Hey guys, it's Jasmine.
Today we were talking about how Willy and Gatsby always wanted more. While Linda was excited that the mortgage was almost paid off, Willy saw it in a negative sense. He couldn't appreciate his achievements, because he never thought they were good enough. Gatsby's main motivation in amassing his fortune was to win Daisy back. He thought that if he got Daisy back, he would finally be happy; however, the Daisy that he truly loved only existed in his dreams, and he had idealized her in his mind for five years. Thus, he could never be satisfied, since Daisy could never meet his expectations. Also, his money meant nothing to him, since the main reason that he worked to become a millionaire was to impress Daisy.
Like Donna was saying in class the other day, people on the East Coast want to go to California, while people who live on the West Coast want to go to New York - they want the opposite of what they have. Also, people who have straight hair always complain about how their hair is limp and flat, and they envy people with curly hair. On the other hand, those with curly hair often desire straight hair. Also, when I went to visit Taiwan last summer, I was surprised to hear that Asians try to keep their skin as white as possible - they cover up with layers of clothing, and sometimes even resort to using whitening creams. I thought this was funny because in America, we have more of an obsession with tanning. Both groups of people are dissatisfied with their natural skin color. Also, a lot of Asians get double eyelid and nose surgeries to look more like Caucasians. I've even heard about people who get a surgery in which their legs are broken and then screwed together with a space in between - eventually new bone will grow, making them taller. It sounds extremely painful to me, but I guess some people are so discontent with being short.
So what do you guys think? Do you think that Fitzgerald and Miller were using the idea of dissatisfaction to say something about the 1920's and the 1950's? Do you think that they were trying to point out flaws in American values, or in humans in general? Lastly, do you think that dissatisfaction can lead to more positive than negative results? Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that he succeeded because he was never too satisfied - he kept creating new goals and dreams.
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Hey, it's Erin.
I think that dissatisfaction is a quality that all people possess. How many times have we heard, "money doesn't buy happiness" or "the grass is greener on the other side?" How many times have people said to themselves, if only I had this or if only this happened, I'd be happy? I don't know exactly why that is, maybe people get bored with how they are and want a change, maybe we are taught not to be satisfied. When it comes to appearance, many people aren't satisfied with who they are because they have an image in their mind that someone else said, "this is beautiful; this is what people should look like." I complain a lot about my hair (because it's really thin but gets messed up really easily) but whenever I start complaining about it, my other friends start complaining about their thick hair and how they can barely keep it under control.
I think that dissatisfaction is a motivator, and it can produce positive or negative results. In Arnold Schwarznegger's case, dissatisfacion kept him going, gave him the drive he needed to succeed. Other people can just sit and wallow in disappointment. It also depends on what you are dissatisfied about: your hair, your job, etc. Depending on what a person is dissatisfied over, their feelings can either help them or hurt them, based on how they chose to react.
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