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Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby Vs. Paradise

Decent Essays

Joshua Jenkins
Professor Benjamin West
Literature 221
23 August 2015
Gatsby versus Paradise
To look at F. Scott Fitzgerald popular “The Great Gatsby”, which has been recreated for film many times, but the one that this paper will be using is Jack Clayton’s 1974 version and compare it to Fitzgerald’s first novel “This Side of Paradise”. The two are set in America, his first novel being set in the 1910’s and the other set in the roaring twenties. Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby” and “This Side of Paradise” portray very different times and social classes.
The theme of both stories seems to revolve around money and status. The background talks about where they live which seems to be in a much more scenic area, but close to the city to be able to …show more content…

Blaine is influenced greatly by those around him the most influential being his mother Beatrice Blaine. It took him a great effort to shake off her pampered, spoiled, and vain influence, although even he admits throughout that it still plagued him and caused him to have a harder time to fit in with other boys. He dreams of grandeur, although it always took a great amount of time to achieve, only to find out how very lonely and lackluster it really was. This conversation that Blaine has with his fellow Princeton classmate Kerry Holiday really can describe the way that he always looked at himself and the world around him. “I can’t drift-I want to be interested. I want to pull strings, even for somebody else, or be Princetonian chairman or Triangle president. I want to be admired, Kerry.” (“This Side of Paradise” 803). Blaine falls for many women, but the one that affects him the most is Rosalind Connage, who breaks his heart by marrying another man because he is not rich enough for …show more content…

Caraway seemed taken in by his neighbor Jay Gatsby who did not seem to care at all about money or the extravagant party’s that he put on; he actually rarely went to his own parties. He instead put these on with the intentions of luring his obsession, which was Daisy Buchanan. Because of his Caraway’ relationship with Daisy he gained entrance to Gatsby’s home and even a close friendship. In the end Caraway was the only friend that Gatsby truly had. Exposing the truth that money could not buy loyalty or love. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy— they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made....” (“The Great Gatsby” 2340

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