Time Difference

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

" 'I read somewhere that the sun's getting hotter every year,' said Tom genially. 'It seems that pretty soon the earth's going to fall into the sun- or wait a minute- it's just the opposite- the sun's getting colder every year' " (Fitzgerald, 118).

As I read this quote, I smiled at the thought that people who lived almost ninety years ago were concerned with the same environmental issue that exists today. The quote above refers to what we know as global warming. Tom may have made this statement simply to complain about the heat, or perhaps this statement was made so he could assert his knowledge of science topics. Either way, this quote shows that people share similarities even when separated decades. Reading this quote today, people might smile hearing Tom's theory that the sun is getting colder, or that the earth is going to fall into the sun. This just shows that as time continues, people learn more and more. Hypotheses from previous years may seem primitive because of the new-found knowledge that we possess. With this in mind, ideas that seem new and innovative now will seem foolish and obsolete in the future. Not all problems can be solved in a short period of time, and some problems will be left for future generations. Our job is to fix what we can and help prevent future problems.