“Compare the ways in which F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck in Of Mice and Men explore the nature of the American Dream.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald in his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck in his 1937 novella Of Mice and Men examine the reality of the American Dream in their respective societies. Both authors disseminate the philosophical values engendered by the American Dream, but its corruption by social ostracism is nevertheless exposed in both texts. Although Fitzgerald’s exposé of the Roaring Twenties and Steinbeck’s Great Depression tale depict vastly dissimilar socio-cultural settings, both novels portray their protagonists’ common failure in attaining the American Dream. As Fitzgerald suggests that
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Fitzgerald’s examination of Gatsby’s unreachable American Dream is encapsulated through symbolism whereas Steinbeck implements foreshadowing to reassert the ranchmen’s impossible dream. The “single green light” at Daisy’s dock that is “minute and far away” from Gatsby’s house symbolises his dream to repossess Daisy’s love, which is nonetheless a “failure” as it is “already behind” and “beyond” him all along (page 16). As Gatsby “stretched out” toward the “enchanted” green light, he “aspired” to his “dream” that appears “so close” he can “hardly fail to grasp” (page 115), which however “eluded” him, strikingly manifesting the unreachability of the American Dream. While Fitzgerald’s green light embodies the “orgastic future” that “year by year recedes before [Gatsby]” (page 115), Steinbeck emphasises the dispiriting, repetitive routine of itinerant workers during the Great Depression through foreshadowing. The inevitable fate of these dispossessed “tramps” is foretold through the “path beaten hard” by “boys coming down from… ranches” and the “ash pile” made by “many fires” (page 3). On this “path”, George and Lennie plan to “work on [another] ranch” like “the one [they] come from” up north in hopes of “[having] their own place” one day (page 58). Although “hundreds” of ranchmen long for “a little piece of land”, this fatalistic “path” foreshadows that they “work up a stake” then “blow” it before “poundin’ their tail” on another ranch again, showing their predetermined fate, which is parallel to Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy’s love that is “borne back ceaselessly into the past” (page 115). As Gatsby longs to “repeat the past” (page 90) with Daisy, he “leaned back so far”, causing a “defunct … clock” to “tilt dangerously” before “[catching] it with trembling fingers”, signifying his resolve to recapture Daisy’s love. Though Gatsby continues
Propaganda filters throughout the world to lean people’s views one way or another. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to demonstrate the American Dream. This is unattainable but is their motivation to carry on their daily on the ranch lives. George and Lennie’s actions revolve around their American Dream. In a conversation between George and Lennie they discuss their dream, George states “... We’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres, an’ a cow and some pigs” (Steinbeck, 14). George says this to Lennie to motivate him to keep quiet and out of trouble so they can eventually reach these dreams. The American Dream can be defined as people
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, the principle character, Jay Gatsby makes an exhaustive effort in his quest for the American Dream. The novel is Fitzgerald's vessel of commentary and criticism of the American Dream. “Fitzgerald defines this Dream, he depicts its’ beauty and irresistible lure”(Bewley 113). Through Gatsby's downfall, Fitzgerald expresses the futility and agony of the pursuit of the dream.
The 1920s were years of economic prosperity and radical change both socially and politically. During the decade, the American Dream was sought-after by numerous people throughout America, which is reflected in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The novel is a highly symbolic meditation of America in the 1920s, focusing particularly on the disintegration of the American Dream in a time of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby, George and Myrtle Wilson, and Nick Carraway to illustrate that the American Dream is unnatainable, and striving for it only creates an disasterous ending.
To Jay Gatsby, his corrupt American dream is symbolized by Daisy Buchanan, a woman he is so in love with he will do anything to get her back. Gatsby sees wealth as a solution to his problems. Raised from a poor childhood to being a millionaire with servants, a huge house, and dozens of friends, Gatsby exemplifies the idea of self-made success. All of these pieces of the American dream that Gatsby acquired were actually elements that eventually led to his downfall. In chapter one, the reader is first introduced to Gatsby in a very unusual way, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as i was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unique darkness” (Fitzgerald 21). In this first glimpse of Gatsby, he is reaching towards something off in the distance, out of reach. This image of the green light ties in with the American dream that people are always reaching for
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby focuses on the corruption of the American dream during the 1920‘s. For the duration of this time period, the American dream was no longer about hard work and reaching a set goal, it had become materialistic and immoral. Many people that had honest and incorruptible dreams, such as Jay Gatsby, used corrupted pathways to realize their fantasy. People’s carelessness was shown through their actions and speech towards others. Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism from different characters and items to convey the corruption of the American dream.
The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story of misguided love between a man and a woman. Fitzgerald takes his reader through the turbulence and trials of Jay Gatsby’s life and of his pining for the girl he met five years prior. The main theme of the novel, however, is not solely about the love shared between Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. The main purpose is to show the decline and decay of the American Dream in the 1920’s. The American Dream is the goal or idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all have the potential to live happy, successful lives. While on the surface, Gatsby
Thesis: The pursuit of the American Dream is a dominant theme throughout The Great Gatsby, which is carried out in various ways by F. Scott Fitzgerald, how the author represents this theme through his characters and their actions is one small aspect of it.
The American Dream in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Two Kinds writer by Amy Tan, and in “Sophistication” by Sherwood Anderson.
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
The American Dream has long been thought the pinnacle idea of American society. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial status, could rise from the depths and become anything they wanted to be with no more than hard work and determination has attracted people from all around the world. Two writers from America’s past, however, have a different opinion on the once-great American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck have given the public their beliefs on the modern Dream through the novels they have written, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men, respectively. One novel placed during the Great Depression and the other during the Roaring Twenties both illustrate how their author feels about the Dream
The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of race, class, gender, or nationality, can be successful in America if they just work hard enough. The American Dream gave hope to all Americans that they have a chance to be successful despite their backgrounds. Although the American Dream inspired many, several people took a more negative view on it. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck criticize the American Dream in their novels: The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men. In these two novels, Gatsby and Lennie both have dreams they so desperately want to achieve. The green light on the end of Daisy’s dock is symbolic of Gatsby’s dream to repeat the past and be reunited with Daisy. On the other hand, Lennie has the dream to buy a patch of land with George where he can tend the rabbits. Although these dreams may seem harmless, Gatsby and Lennie made some big mistakes that led things to take a bad turn. By analyzing both Gatsby’s and Lennie's dreams, it will become obvious how the American Dream ultimately fails them.
Oftentimes society gets so caught up in achieving greatness that it is blinded to the obstacles of reality. The American Dream can sometimes be so unachievable yet so alluring that people cannot help but strive after it as if it were their destiny. Fitzgerald highlights this phenomenon in his novel The Great Gatsby through many characters and their pursuit of their own American Dreams. Fitzgerald uses figurative language and contrasting diction to show his cynical attitude about the pursuit of the American Dream and the blindness of those who believe in it.
The American Dream. The idea of fulfilling your life’s dreams, whether to marry, to retire, to buy a house or to fall in love, is a theme commonly shared in both Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In Of Mice & Men, best friends George and Lennie travel from ranch to ranch in the hope of finally earning enough money to buy a house of their own. Yet due to Lennie’s mental disability, difficult situations for him lead to the end of their dream and the end of his life. Alternatively, in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby has a life of money and parties – his world is seemingly complete, but the purpose of his social events are to try and catch the eye of his dream girl; Daisy. However, this too ends in defeat, and death. Steinbeck and Fitzgerald constantly portray the dream as unyielding and corrupt, as they are remote and leave the people involved disheartened and remorseful. Both novels are set in analogous times, and both in America, but the lives of the characters are very dissimilar – in The Great Gatsby, they live in New York, a city full of wealth thanks to Wall Street and the thousands of shops as well as the post-war parties of the roaring twenties, whereas in Of Mice & Men they live in an agricultural area with less money and less opportunities, in the dust-bowl of America,
The disillusionment of the American Dream is a frequent but important written theme in the American literature. Fitzgerald’s famous book The Great Gatsby is one of the most important representative works that reflects this theme. F. Scott Fitzgerald is best known for his novels and short stories which chronicle the excesses of America's Jazz Age during the 1920s. His classic twentieth-century story of Jay Gatsby examines and critiques Gatsby's particular vision of the 1920's American Dream. The Great Gatsby can be seen as a far-reaching book that has revealed many serious and hidden social problems at that time. As one of the most popular and financially successful
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a one of the best stories written during a chaotic period in our nation’s history, The Jazz Age. The Twenties were a time of social experiments, self-indulgence, and dissatisfaction for majority of Americans. Fitzgerald depicts all these characteristics throughout the novel with his interesting themes, settings, and characters. The most elaborate and symbolic character Fitzgerald presents to his readers is Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby as a vehicle to explore the idea of The American Dream, which was a key element in shaping American society and it’s citizens. Fitzgerald does not sugar-coat his definition of the