am grown enough and I know that love can’t be eternal for sometimes. I also don’t think divorcing or breaking up aren’t bad things. The man from Paris chose the best decision he could have done when he decided to leave Korea with the second lady. The man from Paris and Gatsby shared many similarities, however, their endings were not the same. The ending of the man from Paris wasn’t as tragic as that of Gatsby. He gained a beautiful home and family like his art pieces.
When the man from Paris said disrespectful words toward women (his previous quote on upper paragraph), I doubted if he really loved his second wife. I talked about my thoughts to my aunt. She told me he said that because he was a very rich man. Then she added that he loves his wife even though he didn’t express very much.
“Melody, be a great woman. Enjoy playing soccer, show your leadership, and your love for animals. Stay as the way you are because that is how you find your dream and live the life you want.”
The man from Paris trusted and helped me when I was in trouble in Paris. I wish his life could end as a great love, like the one which Gatsby dreamed about, because the man from Paris’s life is a real life, not a fake life in the book. The love between Gatsby and Daisy seems eternal, however, I somehow felt sad when I finished this book. Gatsby dreamed a great love. However, when he finally arrived to achieve his final goal ‘love’, the place he arrived was a wrong and lost place.
English class essay about the book “The Great Gatsby” and the American society from 1920s to 1970s
The poison
Melody Park
When I was a child, I met a Korean man in Paris. He was my uncle’s friend and we had dinners together to celebrate birthdays, Christmas, and many other events. I played with his two sons, but I enjoyed having serious conversation with him. I asked him about serious political or scientific questions with curiosity. He could have treated me like a little child whom annoyed him with nonsense questions. However, this man always answered, encouraged, and supported me like my father. As a 10 year-old girl, he was like a trusty man whom I could rely on when I was living alone at my uncle’s house. When I was questioning to myself about my unpredictable and fearful future, he told me that it is important to stay as the way I was, because that was what made me unique. He is the one whom people usually call a millionaire. His job is an art collector and he has famous art pieces made by Pablo Picasso, Philippe Pasqua, and many other artists. How did he get this particular and special job called ‘art collector’ in such a beautiful country, France?
The man from Paris whom I still miss, possessed everything when he was a young man. He had money, intelligence, handsome face, and a loving wife. However, he got to love another beautiful but poor woman whom he used to know from his childhood. He escaped Korea with this poor lady to the wonderful city, Paris and forgave every good opportunity he could have gained in Korea. Even though he was competent and skillful man, he couldn’t get respected job anymore due to the runaway and couldn’t go back to Korea for 10 years. The one thing that tortured him the most was criticizes and demoralizations he had from his friends and neighbors. No matter how agonizing the rumors were, he overcame and now he has two children and a joyful life. He also became a successful art collector in Paris.
It was typical Sunday when I first read the book ‘The Great Gatsby’. My family went to a book café where we used to go whenever we were bored of ‘typical Sunday afternoon’. This café’s wall, which was all covered by bookshelves, seemed to whisper to me to read books. When we ordered our food and drinks, my mom suggested me to choose one book and to read it all before we leave. I was curious if I were capable to finish any book in one hour. I felt as if I were challenged to a special mission. It was then when I first encountered ‘The Great Gatsby’. I heard of this book several times before and I thought the name ‘Gatsby’ was cool. I concentrated myself ever than before to finish that book in a given time. When I accomplished the mission, that short reading influenced me so hard that I thought of Gatsby whenever I had a free time to think about anything in bus or subway. Then I realized that both Gatsby and the man from Paris shared several similarities.
“There are too many women who try to allure me.”
When the man from Paris said this, I realized that he didn’t have any respect for women. How could he say that when his loving wife was sitting right next to him? I felt so bad as if he looked like a fake person. So did Gatsby. He didn’t exist in reality. He was described like a shapeless and flowing person in the air. Why didn’t he ever suspect about the fact that Daisy actually deserved his devoting and everlasting love? Was he 100 percent certain about his love for Daisy? These things were the main reason why I liked Gatsby. I admired his straight, passionate, and loyal love for Daisy.
I have a dream like any other people in the world. I have various and specific plans which will support me to achieve the dream. Will I be able to live like my dream or my plans? I asked this question to myself. Then, what would be Gatsby’s dream? His dream was getting Daisy’s love. What did Gatsby do to achieve that dream? Ever since Daisy broke the promise to wait for Gatsby until his return from the war, he tried his best to become rich. When he heard about Daisy’s marriage with Tom, he realized that the reason why Daisy didn’t choose him was all actually because of the money. Since then, Gatsby started from the very bottom to earn money and attained honor. When he eventually became rich, he learned that there was another society for wealthy people. Then he commenced to hide his past and learned how to be the richest and finest man among those rich people. When he accomplished all of his goals, he went to achieve his ultimate dream. He met Daisy and he finally attained Daisy’s love for the second time.
The American society of 1920s in the book was full of fake faces and lies. People had common thought that abundance of wealth was directly related to an eternal happiness. Daisy was no different from those American people. As her life became wealthier, it became more dishonest. Gatsby could see and judge the dishonest things that Daisy did, however, he stayed silent and chose absolute love for Daisy. In order to protect and keep Daisy safe from her miseries, Gatsby’s love had to be greater than Daisy’s contradicted life. Their love became sweeter when it became a secret, however, it was fatal.
Daisy couldn’t control her life from the money. When Gatsby appeared like a sudden hopeful light in front of Daisy, he eventually saved her life from miseries such as Tom’s cheating and her unlimited consumption of money. However, Daisy’s money was different from Gatsby’s money. Or were they really different? Their money was both dollars and could be used to buy lots of expensive and beautiful products of that era. However, Daisy’s money was less valuable than that of Gatsby’s because it certainly was not the money she earned by her pure hard work. Gatsby worked hard to gain wealth and honored position. Therefore Gatsby’s money was proved and honest money. How happy would it be if Daisy kept herself far away from the miserable life that was strongly attached with vague money? She lost Gatsby once when she decided to have a marriage with Tom. Then she lost Gatsby again and forever, because Gatsby died of a car accident.
The man from Paris never told me about his past and love affairs he had previously. I got to know about his past life in Korea from other people. He perhaps didn’t tell me because he thought I was too young. The city of art ‘Paris’ and the man match well to each other. French people are famous for their eagerness to get freedom. They have gone through ‘the French Revolution’ and strikes are one of the most common event in France. However, I used to hate French people’s freedom when I was living in France. It was especially because of the love. Most of my friends’ parents were divorced. Some of them had gone through several times of divorces just because their love was not passionate enough to live together. But now, I am grown enough and I know that love can’t be eternal for sometimes. I also don’t think divorcing or breaking up aren’t bad things. The man from Paris chose the best decision he could have done when he decided to leave Korea with the second lady. The man from Paris and Gatsby shared many similarities, however, their endings were not the same. The ending of the man from Paris wasn’t as tragic as that of Gatsby. He gained a beautiful home and family like his art pieces.
When the man from Paris said disrespectful words toward women (his previous quote on upper paragraph), I doubted if he really loved his second wife. I talked about my thoughts to my aunt. She told me he said that because he was a very rich man. Then she added that he loves his wife even though he didn’t express very much.
“Melody, be a great woman. Enjoy playing soccer, show your leadership, and your love for animals. Stay as the way you are because that is how you find your dream and live the life you want.”
The man from Paris trusted and helped me when I was in trouble in Paris. I wish his life could end as a great love, like the one which Gatsby dreamed about, because the man from Paris’s life is a real life, not a fake life in the book. The love between Gatsby and Daisy seems eternal, however, I somehow felt sad when I finished this book. Gatsby dreamed a great love. However, when he finally arrived to achieve his final goal ‘love’, the place he arrived was a wrong and lost place.