Differences Between The Great Gatsby And Of Mice And Men

Amazing stories that reflect a decade of Ameican morals and desires are difficult to come across. Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck’s the Grapes of Wrath are two prime examples of fantastic American classics. Both novels, though written by different authors, are at once one of a kind and strikingly similar to eachother. Being based off their writer’s different experiences, the books express tasteful representations of American society. The Great Gatsby and the Grapes of Wrath are both similar yet unique milestones of American Literature.

Many similarities and differences can be found in The Great Gatsby: both the movie and the novel. One of the major differences between the two works is the initial meeting between Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway.

Batman and Robin, Kirk and Spock, Andy and Barney, Meredith and Christina Spongebob and Patrick; what’s so special about all of these characters? The answer itself is quite simple: they all have someone looking out for them. The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men are two stories set in the early 1900’s. However, they portray 2 diverse perspectives of the lives of those in that era. Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, tells about the lavish, extravagant lives of the upper class and how their possessions overtook them. Steinbeck, the author of Of Mice and Men, chronicles the story of 2 impoverished young men and their longing for true friendship. Fitzgerald and Steinbeck portray characters who show that the need for companionship is a

“She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.” (Fitzgerald, 100). Daisy only married Tom because of his money, and not Gatsby because he was poor. There are limitations between both upper and lower classes and we could never break the

In The Great Gatsby, wealth can be distinguished from class; it is possible to achieve great wealth without being accepted into the élite class, as evidenced by Jay Gatsby’s experience. Jay Gatsby was part of the new rich, the millionaires that popped up over night in the 1920s. His money could not buy him into the society of old money, the aristocratic money. The life of ease and luxury that Tom and others enjoy is contrasted sharply with the stranglehold of poverty containing Myrtle and George Wilson or the life from which Jay Gatsby emerges. Wealth is what separates Gatsby from his love, as he notes of Daisy that "her voice is full of money."(Fitzgerald 127).

Henry Ford once said, “Money does not change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that’s all.” Ford explains how money gives naturally selfish people the freedom to be themselves. When a person is poor, they often times are not allowed to act themselves because they do not have the money to reinforce their actions. This theme is evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby because money allows Daisy to act selfishly. Her selfishness is proven through her lack of interest in other people, her affair, and how she discards people without a care. Selfish people, like Daisy, oftentimes do not even understand that they are selfish because they lack an interest in what other people say about them.

To illustrate this, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals characters of “The Great Gatsby” that are crazy rich and dirt poor. For example, Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker are all important factors of the higher class. Money to them comes easily, like Tom. As stated in the book, “His family were enormously wealthy - even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach” (F. Scott Fitzgerald pg.

As a child, one may have been sure that their future consisted of becoming a superhero and battling evil monsters, but as time goes by, people grow, they mature, and became aware that superhuman abilities are beyond their capacity. What would have happened if everyone continued to believe in their wildest fantasies beyond childhood? The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck explores this idea in distinctive detail. Gatsby looks into a mysterious man’s life in the 1920s and the secrets behind the extravagant parties he threw for all but himself, and his longing for a true love that consumed his sensibility. Of Mice and Men revolves around two peculiar young men in Great Depression era who worked to earn

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

Love between Tom and Gatsby is one of the center conflicts in the story. In the novel, Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan and lives in East Egg. She also has a daughter named Pammy, whose age is not mentioned. Before Daisy marries Tom, she courted Gatsby before he left Louisville to serve in World War 1, which results in Daisy to wait for Gatsby. In the movie, Gatsby invited Daisy and Tom to one of his parties. Gatsby ends up taking a long phone call which results in Daisy waiting for him again but gives up and leaves. Daisy was full of old money. A quote in the book from Nick says, “her voice is full of money.” This shows her voice was seductive. In the novel she is shown as careless and shallow but in

John Steinbeck's 1937 novel 'Of Mice and Men' presents to the reader many themes of which hold underlying commentary on American society. Set in Salinas valley in the 1930s, the novel explores the trials and tribulations of living in the Great Depression while concurrently discussing the importance of cooperation and how inequalities create harsh negative impacts on those affected by them. The topics in this story all tie into one larger theme, discrimination. Examples of inequality and discrimination occur in the story on multiple occasions, particularly associating with the characters Lennie, with a much lower IQ than average, Candy, who is getting older and has a disabled hand, and Crooks, who has an injured back, and is also African American.

Multiple differences lay in the three main literary elements analyzed between the two different media representations of The Great Gatsby: characterization, mood and tone, and theme. Characterizations between the book and movie involved differences in actions and portrayal that better correlated with the drama of television and the subtlety of literature. Mood and tone also shifted in order to better associate with their represented media. Television was more direct and dramatic, whereas the book was more uncomfortable and detail-oriented. Themes changed to target a different audience but focused on the same ideals. The themes of love and loyalty were explored, but instead of focusing on the loyalty between people despite lost love like in the book, the movie focused more on how our love for someone else can dictate our actions. On the other hand, there were similarities between the two medias: the characters were all there and followed the same plot, Myrtle still died, and Gatsby still took the blame for Daisy. The basis of the differences between the movie and the book originated with the differences between the characters’ portrayal; as their actions changed so did how the audience receive the story.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are set in two close time periods, but give a different feel to the setting in each book. In both books, women have a status lower than men. Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle and Curley’s wife are seen as inferior, most likely due to society’s view of women during the time periods. In The Great Gatsby and in Of Mice and Men, the American Dream is often put aside, seen through the actions of women characters.

“Money Changes Everything” by Cyndi Lauper illustrates the way people center their desires on material things such as money. The speaker in the song leaves the poor man, solely because he does not have money, for the affluent one: “I’m leaving you tonight…There was one thing we weren’t really thinking of and that’s money” (Lauper 1, 6-7). Like Cyndi Lauper, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the way people often center their desires on material things such as money in The Great Gatsby. Daisy falls in love with Gatsby, who is a poor man at the time, and when Gatsby leaves for the war, Daisy marries Tom Buchanan, who is a rich man, because he is “old money,” meaning he will always have the money and status to support Daisy. When Gatsby returns

For a story rich in symbolism and recurring themes, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby fails to fully depict its own characters as being careless - rather, the movie version, directed by Baz Luhrmann, is able to use its medium with more success to achieve it properly. Through analyzing the affair and poor choices of an infidelious husband and the false obliviousness and thoughtless decisions of a young woman, the true variances between the mediums can and will be found.