5 Parallels to the Great Gatsby

 (My blog titles are losing creativity )': )

1. Despite the more moral conscience of the protagonists in Darjeeling, nonetheless they still managed to establish what they view is an pedestalized image of what the "perfect Hindu wife" would be. Originally in Darjeeling this would be Aloka, however her immigration into the U.S and assimilation into its culture takes that away from her, giving her more room to establish her own person. In the Great Gatsby Daisy is hopeless. She doesn't make an effort to change. She still acts superior. Unlike Aloka, she doesn't face her many flaws and in the end is portrayed as a particularly selfish person.

2. Putting this at a more economic standpoint, and given the social class system in India, there is a sense of class conflict even when at first, the story of Darjeeling  just concerns a conplex love triangle. In this sense, Pranab can be compared to Gatsby, with the fair exception that he was able to redeem himself and change into a better, more sensible person at the end, unlike the less fortunate Gatsby. Pranab and Gatsby but have an idealized sense of what is greatness, and wants to achieve, hoping to overcome (in the case of Pranab and the treatment of the tea workers) or beat the system of (Gatsby's illegal trade) their lower social rank in the process. For Pranab, however, this is more derived from an economic standpoint.

3. If you really think about it, both books largely focus on the life of the rich, which makes it even harder for most readers to sympathize with the characters in both books. The Gupta sisters are born into wealth because of the family tea business, and up until they were displaced to North America they lived comfortably in a large house with vast tea gardens.

4.  The Gupta sisters could almost emulate the new millennium version of Jordan Baker, the ideal of the "new 20's woman," more self sustainable and loose and independent than before. Neither of the Gupta sisters are loose, but they develop a strong sense of independence and like the flappergirls of the 20s shed tradition in order to achieve such success, whether in Aloka's newspaper or Suzy's tea business. Unlikes Jordan, though, they are honest.

5. Family status really comes into play. Aloka hurts her family's reputation and her reputation in the family be cause of her divorce, a taboo it seems in India. The maidservant of Nina Reenu talks about her boyfriend and how neither of their are rich, but she cannot date who Nina requested (Mreenal, I believe) for more information regarding his friend. Also, Pranab receives familial pressure to marry the more socially acceptable Aloka, even though truly he wants to marry Sujata. This is similar to how Daisy marries Tom even though for a while she secretly loved Gatsby more and had an affair with him... the whole cheating scheme makes Darjeeling seem to be similar to a gender-switched version of the Great Gatsby.