The Great Gatsby

This is a review that I did on the classic book, "The Great Gatsby," by: F. Scott Fitzgerald. I am part of the Gerneration Joshua Book Club and this year they are looking at the worldwiew in some classic works of fiction. After reading it, I wouldn't reccomend this book to others, but there are some good lessons to be learned. (I still am not sure why this book is a classic. I found it to be disturbing.)

The Great Gatsby

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Review By: Kaila Babiak

            Affairs, lies, death and love are a few of the main components of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic book, The Great Gatsby. A story set in the roaring twenties, the reader gets a glimpse into the personal lives of several characters and the affairs that connect them. The tale is one of tragedy and heartbreak, without moral, and with hidden messages.

            We are first introduced to Nick Carraway, a young man living next door to the extremely wealthy Jay Gatsby. As Nick gets to know his neighbor he discovers a startling connection between this man and Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan. Through Nick, a long lost love affair between Gatsby and Daisy is brought back to life in a circle of lies, deception and immorality. As a bystander, Nick tells the story in a way that makes you cringe and yet makes you want to hear the end.

            The disturbing thing about the book is the utter lack of morals and justice. Daisy and Gatsby rekindle their love unbeknownced to Daisy’s husband Tom. Tom, while greatly angered when Daisy’s deception is discovered, has his own mistress who plays a large part in the tragedy of the story. Nick plays the role of “middle-man,” who is used by both parties because of his neutrality. Daisy and Gatsby’s love affair ends quite suddenly, in a terrible, tragic, almost unjust manner that leaves you feeling like you got dropped off at the edge of a cliff. Besides the disturbances of the affairs, Tom often makes reference to eugenic agendas to rid the earth of the inferior people and create the perfect human race.

            One major lesson to be learned from this book is the fact that living a life of selfish pleasure seeking with no morals will end in pain and grief. While the story seems to give the impression that unfaithfulness is a perfectly normal part of life, it ends in the reality that your “sins will find you out.” (Num. 32:23) Gatsby sought out what he thought he needed to have, which was fulfillment in life. In the end, he lost everything; wealth, friends and even his life. If a person, even one who does not believe in Christ, tries to live against the rules and breaks God’s law, he will most definitely find himself in trouble. While to some, the story may be disturbing, it is an excellent example of how you cannot just break one law. One bit of unfaithfulness led to lies, deception, anger, and murder. The choices made by the characters effected many more people than they thought and has lasting effects that no one had ever thought of. Just as in real life, our choices will affect those around us, some for the better and some for the worse. The unfortunate thing in this story is that it all turned out for the worse. Whenever we cease from following God’s law we will find ourselves in a labyrinth of trouble and wickedness. So while some may find this to be a disturbing tale and others may find it to be a timeless classic, I prefer to look at it as an ageless lesson of the destruction that follows when men follow their own sinful desires rather than following God’s law.

Patterns in Protestant Church Music

Well, I finished chapters 2 and 3 of "Patterns in Protestant Church Music." They were very interesting. Chapter 2 was Reformed Church Music - The Basic Implications of Calvin’s Philosophy of Church Music, and it held some very interesting facts that I did not know. For instance, did you know that Calvin was opposed to four part singing and organs? I was rather surprised, because Calvin played a big part in giving us the Genevan Psalter, and whenever I think of Psalm singing, I think of 4-part harmony.
Here are some interesting quotes by Calvin:
"It would be a too ridiculous and inept imitation of papistry to decorate the churches and to believe oneself to be offering God a more noble service in using organs.... All that is needed is a simple and pure singing of the divine praises, coming from the heart and mouth, and in the vulgar tongue.... Instrumental music was tolerated in the time of the Law because the people were then in infancy." 1
"The Levites, under the law, were justified in making use of instrumental music in the worship of God; it having been his will to train his people, while they were as yet tender and like children, by such rudiments, until the coming of Christ. But now when the clear light of the gospel has dissipated the shadows of the law, and taught us that God is to be served in a simpler form, it would be to act a foolish and mistaken part to imitate that which the prophet enjoined only upon those of his own time. From this, it is apparent that the Papists have shown themselves to be very apes in transferring this to themselves."2
Because of these beliefs, many church organs were taken down, broken apart and used for other things. Here is another interesting quote about organs from Cotton Mather:
""And because the holy God rejects all He does not command in His worship, He now therefore in effect says to us, I will not hear the melody of thy Organs." 3
This is rather tricky because organs were not around in Bible times, thus they are not listed in the Bible. The Author of the book, Robert M. Stevenson says of Calvin, "In Calvin’s mind, music, when he did allow it, was conceived as Spartan in simplicity; like St. Augustine he knew the emotional power of music sufficiently well to fear it." 4
It is important to have a sort of "fear," when dealing with music. I believe that this fear should be a fear of God. But, I do not believe that instruments such as organs, and part singing cannot be used for worship. I do believe that those who are not trained in part singing should not be forced to do so to worship, but on the other hand, I do not believe that it is wrong to sing your part if you know it.

The 3rd chapter was on John Merbecke and the First English Prayer Book. I learned that the Archbishop Cranmer helped to translate the Latin verses into English and make them fit the origional tunes. He had John Merbecke help him in adapting the music for the Booke of Common Praier noted and insisted that there should only be one musical note per syllable. 5 Merebecke's musical talent later helped save him from execution.
These are just a few things I read and learned. I am interested to hear if you have any thoughts on the above quotes.
In Christ,
Kaila

1. Stevenson, Robert M. Patterns in Protestant Church Music. London, England: The Duke University Press, 1953. pg. 14

2. Ibid pg. 15

3. Ibid pg. 17

4. Ibid pg. 21

5. Ibid pg. 26