Walden Blog Post

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” The quote is stressing that just because someone is different it does not mean that they are wrong, they just have a different mindset and different goals. One of Thoreau's main points in "Walden" is that people need to be unique and travel outside of their comfort zone. The Amish are an example of people "hearing a different drummer", they live life differently than the rest of society and are not wrong in any of their ways, they are just different and have their own beliefs. Ignorant people may see the Amish people as being dumb and wrong in life for not living like everyone else but their goals and views on life are different than the majority of today's society and that is how they choose to live their life. Thoreau recommends that living simply is the best way to go and that people are focused on unimportant luxuries nowadays, "...and if railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven in season?" Thoreau's point is that men's ultimate goal should be to live a happy life and to eventually go to heaven when they die, if people are always working on things like railroads, they will never be happy. The railroad is not what will get people to heaven, it will just keep them busy and not happy like they should be.

Chapter 5 Blog Post

After the reader was introduced to Gatsby it became clear that his biggest wish is to just be with Daisy again, revealing to Nick that basically everything he has done is to impress Daisy and possibly lure her back to him. Gatsby is very wealthy and popular yet he will not be satisfied until he is with Daisy again, "'If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay," said Gatsby. "'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.'" (Fitzgerald 92). Gatsby has noticed the green light every night, symbolizing his obsession with her. "'We haven't met for many years,'" said Daisy, her voice as matter-of-fact as it could ever be. "'Five years next November.'" (Fitzgerald 87). The fact that Gatsby has been keeping track of how long it has been since he saw Daisy and knows the exact date shows once again that Gatsby cares very deeply about Daisy and now he is finally back with her again. "His eyes went over it, every arched door and square tower. 'It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it.'" (Fitzgerald 90). Another impressive aspect of Gatsby's wealth is how he claims it only took three years to get all of the money that he now has. "He hadn't once ceased looking at Daisy, and I think he revalued everything in the house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes." (Fitzgerald 91).  Gatsby knows that his wealth is one of his strongest assets in his quest to get Daisy back.