Gatsby's Twin FR

    Mr. Palise, our substitute, is today’s Gatsby. I may be making this connection because I am reading and discussing Gatsby twenty-four seven. Additionally, this is because Mr. Palise has read The Great Gatsby so many times that he has turned into him. 

    Mr. Palise’s aura resembled Gatsby’s completely because he also lived with symbolism and irony. In The Great Gatsby, we see colors as an important symbol of things, like the colors people wear and the colors in the room. An important example from the book is the color white, which Daisy often wears to symbolize purity. Mr. Palise, similarly, is fully aware of colors and their deeper meaning and uses them to represent his lifestyle. When he substituted for our class, he was decked out in green. Green often symbolizes money. Ya know, dollar bills. But the weird thing about this color choice for his outfit is that he currently working as a substitute teacher; so where is he getting money that allows him to wear green and show off his wealth? Is he a bootlegger? Met a rich guy with a yacht? Who knows.

    To make matters more confusing, Mr. Palise claims he was formerly an AP Lang teacher. This was believable because he was very talented at putting his thoughts together and said he was able to answer any questions about the Great Gatsby, demonstrating his intelligence. However, I began to doubt his honesty when he said he taught it for 26 years AND is retired. This man doesn’t look a day over 26. This completely contradicts how he looks 26, he talks like he is from the 1920s. Similarly, we recently learned that Gatsby’s real name is not Jay Gatsby, but instead James Gatz. Mr. Palise might also have a similar backstory. For example, what if his last name “Palise” was originally “Police” because his family has a generational business of being policemen? My guess as to why he might have changed his last name is because he didn’t want to work in the police force like his family before him, so he changed his name to something unique, similar to how characters in the books we read AP Lang have complicated backstories.

    We’ll probably never know Mr. Palise’s true backstory, but all we can do is spread rumors and hopefully come to a conclusion!




Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 13, 2024 at 8:23 PM

    Hey Tara!! I’m gonna be honest, I smiled so much reading this. I thought the same thing about him as well, especially when you said you couldn’t believe he was retired after having taught for 26 years; I remember being so confused and wondering if I heard him correctly when he said that. I never thought of relating him to Gatsby in that way, but now that you mention it, I can’t unsee it… I bet I’ll be thinking about that next time I think about Gatsby haha!

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