Schneeball08

@Schneeball08 The thing is that unfortunately the whole Russia thing and Russian history is portrayed very one dimensionally in general, both through Russian propaganda in Russia and more Western views that blame everything on communism even though a dictatorship under which millions of people were silenced and killed has nothing to do with communism. Lenin, Stalin, etc. said that their goal was communism, but it didn't work out, but because they didn't want to give up their power they just oppressed everyone who disagreed with them and declared them traitors who opposed progress (or just got rid of them silently and secretly).
            
            The problem with communism is that while in theory, it's actually a wonderful idea—see the Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx; we had to read excerpts in school and it was very educational—in practice it just doesn't work unless everyone supports it wholeheartedly because it's built on the condition that humans should let go of greed and materialism, i.e. as long as greedy rich people exist, it won't be possible.
            
            A problem with revolutions in general, though, is that revolutionaries are minorities, and most of the time just cause a lot of damage because the people who benefit from the previous system will never bend to their will.
            
            Also: Hitler saw the communists as equally bad as the Jews—Karl Marx was born Jewish, and Hitler used that fact to claim that communism was the Jewish people's ultimate plan to get to world domination. Which is why he had the German communist party (at the time the second strongest party after the Nazis; Germany could've become a socialist republic after WWI if the majority hadn't voted for the democrats—and the difference was small!) banned as soon as he had enough influence to and had party members murdered, and once he had absolute power, sent communist sympathisers straight to the concentration camps as well.

@ein_opferkind  Ohoooo, what?! (That's just so random, it's the first time I hear about Cziffra and this!)

@Schneeball08 plus, the Soviet Union never reached the stage of Communism, and while I'm in no way trying to defend Soviet leaders, it must be noted that they're not representative of Communist ideals.

@Schneeball08 Btw, she also claimed Fitzgerald had a small penis and couldn't satisfy her, in response to which Hemingway (and several others who 'accidentally' saw him naked) confirmed that it was not true.

@Schneeball08 Also, in addition to that, the narrator (Nick Carraway) is increasingly interpreted as queer himself and in love with Gatsby (who was based off Fitzgerald's wealthy German neighbour), which makes sense, especially considering that he was largely based on the author, whose sexuality and gender identity is debated. He (they?) wrote, "[I'm] half feminine—at least my mind is... Even my feminine characters are feminine Scott Fitzgeralds."
            
            There's been a lot of speculation about many of his characters, male and female, being intended to be queer.
            
            Their wife was an asshole, outed him to friends and fellow artists, accused him of having an affair with Hemingway (who, in response, distanced himself from Fitzgerald) and used to call them various slurs.

@Schneeball08 Not necessarily. I don't know that much about the 1920s in America, but I do know that between the end of WWI and the Wall Street Crash, society became more liberal with and accepting of a lot of things (women's suffrage, the rise of African American culture, queer rights*, etc.) in big cities, Fitzgerald lived through all that so he must've known, and the plot of The Great Gatsby is set in New York.
            
            *What's funny to me is that during WWI, homosexuality was (semi-secretly) propagated in Germany because being sexually active was supposed to improve the soldiers' morale and foster strong comradeship. And later, in the Weimar republic, aside from the liberals, some far-right nationalists actually strongly supported homosexuality as well because 'there's nothing more manly than being with other men because men are better than women.' Same thing happened in the NSDAP by the way... there was satire already at that time about how ironic it was that they banned queerness when the majority of their officers were most likely gay and their culture was so deeply homoerotic.
            
            There was a story that I found sweet (but also sad), though it doesn't have anything to do with The Great Gatsby. There was a gay German actor who lived through WWII, and his partner was Jewish. When the Nazis rose to power, he spent all his savings to help him to escape to Egypt, where he became one of the first plastic surgeons, I think specialising in reconstructing injured soldiers' faces.
            
            Because that actor was an icon at the time and very famous, though, the Nazis didn't ban him or arrest him to avoid suspicion and uphold the facade of a democracy, even let him keep performing - under the condition that he married an actress and started a family with her. He never saw his beloved again and they lost contact, but he did learn through a letter years later that he was safe and healthy.

@Dichterliebe  Do you think there will be a possibility to hear from you again?

@Schneeball08 Don't be sorry. I think it'll be alright eventually. And even if it won't, in two years I'll be 18, and then I can leave this behind.
            
            I hope so too, but maybe foolishly. I don't think we ever will, but I'm not going to let my parents ruin my life.

@Dichterliebe  I am sorry to hear that. I was worried about you...
            
            I don't think you're the person to dabble in the 'disturbing'. I hope you and your family will find closure soon.

@Schneeball08 Actually the main reason Dostoevsky's works have that theme is that he was imprisoned for speaking out against the church and the tsar, and in prison, he was given a Bible. He started praying for mercy because he didn't want to be sentenced to death and was let go shortly after, which he saw as divine intervention. From then on he started hating on non-religious or differently religious people, though he already hated Jews before; he claimed he didn't, but when Jews politely criticised him for perpetuating harmful stereotypes, he basically responded that if they didn't want to be portrayed like that they should stop being like that even though they weren't. For some reason he also despised Poles.

@Schneeball08  Not really, no (If the epilogue is the one describing Raskolnikov's days in Siberia...)
            
            I think that Dostoyevsky fundamentally believes that any human can see the light once it finds its way back to God and faith, back to the traditional values it can cling onto. I read The Devils/The Possessed (same autor, btw) and in it, the absence of faith and morals lets all monsters loose. 
            
            Or maybe Dostoyevsky loved Raskolnikov so much, he wanted to give him a neat redemption arc

@Schneeball08 I haven't finished yet (though almost, currently reading the epilogue), and I've also really enjoyed it so far. But is it just me who thinks the epilogue feels kind of forced/pretty random?

@ Cool05guy2000  Hi!
            
            It's been a hectic time lately. How are you?

@Schneeball08 nice to meet you too

@Schneeball08 mazeppa cause it is really cool