Analysis Of Heidi s The Great Gatsby - 2003 Words

Heidi s tragic side is fully revealed in this entire speech where humor and drama are perfectly blended to emphasize her moment of realization. She becomes a diminished character who no longer knows who she is and decides to leave New York to sort out her future. Like a true dark comedy protagonist, she is vulnerable and has lost control. She realizes her downfalls and the comedy lies in the superiority felt by the spectator due to man s delight in man s inhumanity to man (Capp 220). In the area of humanness, Heidi may not be ordinary, but can still be considered an everywoman for her generation. She is looking for fulfillment, a universal desire shared by women of all generations trying to balance personal dreams with societal expectations. The illusion of who she longs to be is overshadowed by her need to laugh off the heartaches and mask her true identity. She attempts to cover the duller elements of her personality and never turns to a higher power for assistance, as is character istic of a dark comic protagonist. Her speech in Act II referenced above shows signs of a dark comic protagonist who clears his throats and scratches her nose (Styan, The Dark 275). She will never emerge as a hero, or as Guthke s tenet suggests, be able to clear her pain-stricken conscience (162). She attempts to do so by adopting a baby, however, but it is clear to the spectator that the question of happiness will remain unanswered for Heidi: SCOOP. But now. Right now.