A single story can be a devastating thing, not because it does not tell the truth, but that it only tells parts of the truth. Entire voices and experiences are erased in the face of a broad explanation, which is often easier to understand through its one-sided simplicity. The single story manifests itself through society in the form of harmful stereotypes of racial, ethnic, national and religious groups. However, literature allows us the opportunity to inspect and understand the way a single story can affect the actions and experiences of a set of characters, through understanding what they feel and how they react. Through the texts Atonement, by Ian McEwan, Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Potter
…show more content…
Gatsby’s original name is James Gatz. Gatz is born poor, but wishes to be greater, and so he pursues greater wealth. At the age of seventeen, upon realising that he would not be able to overcome the barrier between new money and old money, he creates the persona of Jay Gatsby, and entirely omits and recreates his past. In doing this, he creates a narrow single story for himself of which he is not willing to step out — he is Jay Gatsby, and he cares about his wealth above all. ‘He invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end,’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter six) shows us how limiting this persona is for Gatsby — he tried to fully conceptualise who he wanted to be at seventeen, an incredibly immature age to be sure of his purpose and identity, and thus his growth as a person was limited from that point. ‘He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy,’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter six) shows us how as a result of this limitation, Gatsby’s love for Daisy was diluted by his love for what Daisy represented to him — old money, status, and wealth. Moreover, Gatsby was unable to cope with his single story being challenged. Tom calling Gatsby ‘Mr. Nobody from Nowhere’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter seven) pushes Gatsby to the point of losing his usual countenance, and control over the situation as Tom questions Gatsby’s authenticity, which is the foundation for Gatsby’s
Gatsby’s original name is James Gatz. Gatz is born poor, but wishes to be greater, and so he pursues greater wealth. At the age of seventeen, upon realising that he would not be able to overcome the barrier between new money and old money, he creates the persona of Jay Gatsby, and entirely omits and recreates his past. In doing this, he creates a narrow single story for himself of which he is not willing to step out — he is Jay Gatsby, and he cares about his wealth above all. ‘He invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end,’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter six) shows us how limiting this persona is for Gatsby — he tried to fully conceptualise who he wanted to be at seventeen, an incredibly immature age to be sure of his purpose and identity, and thus his growth as a person was limited from that point. ‘He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy,’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter six) shows us how as a result of this limitation, Gatsby’s love for Daisy was diluted by his love for what Daisy represented to him — old money, status, and wealth. Moreover, Gatsby was unable to cope with his single story being challenged. Tom calling Gatsby ‘Mr. Nobody from Nowhere’ (The Great Gatsby, chapter seven) pushes Gatsby to the point of losing his usual countenance, and control over the situation as Tom questions Gatsby’s authenticity, which is the foundation for Gatsby’s