Stagnation In The Great Gatsby

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Stagnation was the typical, everyday feeling of American society between World War I and World War II. The majority of the people during this time did not feel any excitement or interest in anything and avoided engaging in daily activities. Literature reflects on the culture that produces it so, throughout this period of American literature authors tended to use stagnation as a common theme. The characters in William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” are each suffering from their plight, but they are different in regards to the type of stagnation they experienced, the result of the stagnation and similar to what caused the stagnation. The characters in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and F. …show more content…
Charlie’s result of the stagnation he experienced was that he learned what he has done in his past, but was willing to fix it no matter what, “he wanted his child, and nothing was much good now” (Fitzgerald). Charlie’s wife had died and then he lost custody over his child by his sister-in-law who did not trust him with his own child and held him responsible for the death of his own wife. But Charlie was coping with it and was doing everything and letting time do its part to make it right again. On the other hand, Emily had a hard time moving on and accepting change during her stagnation and resulted in her dying at age 74. Emily’s results of her stagnation ended so desperately because she only knew how to love one man and that was her father, “We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will” (Faulkner). Both characters in William Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited” each suffered from different situations, but they are different in regards to the type of stagnation they experienced and the result of the stagnation. The similarity the two characters shared throughout their lives of stagnation is what caused this. Charlie and Emily were both two miserable people who went through an
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