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The Good Life - Coggle Diagram

- - - - For most of the novel, Changez is chasing social mobility and an idea of himself as a successful businessman. Once he graduates and obtains that title, he quickly becomes depressed with the situation back in Pakistan and starts to lose interest in his job and the dream he once had for himself. He realized that there is no depth to his job, and he is just contributing to a culture of materialism and capitalism. The reality of his dream led to disappointment, but also a healthy wake up call in discovering what he truly stands for.
    - - Emma's tendency to romanticize life leads to her being disappointed with reality.
        
        When Emma first met Charles, she was infatuated with him and her blindness led her to believe her to believe he fit every ideal she had of love.
        
        Because of Emma's habit of basing her ideas of romance off of novels, romance in real life was incredibly disappointing in her marriage and in her affair.
        
        marriage is a façade to give the illusion of fulfillment
    - - In the end, Gatsby's dream of himself and the reputation he tried to uphold only ended up killing him. In reality, who he dreamt of being was not authentic and his lies caught up with him. It is rare that anyone lives in an authentic reality in the novel, especially Daisy.
        
        Daisy's entire reality is made up. Her marriage it in shambles and she is getting cheated on. She doesn't acknowledge the reality of being a mother.
    - - By the end of the film, it becomes clear that the dream of social mobility that the Kims once had is unattainable for them. Kevin never actually buys the home for his family and it was all a fantasy. Rather than moving up in class, the Kim family actually goes down lower as the head of the family, Mr. Kim becomes a parasite in the basement.
    - - The Dispossessed ends with the reality that Utopia is only an ideal that cannot truly be achieved. Utopia looks different for every person, so there is not one perfect work that suits all needs.
  - - - Kincaid clarifies that the top (government jobs or anyone with wealth in Antigua) is full of corruption and exploitation. Behind a seemingly good life of wealth is greed and sin.
    - - After a trip to Chile, Changez realizes that getting to the top and being a rich businessman was not the life he wanted. That life felt inauthentic and predatory.
    - - Gatsby's wealth made him seem like he had everything. However, it becomes clear that he is not truly happy and he did not even obtain his wealth legally. He never got Daisy, the person he built his life for.
- - - - Emma is consistently unhappy with her life throughout the novel.
        
        Unhappy in her marriage to Charles
        
        Distant from her child, faints when she finds out her child is a girl (77)
        
        Constantly searching for autonomy
        
        Her childlike desires for romance are never achieved in the ways she wants
        
        Resorts to infidelity
        
        Emma is not even happy in her affair as she only loved the idea of Leon, “But she was filled with desire, with rage, with hatred...She was in love with Leon, and she wanted to be alone so as to delight more comfortably in his image. The sight of him in person disturbed the sensual pleasure of this meditation. Emma trembled at the sound of his footsteps; then, in his presence, her emotions subsided, leaving only an immense astonishment that ended in sadness” (93-94)
        
        Seeks the same autonomy that men receive. “A man, at least, is free; he can explore every passion, every land, overcome obstacles, taste the most distant pleasures. But a woman is continually thwarted….there is always some desire luring her on, some convention holding her back” (77)
        
        Wants her offspring to be a boy so it can be autonomous the way men are and they way she never was
        
        She discovers she is not actually in love with Charles only after marrying him (30) and describes conversations with him to be “as flat as a sidewalk” (35)
    - - Gatsby and Daisy are always pursing things they don't have in their seemingly "perfect" lives.
        
        Daisy has a “perfect” life but she is unhappy, she is in a terrible marriage and doesn’t engage with her children.
        
        Daisy wanted her daughter to be a son, “‘She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept’” (17)
        
        In his pursuit of Daisy, it is clear Gatsby is not happy with his life or himself. He is constantly trying to run away from his past
    - - Although Changez says he is happy with his life in the beginning of the novel, his actions say otherwise
        
        Changez chases after ideals (the perfect job and the perfect girl) in order to achieve what he thinks will be happiness
        
        Changez idealized the American dream, then quickly became unhappy with his life. He was so unhappy that he traded his "successful" career in America for a job in his homeland to pursue a more fulfilling life.
    - - Walter and Ruth are unhappy with their lives and dream of changing their living conditions.
        
        Walter wants money. He wants the dream life of being a successful, respected businessman and having a big house. He is extremely frustrated throughout the play because he does not have these things.
        
        Ruth is dissatisfied on a more simple scale than Walter. All she wants is to use the insurance money for a slightly bigger space so her son can have a room of his own.
  - - - Emma attempts social mobility through her decision to marry Charles.
        
        Marriage to Charles gives Emma access to all the lavish things she romanticized about life such as the ball that she fantasized about every Wednesday for 3 weeks after it occurred (48). The ball shows her yearning for wealth and high society.
    - - Changez reinvents himself in order to become part of the Nouveau Riche in New York in contrast to his aristocratic status in Pakistan.
        
        Gets introduced to wealth through his mentor Jim. Begins to attend lavish parties and pick up wealthy habits in pursuit of class mobility.
        
        Changez reinvents his social status.
        
        Goes to an ivy league school
        
        Get a well-paying business job right after graduation
        
        Dips into higher class society by pursuing Erica
    - - .Gatsby creates an idea of himself full of wealth and confidence and obtains money to erase his past as lower class so that Daisy will be more attracted to him
        
        Introduced to wealth through his mentor Dan Cody
        
        Gatsby is obsessed with the concept of lavishness and wealth. He was more obsessed with the idea of Daisy’s money and status more than Daisy as a person. Pursing Daisy was an ideal that would mark the end of James Gatz.
        
        pursing a lover purely for the idea of them and their class allure
    - - The Kim family is painfully poverty-stricken and aims to change their status by pursuing a career in service to the wealthy Park family. .
        
        Kevin is only interested in Da-hye because of what she represents: a possibility to marry into a wealthy family.
        
        The Kim family basks in lavish when the Parks are not home by enjoying their alcohol, food, and amenities suggesting that the Park family and their wealth is what they strive for.
    - - Walter dreams of abandoning his current life for a more respected, wealthy one where he is a successful businessman with an abundance of money. The insurance check represents to him social mobility and a way out of poverty.
        
        Walter tries to manifest a wealthy lifestyle by hanging with men who talk about investing in the liquor store and giving his son money when he asks.
- - - - Antigone brings to question who and what constitutes an honorable death. Because Polynices goes against the country, Creon believes he is undeserving of an honorable death, while Antigone fights for Polynices to have a proper burial.
        
        Antigone and Creon represent the moral ambiguity of doing the right thing when it comes to honoring the traditions of an outlaw once they have passed.
        
        Antigone remained loyal to her morals by dying for her stubborn belief that she was doing the right thing.
    - - Mama has a very strict moral code in the play. She is extremely against Walter opening a liquor store with the insurance money and profiting off a business of addiction.
    - - Both the Park and the Kim families have weak moral codes, and the question of who is the parasite becomes difficult to answer.
        
        The Kims could be considered the parasite because of the seduction, deceit, and sabotage (doing the morally "wrong" thing) they used to trick the Parks and obtain service jobs in the household. Similarly to a Parasite, the Kim's refuse to leave the house and Mr. Kim even overstays his welcome in the basement after his killing spree.
        
        The Parks could be the Parasite because of their exploitation and dependability on servants. Without the Kim family serving them, they cannot eat, travel, or learn.
    - - Shevek's status as an outsider and his achievements bring to question whether it is right to shut down individuality the way Annares does.
        The contradicting societies of Urras and Annares have different versions approaching equality. The novel brings to question which society approaches equality in the right way.
        
        Annares is built on the idea that it is right for everyone to end up as equals even if they are not born equal. No one in the society owns anything and they are all raised together on the same values.
        
        Annares is built on morals of equality.
        
        Urras' foundations are rooted in a moral code of individuality and the concept that everyone is not equal and some people deserve credibility and success more than others.
        
        Urras is built on morals of ideals and hierarchy.
  - - - Good vs. Evil in Antigone is presented through the dynamics of Antigone vs. Creon.
        
        Creon is debatably the evil figure as his neglect to give Polynices an honorable burial is a fascist scare tactic to dissuade other citizens from committing treason.
        
        Antigone is the good figure in the play due to her willingness to die for morals and for the rejection of her ego in the pursuit of bringing honor to Polynices.
    - - A Small Place and Life and Debt explore the morality of capitalism and the act of being a tourist in a poverty-stricken country.
        
        By being a tourist in Antigua or Jamaica, one participates in the exploitation of service workers and delights in the evil of capitalism. Their enjoyment of a cheap vacation is inherently a moral evil in a country that prioritizes tourists over its own people. Their ignorance of the country's waste and food systems is inherently evil.
        
        taking advantage of poor service workers
- - - - Kincaid acknowledges and confronts that she is an outsider to modern-day Antigua, but her perspective on how it was in the past allows her to comment on current problems. By bringing attention to Antigua's problems she is able to aid progress for solutions.
    - - After Chile, Changez goes back to Pakistan to be a professor and live his version of a good life. He makes peace with the fact that he is unhappy unless he is obeying ethical economics. He realizes America is not the perfect place he thought it would be.
    - - Shevek makes peace at the end of the novel by returning to his homeland of Annares. At first, it seemed like Urras was going to be the perfect place for him, but that was before he saw the other side of Urras that is not as privileged as him.
        
        not seeing the reality or poverty of a place because of privilege.
        
        Shevek idealized Urras as an ideal utopia, but this belief was changed after observing disparity and hypocrisy.
        
        idealizing a location as pefect
        
        "Things change, change. You cannot have anything...And least of all can you have the present, unless you accept with it the past and the future. Not only the past but also the future, not only the future but also the past! Because they are real: only their reality makes the present real." (349)
    - - “Something always told me I wasn’t no rich white woman.” (44) Mama knows who she is and remains true to herself. She knows wealth is based on race and she frequently reminds the family and the audience of the family's reality in poverty. She knows that since she is white, she has to work harder for wealth and put off her dreams.
  - - - Kincaid and Black use the method of placing the reader/viewer as the tourist in order to draw them back to reality and make them internalize the repercussions of being a tourist in Antigua and Jamaica.
        
        addressing the audience to convey responsibility and communicate bias
    - - Changez forces the reader to reflect on their bias by putting them in the place of the American guest with whom he converses. His presence reveals the bias that Americans have toward Pakistan.