Mia Alexander Assignment 1

Ludvigson writes a short poem in which she portrays an unrealistically optimistic theme throughout. In "Inventing My Parents: After Edward Hopper's Nighthawks,1942", she alludes to famous authors such as Fitzgerald. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby", which has been interpreted in such a way that the author is said to have been mocking the materialistic nature of America and the American Dream. Ludvigson even addresses it specifically saying. [The authors] disagree about the American Dream. Just as the theme of this poem is dream-like optimism in times of trouble(the war), Fitzgerald uses events such as the car accident and the untimely death of the protagonist to show how despite awful circumstances, people fake a smile and press forward like everything is okay (characters used their money and left the town like nothing happened). The author further shows this theme with the parents encounter: "my father's gestures are a Frenchman's. When he concedes a point, he shrugs, an elaborate lift of the shoulders". It seems excessive in that the author would characterize the dad this way. It was such a simple movement but she I includes the extra. It parallels the ornate nature of the characters in "The Great Gatsby". Both groups of characters ignore the bigger world, the bigger problems and choose happiness over reality, which is dark, blunt, and violent, not always easy and full of success