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The differences between rich and poor
The differences between rich and poor
The differences between rich and poor
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So Similar, Yet So Different
Many of us have heard the saying “Money Talks. In both The Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Netherland written by Joseph O’Neill money really does ‘talk’. The power of wealth and the desperation to achieve the American dream, play a significant role, in developing the central plot. While the story written by Fitzgerald revolves around Gatsby wanting to achieve the American Dream to reunite with his true love, Netherland focuses on Chuck who wants to achieve the American Dream to relive his nostalgic childhood (with the help of cricket). Even if Gatsby and Chuck can be seen as similar characters when looking at their manipulative characteristics and dishonest behaviour, they still differ from each
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other when looking at how other characters perceive them. Although Chuck and Gatsby live in two different time periods and differ in many aspects of how they chose to live their lives, one who has read both novels will instantly recognize the manipulative characteristic both Gatsby and Chuck possess.
In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby uses his wealth to manipulate characters such as Nick. This can be seen when Gatsby and Nick have a short conversation late night. “You see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of sideline, you understand. And I thought that if you don’t make very much – You’re selling bonds, aren’t you, old sport? “Trying to.” Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money” (Fitzgerald, 88). Through the use of this quote, Gatsby uses his wealth to subtly tell Nick that he will return the favour by getting him a good job if he sets up a date for Gatsby to meet Daisy. Gatsby’s manipulative personality is shown once again when he insist that he will cut the grass and maintain Nick’s garden to make it seem as a favour for Nick; but truly he does it to impress Daisy. Like Gatsby, Chuck’s manipulative character can be seen throughout the entire novel. Though Hans sees Chuck to be a kind and caring friend that allows him to practice driving in Chuck’s Cadillac, he does not understand that Chuck is using him as a chauffeur to complete orders for his boutique lottery. Hans goes on to say “Once a weekend, then, Chuck became my driving mentor, as he put it – and …show more content…
in return I became his assistant groundskeeper” (O’Neill, 275). This statement depicts how successful Chuck has been in manipulating Hans to believe that his intentions are purely to help him obtain his driver’s license. The fact Chuck addresses himself to be Hans’ driving mentor and Hans’ acceptance to such a term, once again depicts Chuck’s manipulative personality. Chuck’s successful manipulation is also seen when Hans says “in return I became his assistant grounds men”. This demonstrates the effect of Chuck’s successful manipulation. Since Hans believes that Chuck is helping him with no exterior motive, he feels he must return the favour and thus why he becomes Chuck’s assistant grounds men, proving that Gatsby and Chuck are both characters that are capable of easily manipulating and persuading others. Although this may be true, Gatsby and Chuck are complete opposites when looking at how they are perceived by other characters in the book.
Gatsby is seen to be a sympathetic and kind individual who is deceived multiple times because of his kind nature. For instance, when Nick illustrates Gatsby’s history with Dan Cody he says that, “When he saw Dan Cody’s yacht drop anchor over the most insidious flat on Lake Superior, it was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon in a torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants, but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed a row – boat, pulled out to the tuolomee and informed Cody that a wind might catch him and break him up in a half an hour (Fitzgerald, 104). This illustration of Gatsby’s first meeting with Dan Cody allows the reader to understand the caring and empathetic character Gatsby is. The deceit that Gatsby continuously faces in his life can be seen when Dan Cody passes away and Gatsby is not given his share of Dan Cody’s will. His kind and caring nature is once again seen when he takes the blame for hitting Myrtle with the car. Not only does Gatsby take cover for Daisy, but he camps outside of the Buchanan mansion in fear that Tom may hurt Daisy for what she had done. He does this without informing anyone including Nick, which shows that he does what he does because he cares for those he loves. Like before, Gatsby once again faces unbearable deceit as Daisy choses Tom over Gatsby and doesn’t even bother to
show up at Gatsby’s funeral. Unlike Gatsby who is presented as a kind, caring and sympathetic character, Chuck is portrayed to be a rough and tough man, who does what he wants when he wants. This can be seen when Chuck uses Hans to be his white chauffeur to complete his gambling orders. Chuck does not bother to ask if Hans is willing to tag along, more so help him with his matters pertaining to his boutique lottery. This particular scenario clearly depicts that Chuck will do just about anything to make sure that he gets what he wants, how he wants. Hans’ oblivious involvement demonstrates Chuck’s uncertainty in Hans’ reaction and his desperation to have Hans involved. Chuck’s rough nature is seen once again, when Hans says “The baseball bat was resting against a wall. It was stained with dirt. “Jesus Christ,” I said. I walked out and walked down the street for all of fifty yards, at which point I realized I didn’t have the strength to continue” (O’Neill,393)., this situation described by Hans allows the reader to visually imagine Chuck’s cruel and rough behaviour, one that Gatsby would never have enacted upon. It is also important to note unlike Nick Carraway who thought of Gatsby as good man and did not hesitate in any way to attend Gatsby’s funeral, Hans Van Der Brook did not have such an impression on Chuck and took a bit of time to decide whether he would attend Chuck’s funeral that would be held in Trinidad. Lastly, Chuck and Gatsby share one more similarity. Both individuals narrate their past and reveal to be from proletariat families. This in a sense makes Gatsby and Chuck alike in the path they chose to achieve their ambition to become bourgeoisie. They both chose to become successful businessmen by participating in illegal businesses. Gatsby as a bootlegger while Chuck runs his underground gambling business. Despite the fact they may be part taking in different illegal business, they both are alike as they both chose to take the easy path to the top. Through this the reader is able to understand that both Chuck and Gatsby are dishonest men and are desperate to achieve the American dream. Their dishonesty is depicted once again when we learn about Gatsby’s affair with Daisy knowing she is a married women and Chuck’s affair with Eliza and interaction with the escort Avalon. Hence proving that both Gatsby and Chuck are dishonest individuals. In conclusion, Gatsby and Chuck come from entirely different time periods and are seen in different perspectives from the eyes of other characters. However, both characters are similar because of their manipulative and dishonest personalities. Fitzgerald and O’ Neill, both amazing American authors utilize the central characters of Gatsby and Chuck to reach out to their audience and convey many similar and deviant themes and morals to their readers.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him. Initially, Gatsby stirs up sympathetic feelings because of his obsession with wealth.
How they treat each other shows how selfish both of them are and how they only care about themselves. Gatsby finds himself falling in love with Daisy, and the idea of her, when he returns to Long Island and discovers the lavish lifestyles that are being led. Jay Gatsby is a man who has been obsessed with the idea of being wealthy ever since the age of seventeen, when he met an older gentleman named Dan Cody. Gatsby was supposed to inherit all of Cody’s money but was cheated out of it at the last minute. Ever since then, Gatsby has been obsessed with the idea of being wealthy and he would do whatever it would take for him to be wealthy. Once Gatsby and Daisy begin a relationship, Bloom points out that, “Gatsby, with his boundless capacity for love, a capacity unique in the sterile world he inhabits, sees that the pursuit of money is a substitute for love. He knows himself well enough to see that his own attraction toward wealth is tied to his love for Daisy.”. It is hard for Gatsby to admit, but it becomes evident to the reader that Gatsby values wealth and status over human love and affection. Gatsby had an obsession with money that unfortunately he was never able to shake, and ultimately led to a lonely life and eventually to his
No one can be perfect in everything; it is good to make mistakes as long as we learn from them. Jay Gatsby was a man of secrets; he leaves an insightful mark on every person he talks to. Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick, says “it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”(Fitzgerald 6-7). Nick was simply appalled by Gatsby and wanted to know about him and any secrets he may have, Nick felt Gatsby was a great man of mystery and was extremely interesting. Gatsby told Nick “I don’t want you to get a wrong idea of me from all these stories you hear” (69), then opened himself up to Nick and told him “My family all died and I came into
The recurring theme in all of his friendships is that Gatsby always gets some sort of personal gain out of the friendship. Gatsby is only friends with Nick because he is Daisy’s cousin, so that is his portal to her. He even has Jordan ask Nick "if you'll invite Daisy to your house...and then let him come over"(63). This puts Nick in an awkward situation, does he invite Daisy, his engaged cousin over to fulfill Gatsby's dream of meeting, or does he turn Gatsby down and save his cousin the pain. Gatsby only has one genuine relationship, with Dan Cody. Even though Gatsby still gets something out of this relationship, Cody is more of an inspiration for Gatsby than someone for Gatsby to use and take advantage of. Gatsby looked up to Cody so much that Nick says “I remember the portrait of him up in Gatsby’s bedroom”(100). This indicates the importance of Cody to Gatsby because his bedroom is the most simple room in the house. Unfortunately for Gatsby, when Dan died, he was supposed to leave twenty-five thousand for Gatsby, but “what remained of the millions went intact to Ella
Her sequence of lies leads George Wilson to believe, senselessly, that this was all Gatsby’s fault. The shame of the affair eventually compels Wilson to shoot Gatsby and then commit suicide. Daisy, could have owned up to her mistakes and saved Gatsby’s life, but for Daisy Fay Buchanan, self-preservation is far more valuable than personal merit. This in fact proves “the greatest villain in the Great Gatsby is in fact Daisy herself, for her wanton lifestyle and selfish desires eventually lead to Gatsby’s death, and she has no regards for the lives she destroys” (Rosk 47). Nevertheless, Nick Carraway sees right through her disturbing ways and reflects upon the Buchanan’s. After Nick ponders a thought he muttered “They are 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 made” (Fitzgerald 170). Many people see Daisy Buchanan as a poised, pure, and elegant woman who is happily married; however, few like her cousin, Nick Carraway, suffer from knowing her true self: careless, deceptive, and selfish. Daisy is able to use money to get her out of every situation she runs
Though the story is told from Nick’s point of view, the reader gets many perspectives of Gatsby from different characters. One can see from characters like Jordan Baker -Nick’s girlfriend through the majority of the novel, or Tom- the husband of Nick’s cousin Daisy; that Gatsby is not as good as everyone where to think. Based on how these characters act and feel about Mr. Gatsby it is evident that they dislike him to some extent, showing a bit more of a flawed human side of him. Tom is quoted saying “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong.” about Gatsby depicting Tom’s harsh feelings towards him and showing the reader Tom’s negative feelings about Gatsby. Because the story is told from Nick’s point of view, Gatsby is still painted as this mysterious man because Nick is a bit curious of him and does not know Gatsby in the beginning. ‘"They're a rotten crowd," I shouted across the lawn. "You're worth the whole damn bunch put together."’ Nick says to Gatsby, showing that he thinks he is worth more than Daisy, Tom, or the other characters. With this quote one can infer that Nick holds Gatsby on a bit of a high platform than the other characters, giving the reader Nick’s indirect characterization of
His duplicity continues, as he meets Tom’s mistress, and later arranges Daisy and Gatsby’s meeting, even going as far as to say “don’t bring Tom” (85). These are clear deceptions and violations of trust, which both reveal that Nick is not the honest and forthright man he wants the reader to believe he is; on the contrary, in many ways he is the opposite of honest and forthright. However, Nick’s most clearly professed lie is in protection of Daisy, when Tom insists that Gatsby had killed Myrtle, and Nick remains silent, forgoing telling Tom about the “one unutterable fact,” - that it had not been Gatsby who was driving the car when it had hit Myrtle, but Daisy - in favor of protecting Daisy (178). Once again, Nick mischaracterizes his traits and even fails to recognize his deceptions and violations of trust as being dishonest, failing to evaluate his own traits. By highlighting Nick’s opinions of and interactions with life amongst the rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald crafts Nick into a complex character whose contrasting thoughts and actions create a many leveled, multifaceted character who shows the reader that one’s appraisal of one’s own traits can often be incorrect.
Carraway employs his initial meetings and mentions of Gatsby to establish the non-money related values of Gatsby. For instance, when Nick says Gatsby’s name for the first time in the novel, he narrates, “I wanted the world to be…at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction” (2). Recalling the story from the future, Nick says he wants “moral attention forever,” signifying that he longs for further virtue than was exerted during his stay in the east. With the use of “privileged,” he brings attention to the advantage of wealth and how it connects to the “riotous excursions.” However, Gatsby is “exempt.” Nick does not group him with the others, so Nick must perceive Gatsby as more virtuous than the rest. Similarly, after describing their first meeting, while Nick exalts Gatsby’s smile, he all the sudden says, “precisely at that point it vanished — and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.” (45). Noticing that Gatsby isn’t really the prosperous image he projects to the residents of the Eggs, Nick can see through Gatsby’s façade. At this point, he is still “elegant” and refined, but now Nick understands that his “elaborate…speech” is more an act than reality. Gatsby continues to appear wealth-obsessed, but at least Nick can recognize that Gatsby’s knows this is not his real
When he first meets Daisy, Gatsby becomes infatuated with his idea of her, or rather, the false persona that she creates of herself. In fact, Gatsby reveals that “she was the first ‘nice’ girl he had ever known” (155). Gatsby was so impressed with Daisy mainly because of her wealth and her status; it is what he wants. However, Daisy chooses Tom Buchanan over Gatsby, solely because of his social status. As a result, Gatsby revolves his whole life around her: he becomes wealthy, creates a new image of himself, and buys a house across the bay from Daisy. For instance, he fabricates lies about how “ [he is] the son of some wealthy people in the middle-west” (69) and how “ [he] was brought up in America but educated at Oxford” (69) in order to impress her. These lies end up altering others’ perspectives of him - not necessarily in a positive way - and impacting his life as a whole. Daisy unwittingly transforms Gatsby into a picture-perfect image of the 1920s: lavish parties, showy cars, and a false illusion of the attainment of the American Dream. Despite Gatsby’s newfound wealth and success, he never fully accomplishes his dream: to get Daisy. Gatsby’s final act for the sake of Daisy has no impact on her feelings towards him. When Gatsby claims that he crashed into Myrtle and killed her, Daisy carelessly lets him do so, which ultimately results in his death. To make
Even though he had some thought that the meeting would provoke harmful tensions between Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby, he went along with it anyways, further demonstrating his own innate lack of reservation. Ultimately, Nick is an unreliable narrator who overlooks Gatsby’s lies because of his biased judgment of him. Nick portrays Gatsby as a generous and charismatic figure while in reality, he is a duplicative and obsessed man entangled in illegal business who is determined on an unattainable goal. It is highly ironic that Nick judges others for their lack of morality and honesty; his own character is plagued by lies as he abets Gatsby in many of his schemes.
The Great Gatsby set in the glistening and glittering world of wealth and glamour of 1920s Jazz Age in America. However, the story of the poor boy who tried to fulfill the American Dream of living a richer and fuller life ends in Gatsby’s demise. One of the reasons for the tragedy is the corrupting influence of greed on Gatsby. As soon as Gatsby starts to see money as means of transforming his fantasy of winning Daisy’s love into reality, his dream turns into illusion. However, other characters of the novel are also affected by greed. On closer inspection it turns out that almost every individual in the novel is covetous of something other people have. In this view, the meaning of greed in the novel may be varied The greed is universally seen as desire for material things. However, in recent studies the definition of “greed” has come to include sexual greed and greed as idolatry, understood as fascination with a deity or a certain image (Rosner 2007, p. 7). The extended definition of greed provides valuable framework for research on The Great Gatsby because the objects of characters’ desires can be material, such as money and possessions, or less tangible, such as love or relationship.
Unlike those cheesy romantic heroes from soap operas and films, Gatsby believes that by attempting to be someone he is not and by faking his identity, he will be able to win Daisy`s heart . Nick Caraway, the narrator of the novel, informs readers about Gatsby`s past and his first reaction to Daisy. He tells readers, “…he let her believe that he was a person from the same stratum as herself…that he was fully capable to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities…” (Fitzgerald 149). Gatsby basically lies about his social status to win Daisy`s heart, which shows how his relationship is based on dishonesty and lies rather than trust. Gatsby changes himself in order to make room for Daisy in his life. A romantic hero never lies beca...
At the hotel gathering, Gatsby struggles to persuade Daisy to confront her husband and she responds with “Oh, you want too much! . . . I did love him once--but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 132). Daisy desperately tries to satisfy Gatsby but his imagination blocks his mind to such a degree that it eliminates his chances of learning how to comprehend reality. After Myrtle’s murder, Nick advises Gatsby to leave town but instead he realizes that “[Gatsby] wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free” (Fitzgerald 148). No matter how hard Nick attempts to help him make the better choice, Gatsby continues to skew his priorities like a juvenile. Unfortunately for Gatsby, Daisy stays with Tom, a more secure and experienced adult, leaving Gatsby alone. As Gatsby’s life loses his vitality, he obviously needs learn how to act like an adult and survive in the world; but unable to accomplish this, Wilson kills him soon
As Matthew J. Bruccoli noted: “An essential aspect of the American-ness and the historicity of The Great Gatsby is that it is about money. The Land of Opportunity promised the chance for financial success.” (p. xi) The Great Gatsby is indeed about money, but it also explores its aftermath of greed. Fitzgerald detailed the corruption, deceit and illegality of life that soon pursued “the dream”. However, Fitzgerald entitles the reader to the freedom to decide whether or not the dream was ever free of corruption.
In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money, power, and the fulfillment of dreams is what the story’s about. On the surface the story is about love but underneath it is about the decay of society’s morals and how the American dream is a fantasy, only money and power matter. Money, power, and dreams relate to each other by way of three of the characters in the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby is the dreamer, Daisy cares about money, and Tom desires and needs power. People who have no money dream of money. People who have money want to be powerful. People who have power have money to back them up. Fitzgerald writes this book with disgust towards the collapse of the American society. Also the purposeless existences that many people lived, when they should have been fulfilling their potential. American people lacked all important factors to make life worthwhile.