Being Proud of Uniqueness

 

I've never had very many friends that are gay.  In fact, I feel rather clueless about situations where people discover that they are gay. 

In class, we have learned about the different lenses stories can take on, which there are many in The Great Gatsby.  I happened to read about the queer interpretation of The Great Gatsby.  After reading this interpretation, I felt appalled by it.  I felt that the interpretation was a great trick being played on me.  How could it be possible that almost all the characters in the book had secretly gay identities?  Because for me, I did not pick up many of the gay signs of the characters while reading the book, such as in the chapter 3 party when Nick wipes off a white circle of unnoticed shaving cream of the man in front of him.  The queer interpretation takes Nick's action as a gay sign.  The author concurs that men do not touch each other, especially in that time period.  The fact that Jordan is also deemed as gay appalls me the most.  Jordan is seen with many other men throughout the novel.  Men in fact flock to her.  The gay is seen in the fact of she "instinctively avoided clever shrewd men."  Just because she avoids men does not mean she is automatically gay.  To me, I can see many other explanations of why Jordan is the way she is.  She avoids "shrewd men," because they would be too smart and figure out how dishonestly Jordan lives her life.

Just as there can be many interpretations of a book, there can be many interpretations of life.  These many interpretations of how life can be is what makes everyone different.  And being different is what shapes our personalities and who we are. The reason everyone has a different interpretation of events in life is because everyone is raised differently and has different cultural heritages.  Each one of us has unique individual experiences, and no two people's experiences are exactly the same.  These differences allow people to formulate their own morals, values, and ways of living life.  Differences are what makes each individual beautiful in their own unique ways. Each individual should be happy in who they are, because no is like them.  He/She is beautiful in their own uniqueness.