What Drives Us

DRAFT #2 FOR ESSAY ON GG AND CTS

Passion moves people. It drives humanity and it acts as an instigator for human actions and choice. Both Fitzgerald, in his novel The Great Gatsby, and Ondaatje, in Coming Through Slaughter, use symbols such as the green light and the cornet to portray the passions of both Bolden and Gatsby and how these led to their demise.

A symbol that Fitzgerald uses is the green light that Gastby could see across the bay from his house. This green light, which Gatsby stares at for hours on end from his house, symbolizes the love and wanting that Gatsby has for Daisy. The light stands for the hope that Gatsby has that one day he will meet Daisy again. Although Gatsby may have never acted on this urge to meet personally with Daisy after living close to her for so long, the green light is a physical representation of the still-present and burning love that he feels. Fitzgerald also leads us to realize that although our passions are wonderful things, they are strong and can lead us to misery and strife. We can clearly see that Gatsby’s acting on his passions ultimately led to the death of an innocent woman.

Ondaatje takes on a slightly different approach to this subject of passions. In his novel Coming Through Slaughter, Buddy Bolden is a character who seems to lead a double life. In one life, he is the average barber and on the other, he is an alcohol-drinking, prostitute-loving musician. Ondaatje makes Bolden’s passion be the music, in this case his cornet. In the beginning of the novel, we are shown a stark contrast between both of Bolden’s personalities and we are shown that when he performs, he reaches a completely higher level of being. Slowly, as the plot progresses, we can see that the passions in Bolden’s life are systematically driving him mad. Although his music was incredible, with his eccentric shows and mind-boggling mixes between gospel hymns and blues, it degenerated him. His passions ultimately let to his insanity.

As I have clearly demonstrated, both Fitzgerald and Ondaatje use symbols in their novels to show us the powerful, yet dangerous qualities of our passions. You can see it as either Gatsby’s green light or as Bolden’s cornet. Both authors are trying to show us that our passions move us wether we want them to or not, the important thing is being able to maintain control.