The Great Gatsby Group

Topic: How are Platonism and time related to each other in the novel?

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anuczka

How are Platonism and time related to each other in the novel?

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What a great question! My first thought was, of course, that they aren't related at all—no one consciously thinking of Platonic matters or philosophy. However, almost as quickly I realized that there is indeed a strong Platonic thread throughout the novel. Daisy is Gatsby's ideal; it is as if she were an embodied Form of Beauty. Any details of her actual ethics or life are like the shadows on the walls of Plato's cave.

 

Because of this, her beauty and nature is timeless. It is independent of time. That's what leads Gatsby to say the following:

“Can't repeat the past,” Gatsby replies, “Why of course you can!”


Since the forms never change, you could of course repeat the past.

 

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