"The lawn and the drive had been browded with the faces of those who guessed at his corruption-and he had stood on those steps, concealing his incorruptible dream, as he waved them good bye."
This in the context of TGG, is Gatsby talking about the first party of Gatsby's Nick had gone to. It talks about how all the people there had guessed that Gatsby was corrupt in some way. And that even though everyone had been thinking about his being corrupt, he still stood and faced all of them and no one really new what he wanted and he just stood there and waved as if nothing was happening.
In reference to the 1920's, it talks about the corruption that everyone knows is around but everyone is content in just letting it be. Everyone could look at each other even though most everyone had some form of secret that they were keeping and still were able to look each other in the eyes and do something as regular and nonchalant as wave them goodbye.
It applies to my life as people being able to lie to your face and that you guess that they are lying but you do not know what about. It also has to deal with the world that has so many secrets to keep hidden and people are becoming less and less content with it and are asking questions about it which makes it more difficult to keep a calm face. Which ends up leaving the secret keepers a broken mess or dead like in Gatsby's case.
It's very interesting how you tie this quote to the 1920s. I don't think I'd have ever thought of it that way, but it does make a lot of sense. People must have known that their friends and neighbors were engaged in questionably moral and ethical deeds. However, being involved in such affairs themselves, they could do nothing but put up their own facades, lie through their teeth, and smile and nod. And I also like how you applied that to a more modern example.
ReplyDeleteGood call!