Uncovering It All

         In my last blog post, I talked about a few of my issues with "The Great Gatsby." When I wrote the piece, I only intended to leave it at that, but as I reach the beautiful end of the traumatizing story, I realize that my anger runs deeper than just hate for the white rich characters in the story. No, my main issue isn't with these people (although they are quite insufferable), but with the narrator, Nick Carraway. Yes, the main point of view is quite literally the most disgusting and loathed person in my book. In this post, I will list a few reasons on why I despise him so much, and why that anger led to my ultimate hatred of "The Great Gatsby."                  1.  He is actually such a bad narrator:      Genuinely, Nick's perspective annoys me so much in this story due to his unreliability as the narrator. He claims that he is an honest character, yet not even two chapters in, he sit...

        To the immense joy of my AP English teacher, my class has finally entered the "The Great Gatsby" era, where we talk about rich people, white people, and to no one's surprise, rich white people. In all honesty, I don't really understand the hype around the book. Sure, the book cover with the eyes is pretty, but I'm only two chapters in and already want to gauge my eyes out. The only fun thing about this otherwise sad, sad period is the fact that my teacher allows us to openly criticize and judge the characters in the story. Of course, it would be hard not  to judge the cast when all they do is break laws, be racist, and spend money like they have trees of it in their backyards. I mean, come on, you're seriously telling me two people in the 1920s spent over $1,200 in two days? In 2023, that's equivalent to $18,421.56! Over 18 freaking thousand dollars! Divided equally, that's a little more than $9,000 a day. I may not know a lot, but $9,000 dolla...

        As the child of immigrant parents, I've grown up struggling to grapple my cultural identity, as like most people in my position. Although having tried everything to fit in with those I aspired to be with, it seemed that nothing I did would ever result in finding and connecting with others around me. Of course, when I was younger, I had a very black and white view of the world and of finding my place. I just believed that if you wanted to befriend others, you were automatically part of their culture, but there's so many intricate levels and details to know before truly being able to appreciate everything about it.          In Egyptian culture, food, family and education are all key factors, while in American culture, entertainment, politics and technology all reign supreme. These dramatic differences in these two ways of life often confused me. Which was I supposed to follow? A combination of the two would be easy, but it never re...