Passages which I don't understand

Question

1. 'I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men.'

2. 'Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes, but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on.'

I read these two passages in 'The Great Gatsby', the first chapter and I haven't a clue what it's saying......

Oh, and can I say 'I haven't a clue what it's saying'?

Paco2004 · Accepted Answer

Hello JKB

1. 'I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men.'
2. 'Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes, but after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on.'
I read these two passages in 'The Great Gatsby', the first chapter and I haven't a clue what it's saying......
Oh, and can I say 'I haven't a clue what it's saying'?

I'm wondering what you actually want to know, though I could give you a definite answer to the last question. You can say "I have no clue (about) what it's saying."

As to the questions about the Gatsby's passages, I'm sorry I can't get definite answers, as I haven't read that novel. But my advice is that, when you read a novel, you'd better take it as you can take and feel it as you can feel. In #1, a 'politician' probably means 'a shrewd person'. 'I was privy to the secret griefs of wild unknown men' probably would be saying 'I could know the secret sorrows of rude strange guys.' The sentence #2 is a bit difficult for me to get as I have not enough biblical knowledge to read it out. What I feel it is saying is "When I was young, I thought there would be some criteria about our conduct to judge whether it is good or bad. But now I don't care such a thing"

Hope it could be any help to you.

paco

JKBelieve · Answer

Thanx Paco

Anonymous · Answer

i'm wondering if anyone on this post even cares about receiving an answer from this post since it was posted in 2005. maybe future visits might find this helpful. and i am bored and procrastinating writing an essay for the great gatsby. i was wondering what the first quote meant myself, but in regards to class, which is how i found this site. but my college english teacher explained to us that this second quote has a connection to the time period Nick was in. The twenties was a time of change and it is refering to the changes of morales during that time. The next part I'm a little iffy on because I don't remember what my english teacher said. But I think it is refering to the fact that he doesn't care about the morales of the time because it doesn't concern him and it has to do with the fact that he supposedly doesn't judge people.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anon:
Many great works of literature cannot be appreciated, or even understood, without knowing the social, economic and political environment in which they were set. So I disagree with your teacher that this does not concern him.
The period of the "roaring" 20's has a great relevance to present day. That was the time of greed, financial lawlessness and indulgance of the rich before the crash and depression of the 30's....

Passages which I don't understand

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