The Past vs. The Present
The museum wants to emphasize how age can interfere with how we perceive the world and how by clutching on to the past, we can destroy our future. The Great Gatsby was used to introduce this topic to you, and it will be further mentioned in the next gallery: nonconformity. The tale of growing up and losing innocence has been told many times before and is part of every American experience, but when you are stuck in the past, one tends to where a pair of "rose colored glasses" while yearning for their childhood. Gatsby, constantly fantasizing about a future with daisy, was unable to realize that his ideal would never come true because of the lens he had on. This is depicted in the poem below by Thomas Hood
I Remember, I Remember
I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!
I remember, I remember,
The roses, red and white,
The vi'lets, and the lily-cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,—
The tree is living yet!
I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!
I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from heav'n
Than when I was a boy.
by Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Life is bright and beautiful when you are young
Ignorance brings joy. As we grow old, we wish we could be ignorant again. This theme is strong in the next Gallery with Catcher in the Rye.
"this is so heavy now" illutrates that with time we take the glasses off
Look at the last piece in this gallery below by Agnes Cecil.
This picture illustrates the relationship we have with our pasts. The colorful girl caresses the chin of the grown man, like the past bringing back colorful memories. Yet, the man remains gray and unhappy because once old, he cannot relive or gain back the color he once had. He closes his eyes in hope for the ignorance he once had when he could not see reality and his lens on the world was positive and colorful. The key to overcoming this obstacle is to keep moving forward. This can be applied to both The Great Gatsby and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, for both tell a story of those who struggle to take a step towards the "new." This theme is extended in Catcher in Rye. Click on the link below to preview the next gallery and learn more about this struggle.
Nonconformity
