Who is mckees in the great gatsby

Loving someone is truly caring about their wellbeing. No one in this novel, nor any other story by Scott Fitzgerald that I have read, exhibits the capacity for love like you would see in say, Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre for example.

Gatsby had a superficial obsession triggered by Daisy's "voice full of money. Fitzgera'd's doppleganger, Amory Blaine in This Side of Paradise , had a series of affairs with beautiful young debutantes. Scott pursued them in real life, eventually marrying one, Zelda--who as we well know was the basis for Daisy--after being spurned by another, Ginevra King, for William Mitchell, a wealthy Chicagoan.

So, if you want to say Gatsby was madly, obsessively "in love," I agree, but Gatsby never loved anyone but himself. If he truly cared about Daisy he'd have asked Nick how happy she was with Tom before approaching her. But no, it was all about what Gatsby wanted.

And his comment about her "voice full of money" makes me wonder if his interest had something to do with the bond scam and access to Tom and his friends' fortunes. And yes, she would have been a trophy wife, but something many forget, is that we human beings are psychologically complex and quite often do things out of multiple motives I especially like how you add "psychologically complex".

Yes, humans have several motivations! Jordan could have been a great trophy wife too, without the messy complications of Tom and Pammy.

So we just can't get past it. The obsessive, irrational, complicated love he had for Daisy. Monty J wrote: "What?? Not into everyone, but into those that are in power. I am also saying that it typically fascinates Americans. Hence the popularity of Gatsby, The Godfather, Goodfellas, etc. And yes, it leads to a bad end -- hence Gatsby's bad end. But it still fascinates people. I think we have to consider Gatsby's life. A poor North Dakota farm boy who did everything he could to improve himself.

Remember the list of self improvement? Joins the army, serves his country nobly -- even gets some medals and a chance to study at Oxford. But returns to New York City so poor he has literally only the army uniform on his back.

Then he runs into Wolfsheim. The American consciousness has a soft spot for that sort of jilted anti-hero. And most readers do sympathize with Gatsby. So yes, I do think they are legitimate questions raised by this book. Monty J wrote: "No one in this novel, nor any other story by Scott Fitzgerald that I have read, exhibits the capacity for love like you would see in say, Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre for example A poor Gypsy boy is adopted into a wealthy family. He does everything he can to improve himself.

But then he is jilted out of his inheritance by his evil step brother. Heathcliff then pursues a life of crime and corruption in order to win back the estate, at the same time pursuing Cathy, whom he can never have. He ruins many lives in the process. It is the same kind of obsessive, Gatsby-esque love. Christine wrote: "Well now, if we want to make a comparison with Heathcliff, I'd say there is a direct one to be made!

Heathcliff died of a broken heart. Gatsby died as a direct result of his corrupt way of living after his "love" rejected him for being a crook. But I'll accept that there is a thread of cultural sickness in American society that makes heroes of corrupt power-craving protagonists. Programs like The Sopranos and Deadwood turn my stomach. I never watched more than a small piece of either. I saw The Godfather and never went back for a sequel. What the hell is wrong with people!

Christine wrote: "The American consciousness has a soft spot for that sort of jilted anti-hero. Wall Street needs individual investors to be trusting and gullible, just as Nick was trusting and naive, even blind toward Gatsby's corruption.

A film that properly showed Gatsby's criminality would make people wary of Wall Street, therefore Fitzgerald's plot and characters had to be massaged.

Four films have been made of TGG and not one has told the truth about his bond scam, a truth that Fitzgerald put right there in plain sight. The Slagel scene erased. It was one of the most important scenes in the novel because it proved what Tom said about Gatsby, that he was in on a swindle to steal money from widows and orphans by selling worthless bonds. Jun 02, AM. I take exception to the last sentence, Monty.

The bonds wouldn't have been in the purchaser's names, so their worth would be the same if stolen. Geoffrey wrote: "I take exception to the last sentence, Monty. Bonds are regarded in the securities industry of which I was once connected professionally, as primarily the domain of "widows and orphans" because it was considered low risk and boring in comparison to stocks and commodities. The fact is, that trust departments and estate managers who controlled the vast majority of investments on behalf of widows and orphans preferred bonds because they could buy them and essentially forget them except for periodically clipping the interest coupons for redemption.

But yes, it makes no sense to steal or counterfeit anything but "bearer bonds" bonds not made out or endorsed in the name of a particular holder. Whoever hands them "over the counter" or sells them to another investor can receive cash for them. There is no registered owner's name printed on the face of a bearer bond, allowing interest and principal to be paid without hesitation to anyone tendering a bond certificate.

From Investopedia: Bearer bonds have historically been the financial instrument of choice for money launderers, tax evaders and others trying to conceal business transactions.

In one famous case in the late s, German banks backed by provincial governments and the government of Prussia issued tens of millions of dollars in bearer bonds, ostensibly as part of a program to improve Germany's agricultural sector. The bonds were to mature in and were payable in New York, but to this day neither the interest nor the principal has been paid.

But your explanation still begs the question. You've successfully evaded the question as to how widows and orphans would be cheated. How were the bonds worthless? Even if these were the bogus German bonds, how were they worthless in ? We only know them to be worthless because they couldn't be reimbursed in They could and were sold many times before that date.

Geoffrey wrote: "But your explanation still begs the question. If a "small-town" bank's trust department bought Gatsby's bonds, Gatsby would get paid, but when the department submitted interest coupons for redemption, they would not be paid.

Here's the citation from the text: Young Parke's in trouble. They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter. They got a circular from New York giving 'em the numbers just five minutes before. The "circular from New York giving 'em the numbers" refers to a list of stolen or counterfeit securities. The standard practice for most banks' trust departments or securities firm or transfer agents is to maintain such a list and add to it as such notices are received.

Anything new incoming would be checked against the hot list unless it was from a known and trusted source. Jun 02, PM. Monty J wrote: "the full truth of the novel has been deliberately suppressed, by Hollywood and by academia, by people with a vested interest in keeping people ignorant and naive. Not only with Gatsby, but with many other issues, there is a vested interest in keeping people ignorant. Probably most folks don't understand enough about bonds or the financial world, to pick up on the truth about Gatsby's bond scheme.

Most folks think Gatsby earned his money through bootlegging. Most folks think bootlegging is not that bad of a crime. This is because Prohibition was a dumb law that did not work. So most Americans think bootlegging is OK. Also, everybody in TGG is drinking all the time, even though booze is illegal. Someone has to be supplying them. Of course, if Gatsby had made his entire fortune through bootlegging, he would be like the Pablo Escobar of alcohol.

But still, folks think this is OK. The bond scheme angle of the story is important, and it was necessary that Nick be a bond salesman. Otherwise SF could have given Nick any occupation.

Monty J wrote: "Four films have been made of TGG and not one has told the truth about his bond scam, a truth that Fitzgerald put right there in plain sight. Watch on youtube for free. It is a made for TV. They DO included the Slagel scene and address the bond scheme. If you watch it, I am curious to know what you think!

Hint -- they still have Nick's loyalties with Gatsby, despite everything Jun 03, AM. Christine wrote: "Probably most folks don't understand enough about bonds or the financial world, to pick up on the truth about Gatsby's bond scheme. The most important aspect of the novel has been carefully removed from essentially all the film versions and the mainstream of academia.

This is no accident. And the film does make the bond scam more prominent, but I would have liked Nick to reflect briefly on the widows and orphans that financed Gatsby's opulent lifestyle. It's great to see the book more honestly reflected on screen. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

I got the strong impression that the Slagel deal was a new development and that no transactions had as of yet been initiated but were about to be. As for the , dollar necklace, Jay would not have been to come anywhere close to matching it. He was but a front man with a bit of pocket change.

Wolfsheim more than likely paid rent on the mansion and the salaries for his henchman at the house. Geoffrey wrote: "I got the strong impression that the Slagel deal was a new development and that no transactions had as of yet been initiated but were about to be. I said a small town. He must know what a small town is. Well, he's no use to us if Detroit is his idea of a small town.

He even ferried Nick downtown to meet him so Wolfsheim could size him up as a potential candidate for the sales team, and it was Wolfie who chose the mansion staff, a family of rough characters, after Daisy was in hand and the parties had stopped. The parties are clearly intended for sales prospecting, as Nick noted during his first event, and the observation by the owl-eyed man in Gatsby's library that the books hadn't been read and that "most people were brought" supports the notion that the library was merely there to impress people.

Through the eyes the reader has an implicit call to action, reconnecting with a lost spiritual connection. After Nick and Tom get off the train notice how Tom orders Nick around and announces what it is they are going to do; these are clear indicators of Tom's nature and continue to mark him as the story continues , they proceed to George Wilson's repair garage. Much can be learned about Wilson, as well as everyone trapped in the valley of ashes, through the brief exchange.

There is little about Wilson to indicate he will ever be anywhere but the desolate wasteland of the valley. His business totters on the brink of failure, and he seems ignorant of what goes on around him.

It is unlikely that he is, in Tom's elitist words, "so dumb he doesn't know he's alive," but he does seem trapped by an unnamable force. Myrtle Wilson appears in striking contrast to her husband.

Although she does not possess the ethereal qualities of Daisy, in fact, she appears very much of the earth, she does possess a decided sensuality, as well a degree of ambition and drive that is conspicuously absent in her husband. After a few attempts at social niceties showing that Myrtle, despite being trapped in a dead-end lifestyle, aspires in some sense to refinement and propriety , Nick and Tom leave, with the understanding that Myrtle will soon join them to travel into the city to the apartment that Tom keeps for just such purposes.

It is worth noting, however, that Myrtle rides in a different train car from Tom and Nick, in accordance with Tom's desire to pander, in this small way, to the "sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train.

He is bold about his affair, not worrying that Daisy knows, but he sees the need to put up a pretense on the train, as if that one small gesture of discretion makes up for all the other ways in which he flaunts his affairs.

As soon as the group arrives in New York, Myrtle shows herself to be not nearly as nondescript as is her husband. She is, however, far from refined, despite how she may try. At the apartment in New York, after "throwing a regal homecoming glance around the neighborhood," Myrtle undergoes a transformation. By changing her clothes she leaves behind her lower-class trappings, and in donning new clothes she adopts a new personality. She invites her sister and some friends to join the afternoon's party, but her motivation for doing so goes beyond simply wanting to enjoy their company.

Her intent is largely to show off what she has gained for herself through her arrangement. It is irrelevant to Myrtle that what she has gained comes through questionable means; clearly, for her and Tom, too , the morality of infidelity is not an issue. Her affair with Tom allows her to gain something she wants — money and power — and therefore it can be justified. As Nick describes, when Myrtle changes her clothes, she exchanges her earlier "intense vitality" clearly a positive and refreshing attribute for "impressive hauteur" a decidedly unappealing quality invoking Nick's respect and disgust simultaneously.

While entertaining, Myrtle comes across as perceiving herself to be superior, although that isn't hard to do, given the people with whom she surrounds herself. The McKees, for instance, are trying desperately to be accepted by the upper class, but are really shallow, dull people. Myrtle grows louder and more obnoxious the more she drinks, and shortly after Tom gives her a new puppy as a gift, she begins to talk about Daisy.

Tom sternly warns her never to mention his wife. Tom responds by breaking her nose, bringing the party to an abrupt halt. Nick leaves, drunkenly, with Mr. McKee, and ends up taking the 4 a. Unlike the other settings in the book, the valley of ashes is a picture of absolute desolation and poverty. It lacks a glamorous surface and lies fallow and gray halfway between West Egg and New York. The valley of ashes symbolizes the moral decay hidden by the beautiful facades of the Eggs, and suggests that beneath the ornamentation of West Egg and the mannered charm of East Egg lies the same ugliness as in the valley.

The valley is created by industrial dumping and is therefore a by-product of capitalism. It is the home to the only poor characters in the novel. The undefined significance of Doctor T. The faded paint of the eyes can be seen as symbolizing the extent to which humanity has lost its connection to God. The fourth and final setting of the novel, New York City, is in every way the opposite of the valley of ashes—it is loud, garish, abundant, and glittering. To Nick, New York is simultaneously fascinating and repulsive, thrillingly fast-paced and dazzling to look at but lacking a moral center.

While Tom is forced to keep his affair with Myrtle relatively discreet in the valley of the ashes, in New York he can appear with her in public, even among his acquaintances, without causing a scandal. Perhaps as recompense for his generosity, Gatsby requires Klipspringer to perform on the piano, to entertain Daisy on her first visit, and as a celebration of their reunion. Klipspringer ultimately has to, although he is reluctant and negative about his skills as a pianist.

He has simply used him.