Comparing The Great Gatsby And The Grapes Of Wrath

Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.

There are many different problems and situations that affected many Americans during the time period of The Great Gatsby. The different problems affect many characters lives and relationships throughout the novel in a variety of situations. Such problems with characters personal lives would be the withering of a American dream. Also, such situations during this time period is how characters aren’t achieving their highest potential and achieving their dreams. Another problem during this time period would be the very unequal wealth distribution in America, but also among all the characters families and themselves individually in The Great Gatsby. There is new money, old money, and the poor which is represented by the valley of ashes throughout this time period. Also, among the rich and poor there is always those who want more and more and are always greedy at every point in the story. Even though characters want all the money they can get there hands on they also try there hardest to achieve enough love and romance in there lives that their heart desires. Lastly, there is a great deal of betrayal throughout the entire length of the novel The Great Gatsby. It is represented by many characters, their relationships, and their personal lives. Different characters’ personal relationships and personal lives give well-distinguished representations of the problems such as a withering American dream, unequal wealth distribution in America, and betrayal in The Great Gatsby.

There are many similarities involving the main characters in the books The Great Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun. For example, they are similar because their entire lives revolve around money. Also, they define their lives by determining what social class they live in. Another main likeness between the two is that they reside in large cities. Which leads to problems that people in rural communities wouldn’t have. On the other hand, they also have major differences. One is wealthy, the other lives in poverty. Jay Gatsby lives in a paradise-like community in New York, while Walter Younger and his family live in the slums of Chicago. Another difference between them is their race. Jay, being a white, is a well respected individual in his part

Greed is not always a bad thing, but when many important decisions rely on money and self-gain, it definitely is. Throughout The Great Gatsby, there is a myriad of actions and decisions that greed has a powerful sway on. One of the most prevalent ones is Daisy’s decision to marry Tom instead of Gatsby. Even though she is deeply in love with Gatsby, she marries Tom because of his stable, affluent financial background. Gatsby even announces this to Tom during a confrontation saying, “She only married you [Tom] because I was poor, and she was tired of waiting for me…in her heart she never loved anyone except me” (Fitzgerald, 2000.) Rather than following her heart and waiting for Gatsby, Daisy selfishly marries Tom just because he is wealthier. In contrast, the characters in The Grapes of Wrath are less worried about money, and more about the well

The characters in both novels play a drastic role in showing the corruption in the American Dream. In Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes women as prizes and as being irresponsible, while men are power hungry and will do anything to buy the females, although all of them are bored with their riches. One character, Daisy, is an icon for desire and damnation, and men, in particular Gatsby, love this. They are willing to do anything, willing to "pay and pay twice" (Wershoven 143). Men want her and she is never fully satisfied (Wershoven 143). She is always looking for new amusement and new fantasies. Men take on the position of caring for a spoiled little girl. In Gatsby, there is both a shooting and a car accident that was indirectly caused by the heroine or affected a female, and in both cases society did its best to cover up

The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in The Great Gatsby was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive material wealth. Wherever given the opportunity, Jay Gatsby went over the top, as shown in his flamboyant style of dress and his huge mansion where he throws lavish parties. This is actually not all that different from Fitzgerald’s life. After his first work was published to great fanfare, Fitzgerald was the talk of the town. As was the case with Gatzby, many of those around him did not – and never would – actually know Fitzgerald. They wished merely to be close to someone famous. Fitzgerald shunned all the attention, eventually moving to France. It was there that he looked at the supposed American Dream from a different perspective. To Fitzgerald, it was clear that the sudden wealth that many Americans began to acquire caused leisure and idleness to replace traditional ethics like hard work as qualities that were admired. (Decker, 28) Certainly the Buchanans and Gatsby cared little about hard work once they had achieved their material goals.

Is your life revolved around how much money you have, what you can buy, or what you look like? In The Great Gatsby, the lives of the characters are revolved around the importance of money and the materials they own. Tom and Daisy Buchanan are two very important people that let their money control their lives, such as Daisy marrying Tom solely for is money so that she will be provided for her entire life. Gatsby is a prime example of all the wrong reasons of wanting to accomplish the American dream. He wanted to impress Daisy, so he lied and cheated his way to the top in order to prove to her that he was worth it, and now that he has money, he allowed it to take control of him and his true purpose. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald allows the

Theme is a debatable topic among stories, some will agree and most have their own take. Two great novels that debate themes constantly are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald written about a young man who becomes super wealthy and Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn a story of a young women who does not fit into society. The novels The Great Gatsby and Scarlet Letter disagree on the theme that people look to self-improvement to help get what they want, evidenced by plot, tone, and, character.

Everyone has a dream that they want to achieve. The goal in life is to find something valuable to achieve. Many people immigrated to America for a second chance in life. The American dream is a goal someone wants to achieve in America. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men are two books that are prime examples of the American dream. The Great Gatsby is a story about a guy named Nick from the Midwest moving to New York for a job in the stock market. He finds many friends along the way, including Gatsby. Nick lived next door to Gatsby’s mansion. Gatsby used this mansion to try to marry a girl he loved named Daisy. In the end, Gatsby did not get married to Daisy. Of Mice and Men takes place during the great depression, which makes it hard for people to get work and earn money. The story is about two men in California who have a dream of having their own ranch. George and Lennie get a job at a ranch where they buck barley. They made friends with an old man named Candy, who wanted to help them buy a ranch house. Lennie had a mental disorder, which makes it hard for him to understand. He accidentally killed a lady because of mental disorder. In the end, Lennie was shot by George and he was not able to live on his own ranch. These two books are similar because characters from both books want to achieve their American dream. Although they did have their American dream, it was difficult for them to achieve it. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck

Imagine a time where the wealthy stifle the truth regarding their lack of a fulness of life, and strong morals that the American dream is meant to be, only then to begin oppressing the poor. Both the poor and wealthy classes are born into these categories of society and seldom ever gain or lose ground in the social ladder. The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby were both written with a great deal of intent to represent dehumanizing ideals that can be applicable to real world events that have taken place throughout history. Both Fitzgerald and Steinbeck condemn the idea of the American Dream by showcasing dehumanization which is evident in the characterization of both the wealthy and poor social classes throughout the entirety of each novel.

When a person looks around him or herself one sees many different people. Each person

    The success of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is in part due to his successful characterization of the main characters through the comparison and contrast of Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan and George B. Wilson, and Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. The contrast is achieved through two principle means: contrasting opposite qualities held by the characters and contrasting one character's posititve or negative qualities to another's lack thereof. Conflict is generated when the characters sometimes stand as allegorical opposites. On the other hand, comparison of two characters is rather straightforward. This comparison and contrast is prevalent in Fitzgerald's

Throughout history there have been certain political and social ideals that have been upheld by most individuals in American society. These ideals include liberty, equality, and pursuing the American dream. Many of these American ideals can be seen in the classic novels The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby. Both novels take place within two decades of each other in the same country but with vastly different circumstances. Specifically, each book demonstrates these ideals in a different way and they are embodied by the desires of individual characters. But in general, the meaning and quest for each of these ideals is nearly identical and they are collectively displayed by the needs of human kind as a whole.

It is often said that certain literary works and characters within such works represent real-world issues. In the work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character of Gatsby is shrouded in ambiguity to the reader, providing them with a possibility for personal interpretation. In the work, Gatsby’s character develops from a character representing materialism and a fixation on status to one filled with humility and selflessness for his romantic devotion towards the character of Daisy. Through this shift, the reader is provided with insight in order to draw parallels between Gatsby and two distinct periods in American history. The materialistic side of Gatsby, driven by wealth and his status in Long Island, represents the moral corruption and materialistic desires of America in the 1920s, whereas the romantically devoted Gatsby represents wartime America, devoted to sacrifice and nobility. The contrast within the life of Gatsby allows for a profound insight into the significance of the work as a representation of changing American values.

The Great Gatsby, on the other hand, displays the comfortable life of the wealthy. The main character, Nick, immerses himself in the culture of the rich. Everyone who lives in his neighborhood has inherited or received a great deal of money. He becomes involved in Gatsby’s life, who is one of the most affluent people in the area. “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any