Innocence And Experience In The Great Gatsby

In societies based on wealth and status, there becomes a perpetual need for refuge. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence, the fatalistic desire for an escape from the upper class sycophants of New York society became apparent in the form of affairs. In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, the protagonist, Newland Archer, was dazzled by the spectacle of the beautiful, exotic Ellen Olenska--the ostracized cousin of his betrothed, May Welland. On the contrary, Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s protagonist, left his love, Daisy Buchanan, to pursue monetary gain and societal status in the empty lifestyle of an upper-class business tycoon. In this, creating his inner sanctuary, stuck in the times he spent with Daisy. Despite advancing in economic class, Gatsby finds himself chained to the hierarchy of the ruthless, spiteful social class of NYC without refuge. Ultimately, Newland Archer and Jay Gatsby tried to find a bright light in their lackluster lives of upper-class society, to escape from the imminent ostracism, in turn digging their own graves.

George even uses Lennie’s need as leverage to keep him under control. Lennie strives to hold responsibility. Unfortunately, Lennie tends to hurt the animals that he does receive. He is too strong for the animals that she cares for. During their journey from Weed, Lennie tends to a mouse, only to end up killing the fragile creature. Later on, George gets Lennie a puppy that Lennie regretfully kills with his power. Lennie’s good intentions fell short in comparison to his power. Lennie was looking for responsibility in pets but took on too much when the animals would be killed by his overwhelming strength.

When Gatsby reveals to about his relationship with Daisy, Nick’s relationship with Gatsby takes a full u-turn as it rapidly advances their association from simple acquaintances to close friends. Nick’s outlook of Gatsby undergoes a similar transformation. When Nick learns of the previous relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, Gatsby’s actions make sense to Nick. The mansion, the extravagant parties, and the green light were all in the efforts for making Daisy notice him. Gatsby lives his life for the past life that he lived. He spends his life seeking the attention of his love, Daisy, and as Nick explains, “He wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was…” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby sought out the American dream in order to win over the love of Daisy which creates a different perception of himself to Nick. Nick, now knowing Gatsby’s intentions worries about Gatsby’s possible rejection, and then warns him that, “[he] wouldn’t ask too much of her, you can’t repeat the past.” (Fitzgerald 110) But Gatsby, blinded by love, strives to win Nick’s married cousin’s heart. Nick perceives Gatsby as a man dwelling on the past

Lennie is a tall, strong, and muscular man who travels with his friend George, a short, skinny, and semi-buff guy. He is mentally challenged and only does what George tells him to do. Lennie frequently forgets what he is told and it gets him into a lot of trouble. Some things that he does are out of his control because

62) Gatsby even asked Nick for his help to put him and Daisy in the same room together earlier in the novel. Nick agrees and eventually an affair ensues between Gatsby and married Daisy. This alone depicts exactly what Nick means when he speaks about how close Gatsby was to his dream and how it was almost impossible for him not to achieve it. He somewhat has won Daisy over by throwing his wealth in her face every chance he had. However, Daisy was already used to the lifestyle that Gatsby just newly acquired. This realization speaks through the next portion of the passage. “He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city” (pg. 180). His dream of winning Daisy back is trapped in the past because she is now married to Tom. Gatsby fails to accept the fact that times change and so do people. Daisy was not the same person he knew all those years ago. I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything” (pg. 22). Living lavishly was not new for Daisy like it was for Daisy. She had traveled the world and done everything she wanted to do so nothing really excited her anymore. Despite her love for Gatsby, Daisy decides to stay with tom when Gatsby demands she tell her husband she never loved him. Her decision shows that Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy’s love back was indeed in the past. The icing is put on the cake when Tom exposes Gatsby for

The idea that George uses Lennie’s retardedness for amusement relates back to ableism. Instead of helping Lennie and build him up, George sinks him down with harsh words and cruel pranks. Society does not help people with disabilities, they mock, like George would mock Lennie. Steinbeck uses symbolism as well to explain ableism in society, in specific Candy’s dog. This point is further shown in the novella, Of Mice and Men, when Steinbeck writes, “Well--hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him,’ he said proudly,’ You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen.’ … Carlson insisted. “And he stinks to beat hell. Tell you what. I’ll shoot him for you.’” (44-45). Candy’s dog sees no mercy in the eyes of Carlson. Carlson insists on the dog’s death, so far as to murder the animal himself. This shows the cold, harsh reality of those with disabilities in society. Though the mutt was once great, one of “greatest” sheep dogs Candy has ever seen, has been beaten down by age. Carlson coldly decides the dog’s fate, the old greatness

Lennie Smalls is often misunderstood from his mental handicap to how he presents himself as a person. In spite of being mentally handicap, Lennie is faced with being looked to as an animal. Although,Of Mice and Men is a story about an unlikely pair of friends who have a plan to own their own acre of land and a shack to call their own. George is the guidance of Lennie , therefore Lennie needs some extra patience and guidance when he has disobeyed George’s orders. “‘Look, Lennie, if you get into any kind of trouble, you remember what I told you to do?’...’If i get in any trouble, you ain’t gonna let

Lennie Small is a character that readers are drawn to right from the beginning of the book. His innocence stands out from the grimey coverings of loneliness and hopelessness that the other characters wear. The reason Lennie is so innocent is because he has a mental handicap, one that prevents him from understanding complex human emotions such as guilt, or concepts such as death. In addition Lennie has trouble remembering things, “" I tried and tried [to remember]...but it didn't do not good." Consequently, Lennie has trouble fitting in with society. Ultimately his mental disability is what leads to Lennie's demise at the end of the book. Another trait that is an essential part of Lennie's innocent character is his devotion to his closest friend George. In fact, the only times Lennie is shown to be angry is when George is insulted or threatened. When Crooks, the crippled, black, stable hand, implies bad things about George, this devotion is clearly shown. “Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He walked dangerously toward Crooks. 'Who hurt George?' he demanded" When it comes to George, Lennie would deviate from the normal passive motives of his persona. More support can be found when George is the only one who can convince Lennie to “get him[Curly]” when Curly attacks him, as well as being the only one to stop him. Perhaps the most prominent support for Lennie's childlike innocence is in his utter belief of George and his dream. No matter how

The society our nation lives in today has developed morals and principles through the lessons experienced from the past. The Roaring Twenties was a time of change and a chance to pave a path for the person you wanted to become. Morals and principles served as guidelines rather than rules and were merely preached that practiced. Thus, the severity of the immoral actions taking place created opportunities for lessons to be learned. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrated various moral lessons through the downfall and corruption of various characters based on their immoral actions. The narrator, Nick Carraway is a young man who throughout the

Because of the infantile and trivial characteristics of which Lennie is portrayed with in the first chapter of Of Mice and Men, the author, John Steinbeck, is deemed unsuccessful to exemplify Lennie as one to feel sympathy towards. It is only within a few pages of this novella that we begin to feel a bit of disapprobation towards Lennie's actions. This being when "His hand went into the pocket again. George looked sharply at him. 'What'd you take outa that pocket?' 'Ain't a thing in my pocket,' Lennie said cleverly."(Page 3) Immediately after reviewing this quote, Lennie's primary goal became quite obvious. This goal being that he is trying to instigate George, his acquaintance, into committing acts of frustration for his own amusement. This is especially emphasized when Steinbeck uses

A theme in a work of literature is the author’s way of relaying a message to their audience. Often times, many themes are similar and recur throughout different pieces over time. For example, many characters begin their development as innocent and naive. However, as the course of the novel progresses, the characters evolve, and they can lose their innocence, which can later influence the characters behaviors and attitudes. The theme of innocence frequently appears in many classic American novels such as The Great Gatsby, The Crucible, The Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This helps explain the meaning and understanding of love throughout this story being different from the form of love in our world. A form of Scorn is also presented in this story to that being what Nick feels towards Gatsby. Nick not liking Gatsby's idea of getting wealthy off bootlegging has driven Nick to have bad impressions of Gatsby. Nick is also not a supporter of Daisy because of her high expectations on people. In chapter 8 Nick refers to Gatsby and Daisy being a rotten crowd as a way of saying that although them being wealthy, they aren't worth anything.

This is the first glimpse of how deeply Gatsby loves Daisy that Nick gets to see. With Gatsbys account of his first time with Daisy, Nick is able to discover Gatsbys true obsession with her- that being her wealth, clothing and her overall attitude of carelessness. To Gatsby, the idea of wealth and Daisy are molding into one. By doing this, Gatsby is reducing his dream of love with Daisy to a more materialistic gain, causing disillusionment in Gatsbys dreams. This is unfortunate because this is what makes Gatsby so great in the first place- his ability to dream and strive for those dreams each and every day of his life.

In the beginning of the novella, Lennie is portrayed as innocent and dependent on George. When Lennie had a mouse and George asked for it, Steinbeck describes Lennie’s reaction

In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George is loyal to Lennie. Lennie has a mental disability and doesn't always make the smartest decisions or think clearly. Lennie enjoys petting soft objects, so naturally when he saw the girl’s soft dress, his first thought was to go and pet it. Unfortunately, the town’s folks weren’t aware of Lennie’s disability and ended up charging him for assault. Lennie was forced to leave town because no one wanted him to work for them.