Connections to Real Life

Connection to F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Despite being very different narratively, there are quite a few thematic relationships between The Great Gatsby and An Untamed State. Inequality and the distribution of wealth have been prevalent issues since… well, just about ever. In every civilization in every time period, there are examples of a bureaucratic “upper” or “ruling” class that either lords or perceivably lords over the lower class. Take for, example, the Buchanans on Long Island. A classic example of old money snobbery, they see themselves as positively better than those “beneath” them and have little to no empathy for the consequences of their actions (to the point of justifying murder). A classic example of privileged villainy, the Buchanans are exactly the kind of people that characters like The Commander despise so very much. Interestingly enough, however, the Duvals are not these kind of people. They live in luxury, yes, and they enjoy the fruits of their labor, but they are not so mighty as to think that those beneath them deserve it. Sebastian, for all his pride and misguided machoism, truly wants to make his country a better place, even to the point of not pandering to the criminal element when his own children are at stake. This could be seen as cold and selfish, maybe that he does not want to part with his fortunes, but it can also be seen as an attempt to make a stand against the rampant illegal proceedings in his homeland. The Buchanans, on the other hand, have never experienced what it means to struggle, nor do they have a shred of interest in making their little world any better for anyone else. The contrast of the rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots, is present in both An Untamed State and The Great Gatsby, but the incidence of their sins seems to be swapped, begging the question: Does environment breed contempt, or do evil people find justification for their deeds no matter their place?

Connection to the Kidnapping in the Middle East
Kidnapping is a prevalent evil found in many places in today’s society. In the Middle East, especially in Syria, many innocent people—both males and females, alike—are being kidnapped and tortured at the hands of the ISIS militants. Many who do not have a viable income take those born of wealthy families to provide a monetary resource for themselves, the insurgents. Roxane Gay’s An Untamed State does not embellish the atrocities that occur daily. Mireille, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Haiti, is the perfect ambush. Not only does her kidnapping coincide with the harshness of the world but also provides a true account of the injustice, although the work is fiction. People in Syria face the inhumanity that Mireille experiences. A first-hand account of someone kidnapped goes something like this. A wealthy, Syrian man is ambushed and masked after leaving work one night. Two men, with faces covered and pistols held in their hands, drag this innocent man out far away. Not knowing whether hours, minutes or days passed as he was transported from one facility—or so it seems—to another, never going somewhere or sitting without a blindfold or knowing his location. Transportation was a necessary evil, quite literally. The captors, as recounted, guided these blameless men by force, repeating in Arabic, “If you step out of line, you will be shot in the head and will be returned as a corpse to your family.” Darkness overshadowed these men, blindly following, never objecting and never knowing their final moments walking the Earth or seeing the sunshine. While they were traveling outside, they were stuck in a mental cage. A cage unlike any other. The one that never opens or leaves their thoughts behind. This cage follows them everyday of their lives, just as it does to Mireille.