Emily Avdem
Ms. Fordahl
The Great Gatsby
14 February 2014
5. Don't critique others
The Great Gatsby is an amazing book full of life lessons. Some are hidden in the words and some seem to slap you in the face. Either way, it gets you thinking. One of the biggest issues in the world is judgement. People have to be a certain way or else you will be judged. One lesson in The Great Gatsby that spoke to me was, don't critique others. A passage from the book that emphasizes this lesson is,
"I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men."
In my essay I am going to talk about why it is important to "reserve all judgements." I am also going to talk about the book and when Nick, the narrator of the book, kept an open mind which led him to finding someone you only find once in a lifetime. Lastly, I will talk about my own experiences with judgement.
This world goes through many changes from style to schools. From technology to architecture, but one thing that hasn't changed is judgement. Even long ago people were separated into categories and if you weren't in "top class" or even "middle class" you were nothing. You were judged for what you had and what you did not have. You were judged by the color of your skin and by the way you talked. If someone is born into wealth, who are they to say that the unwealthy people are not worthy? Even if someone works hard for their money, who are they to say the unwealthy people do not work just as hard? That is the nasty thing about this world, we all judge each other. We judge each other from what we see on the surface or from what we hear from others, that we do not get to know a person for who they actually are.
In The Great Gatsby, Nick is thrown into the decade of money and lies. He has to decide who is real and who just wants to get what they want. Nick did not care about the money and was an honest person. He was open minded to the rich people and gave them chances after chances to show their real selves. He knew when one was lying or when one was being truthful. Even after Gatsby gave Nick reason to believe he was a rich man with many secrets and who could never tell the truth, he still kept an open mind. This trait gives Nick a great friend and many life lessons. Nick was the only one who seemed to know the real Gatsby and Gatsby was a diamond hidden among synthetic stones.
In my experience with judgement, you cannot let what others tell you be your only reason for not liking someone or "judging" someone. The quote, "Judging someone does not show who they are, it only shows who you really are." This quote is true, you can judge someone and be completely wrong about who they are but it does show how much of a close-minded person you are. I have judged and realized that I missed out on great people.
In conclusion, diversity and individuality keeps our world interesting, but if we were all the same judgement would no longer be an issue. We could all see what is below the surface. We could too, find that diamond among synthetic stones.
