Comparision of Duddy Kravitz and Jay Gatsby
Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz certainly provides a stark contrast to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. While Fitzgerald epitomizes descriptive writing techniques, Richler is far more reserved and subtle in terms of description when juxtaposed. However, both writers are able to successfully reveal the precarious journey of, essentially, the same character. Richler’s Duddy Kravitz and Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby, exemplifies the accomplishments that result from pursuing a dream. Kravitz obediently follows his grandfather’s advice: “A man without land is nobody” (Richler, 49.) Meanwhile, Gatsby follows his heart and pursues Daisy Buchanans’ unrequited love. While there are parallactic views on whether each character’s actions are inspiring or denouncing, the similarities between the two are blatantly obvious. The psychological structure of Kravitz essentially parallels that of Gatsby because both rise to prominence from meager existence, both attempt to conceal their inauspicious past, both pursue their goals through questionable means, and both base their entire existence on a dream which ultimately proves to be their downfall.
A common past may partially be responsible for the close psychological similarities between Kravitz and Gatsby. During their initial portion of life, both characters were confronted with similar problems. Due to their impoverished state, both characters appeared bound to a lifetime of mediocrity. As Richler describes, “Where Duddy Kravitz sprung from the boys grew up dirty and sad, spiky also, like grass beside the railroad tracks.” (45.) Kravitz’s background is further exposed when he claims, “He’s a hack and he picks up extra money pimping. My father’s a pimp…That ought to be good for a laugh. My old man’s a lousy pimp.” (105.) Certainly, Kravitz was never brought up under ideal conditions, and neither was Gatsby, who encounters much of the same problems. “For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and a salmon fisher or in any other capacity that brought him food and bed.” (Fitzgerald, 95.) Fitzgerald further reinforces this fact, “A young major just out of the army and covered with medals he got in the war. He was so hard up he had to keep wearing his uniform because he couldn’t buy some regula...
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... considered the same characters on the same overall journey. However, there is an extreme sense of irony when observing Kravitz and Gatsby. Kravitz desires wealth, land, and social status, while failing to realize Yvette’s love for him. He is surrounded by people who care for him, and appreciate his qualities. Gatsby, however, has accomplished what Kravitz yearns, yet he lacks what Kravitz takes for granted: love. Thus, there certainly is a paradox about the belief that Kravitz and Gatsby are the same character. Both live two opposite lives, yearning for what the other takes for granted. Yet, their journeys are eerily similar. Perhaps Richler and Fitzgerald are not criticizing the idea of pursuing a dream. Perhaps they are revealing the fine equilibrium that must be reached in order to avoid destruction- a man without desire is a nobody, but a man without anyone to appreciate his desire is also a nobody.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. New York: Chelsea House
Publishers, 1986.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Penguin Books, 1950.
Richler, Mordecai. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1959.
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it … It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” (Fitzgerald 48). In chapter 4, Gatsby was riding into town with Nick, and then a police came, all Gatsby did was raised a little white paper and the cop apologized for stopping him. This isn’t only about corruption in 1920’s, but how he was above the law. He has the reputation of the president. He can get away with anything he wanted, he loves the power and the respect. When people say Gatsby it’s like he’s an imperial. The spreading rumors of Gatsby are horrific by the sense that, they were so out of this world you don’t know how people really believed them. Everybody had different point of views of Gatsby, he loves each one if the rumor didn’t contain the truth, or him being poor. His actions seem that all he wants people to do is think of him as an opulent man. Gatsby loves recognition. This makes him lose the idea of his past life which he hated. He strived to forget how he grew up, and where he came
The character of Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s commentary on the logical fallacies of the American Dream are closely intertwined, which is why Fitzgerald goes to such great lengths to separate the two. By distinguishing Gatsby from the flaws he possesses allows the reader to care for Gatsby, and the impact of his death all the more powerful when it finally occurs. By making Gatsby a victim of the American Dream rather than just the embodiment of it, Fitzgerald is able to convince his audience of the iniquity of the American Dream by making them mourn the life of the poor son-of-a-bitch
Jay Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald, two different beings, one a book character, the other a human being but both are the same person. Jay Gatsby, as evinced by the the title, is the main character in The Great Gatsby. His goals and achievements is what the novel revolves around. Gatsby is the most interesting character which is why he leaves something to think about in everything he does in the book, but what makes him amazing are the parallels between him and Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby as a catalyst of his life in the novel.
Fitzgerald’s character Jay Gatsby from his book The Great Gatsby, was very much in love with luxurious life .That is why in his early childhood he left St.Olaf’s College because he had to work as a janitor there to pay his tuition fees. It would not be wrong to say he hated poverty from his early life. This could be his main reason to feel attracted towards Daisy Buchanan, who was a symbol of beauty and class. During Gatsby’s military training he met Daisy and the two fell in love with each other. Though Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby yet married Tom Buchanan ,while Gatsby was studying in Oxford .Gatsby took his rejection seriously and made his aim to achieve Daisy. He started involving himself in illegal work to earn money and started throwing mysterious parties to show off his money and social status .The main motive behind all these was not his greed or revenge but it was all for Daisy, whom he thought to be the love of his life. According to Gatsby his love for Daisy was very innocent and it did not even matter to him that Daisy was married to someone else. He perceived Daisy as a symbol of purity and innocence and wanted to have her at any cost. The main mistake of Gatsby was he mistook his obsession for Daisy as love and also he wanted to erase their past separation from their life by dint of his new money. " Fitzgerald also seems to be problematizing the inevitability of the text’s ending: Gatsby “turn[s] out all right’’
When looking at Jay Gatsby, one sees many different personalities and ideals. There is the gracious host, the ruthless bootlegger, the hopeless romantic, and beneath it all, there is James Gatz of North Dakota. The many faces of Gatsby make a reader question whether they truly know Gatsby as a person. Many people question what exactly made Jay Gatsby so “great.” These different personas, when viewed separately, are quite unremarkable in their own ways.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald reveals to us our narrator Gatsby’s neighbor and cousin of the lovely, but shallow Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway, who construes to us about the infamous and mysterious Jay Gatsby. From the lavish parties, living in the fictional West Egg, and symbolic yellow car, who is Jay Gatsby? Jay Gatsby is a man blinded by his own greed and imagination. All he wants in life is money and love and the only way he affords his lavish lifestyle is by participating in crime. The era that this story takes place in, which is the 20’s, an era of economic prosperity, reflects greatly on the action...
Have you ever been in a situation where you have almost met your goal, but something in the way is preventing you from fully accomplishing it? Jay Gatsby, one of the protagonists in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, loses the love of his life, Daisy, due to years of separation and is trying to win her back. Daisy’s husband, Tom, however, won’t let her go that easy. Gatsby fights his way to get back the lover he waits so many years for. Preceding Gatsby’s risky quest, his main goal in life is to obtain a great wealth in order to impress the beautiful Daisy. He only thinks about Daisy and their life together. He will do anything to be reunited, no matter the consequences. Jay’s shadow side is revealed and anima is present throughout his journey. Gatsby appears to be an altruistic, benevolent, stately young man. Upon close scrutiny, it’s unveiled that he is malicious and selfish because he wants Daisy for himself and he is wiling to ruin a family for her. But, his anima shows how caring, romantic, and vulnerable he really is through his devotion and passion for Daisy. Gatsby is unsuccessful in completing a traditional hero’s journey, but he does create his own unique version of the archetype. In this unorthodox interpretation, Gatsby learns the repercussions of wanting what you can’t have and dishonesty throughout the course of his battle for his lover.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells the story of a man of meager wealth who chases after his dreams, only to find them crumble before him once he finally reaches them. Young James Gatz had always had dreams of being upper class, he didn't only want to have wealth, but he wanted to live the way the wealthy lived. At a young age he ran away from home; on the way he met Dan Cody, a rich sailor who taught him much of what he would later use to give the world an impression that he was wealthy. After becoming a soldier, Gatsby met an upper class girl named Daisy - the two fell in love. When he came back from the war Daisy had grown impatient of waiting for him and married a man named Tom Buchanan. Gatsby now has two coinciding dreams to chase after - wealth and love. Symbols in the story, such as the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, the contrast between the East Egg and West Egg, and the death of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Wilson work together to expose a larger theme in the story. Gatsby develops this idea that wealth can bring anything - status, love, and even the past; but what Gatsby doesn't realize is that wealth can only bring so much, and it’s this fatal mistake that leads to the death of his dreams.
The ethics of society in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby are clearly noted through the endless partying, fancy houses, and the lavishness of their lives. Time and time again Fitzgerald displays his skills of developing his characters through plots and scenes of enchanting parties and mansions. Through these scenarios, the reader develops a sense of the purposelessness of the rich, the values of West and East Egg society, and Gatsby. Each individual scene reveals the subtle nuances of each and every character. Is shown to the reader in such a way that the reader picks up an idea of who each character is. By a landslide, the Great Gatsby owes a lot of its character development to its settings. The settings of The Great Gatsby provides for its substantial character development.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby can perhaps be argued to be one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century. Almost a century a later, “It seems to find its way to the top of the lesson-plan book” (Dowling 109). There are a multitude of reasons that make this exceptional work of fiction immensely popular and adored many. Fitzgerald’s style of writing and creativity produce an original storyline with convoluted characters making this award winning novel a breathtaking work of art celebrated in almost every English class across the nation. The intricate construction of Gatsby 's character and relatable themes helps readers better comprehend the storyline and develop an emotional connection. Gatsby’s character is more
The Great Gatsby was a major success in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s writing career. With more failures than successes, Fitzgerald’s determination to achieve a best seller had become a reality by reason of The Great Gatsby published 1996. The novel is written with many twists and hidden mysteries. Nick Carraway, a young and said to be attractive man, finds himself mentally captivated by Jay Gatsby, his neighbor who is seen to live this wild lifestyle. Carraway receives an invitation to one of Gatsby’s parties. Intrigued by Gatsby’s ambitious lifestyle, Nick attends. Although seeming to be wild and overwhelming, he realizes something about this atmosphere seems phony. Nobody knew the real Gatsby; most guests couldn’t identify him if he was standing right next to him. Taken back by all that is happening around him, Nick is determined to find this Gatsby everyone speaks so highly about, but no one really knew. Further on Gatsby’s side, his heart ached for Daisy Buchanan. Married to Tom Buchanan with a child, it was not as easy to love him as it was for him to love her. Gatsby truly believed Daisy never loved Tom, and pressed for her to admit it throughout the novel. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the concept of the cliché upper class living in the 1920’s along with the act of illegal importing; this thematic structure of the text parallels the concept of the American Dream and hustling in current popular culture and for this reason the text is a classic still read and respected today.
Gatsby encompasses many physiognomies such as ambitious. Ambitious outlines one who is eagerly desirous of achieving or obtaining success, Jay Gatsby. It is evident that Gatsby generates his own fantasy world, a realm where he is not the underprivileged James Gatz, but the fantasized Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald conceives him as, “… the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (98). This quote expresses how he dreams up a new world to escape the blandness of his own existence. But his imagination and turmoil pays off because he ends up making his dreams reality. He personifies a man who goes from “rags to riches” because he strives to better himself as opposed t...
Fitzgerald suggests that fantasy never matches reality by looking at the consequences of Gatsby’s confusing dreams and reality. Gatsby creates a high illusionary Daisy, therefore, these expectations of Daisy cannot be met. This can also be seen by noticing how as Gatsby approaches the end of this journey of acquiring Daisy, the journey becomes pointless, and the outcomes in his fantasy differ from those in reality. Countless individuals today make this same mistake of confusing dreams and reality, and looking to Jay Gatsby as an example, this mistake may harm them in the future.
Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a tragic hero; his greatest attribute of enterprise and ambition contributes to his ultimate demise, but his tragic story inspires fear amongst the audience and showcases the dangers of allowing money to consume one’s life. To qualify as a tragic hero, the character must first occupy a "high" status position and also embody virtue as part of his innate character. In Fitzgerald’s novel, the tragic hero Jay Gatsby was not born into wealth but later acquired social status through bootlegging, or selling illegal alcohol during Prohibition. When he was a child, James “Jimmy” Gatz was a nave boy from North Dakota without any family connections, money, or education who was determined to escape his family’s poverty through hard work and determination. Once he enrolls in the army, however, Gatsby gets “’way off my ambitions, getting deeper in love every minute, and all of a sudden I didn’t care” (151) when he meets who he believes to be the girl of his dreams—Daisy.
Gatsby’s obsession of his love for Daisy and wealth prove his dream as unattainable. Throughout the novel, he consumes himself into lies to cheat his way into people’s minds convincing them he is this wealthy and prosperous man. Gatsby tries to win Daisy’s love through his illusion of success and relive the past, but fails to comprehend his mind as too hopeful for something impossible. In the end, Nick is the only one to truly understand Gatsby’s hopeful aspirations he set out for himself but ultimately could not obtain. In the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald is able to parallel many themes of the roaring twenties to current society. The ideas of high expectations and obsession of the material world are noticeable throughout the history and is evident in many lives of people today.