Text Connection

      In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, the narrator and main character, Nick, expresses his fluctuating thoughts about Gatsby. Throughout the novel, his feelings fluctuate, as he both respects and despises Gatsby at different times. He was not fond of Gatsby's morals, seen when Nick says, "Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn" (2). However, at another instance, he respects Gatsby when he says, "'They are a rotten crowd,' I shouted across the lawn. 'You're worth the whole damn bunch put together'"(154). This mix of both awe and hatred for Gatsby by Nick is a parallel to the thoughts of historians regarding Napoleon Bonaparte I of France. As the military and political leader of France in  the early 19th century, Napoleon accomplished several feats worthy of praise, including the emancipation of Jews and the establishment of the Napoleonic code. He, in fact, made France "one of the most pervasive political and cultural forces in modern world history" (Palmer 425).  However, despite these accomplishments, many historians have stated that his actions also caused "turmoil and terrible destructive violence...almost everywhere" (Palmer 425). The means of his rise to power involved several wars and the killing of millions of Europeans. Thus, like Gatsby is to Nick, Napoleon is both greatly respected by historians for his several accomplishments, but is also looked down upon by the means of which he gained power in his "Napoleonic empire" (Palmer 387).

Works Cited:
Palmer, R. R., Joel G. Colton, and Lloyd S. Kramer. A History of the Modern World. 
       Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002. Print.