Love and loss have the ability to transcend age, time and lifestyle through countless lives and stories. Longing for the past affects everyone differently but ultimately shapes who an individual becomes. Oskar Schell from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby share many similarities in their quests to find their identities through loved ones accompanied by components that make their journeys unique. Hope and nostalgia play an important role in both their courses to find their identities through searching for something they once had.
Some main differences between Jay Gatsby and Oskar Schell include their lifestyles, point of view on the world and what exactly they search for. Oskar has lived for only twelve years in New York City, his story takes place
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Oskar Schell is a realist while Jay Gatsby fantasizes. Due to their age and experience, this information typically is not accurate, but in this case, describes the characters very well. Although in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, many of Oskar’s ideas may seem out of reach, he never truly believes that the key will bring his dad back to life or allow them to speak again, but he hopes to uncover some sort of secret about his dad’s life that will make his horrible world make sense again. Oskar always speaks with confidence in himself and always brings with him his know-it-all smart-as-a-whip attitude. Within this attitude, frequently contains his realism. For example as he plans his trip home he says, “It took me three hours and forty-one minutes to walk to Aaron Black, because public transportation makes me panicky” (Safran Foer, 212). Oskar quickly explains his reasoning behind all his actions, showing his realism in everyday life. On the contrary, Gatsby always seems to be believing in the future or nostalgic of the past, specifically regarding his relationship with Daisy. Gatsby reveals
Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explore the themes of trauma and redemption through the creators unsystematic stories. Traumatic events and it’s effects on both protagonists are the main focus of the texts. Sant’s troubled genius, Will Hunting has difficulties connecting with individuals due to a history of emotional abuse. Fitzgerald’s famous romantic comes in the form of, Jay Gatsby, a financially successful man that has difficulties moving on from his former lover, Daisy. Both Jay and Will are on the path to self actualisation. Equally notable is the negative effects of the past on their personal lives and the different methods each character takes to overcome these experiences and grow. The creators
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.
Both Gatsby and Ethan suffer from isolation in society, great loneliness, and emptiness, never ending up achieving their dreams. Everything that Jay Gatsby has done in his adult life has been with the sole purpose of fulfilling the more unrealistic of dreams – to recapture the past. However, as he grew into a young man he had little to nothing, having voluntarily estranged himself from his family, and was left on his own to reinvent himself. Although he became a different man, changing his name from Jimmy Gatz to Jay Gatsby, becoming extremely successful, being prodigal, and throwing extravagant and outrageous parties all the time, Gatsby was still in a sense, alone. After he moved to his house on West Egg. Long Island, even though he would see thousands of people at his house every week, Gatsby was more alone than ever. He did not have any close friends and people did not know much about him. Rumours erupted about the “Great” Jay Gatsby who was oblivious to the nature of the lies and where they evolved. It was commonplace for Gatsby to be the topic of conversation after his death, as everyone knew of him, but in reality, no one really knew him. Parties at Gatsby’s house were frequented by many people, however, when it came to his funeral...
In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar Schell can be seen confronting several different types of trials, some of these being man versus man conflicts, and others being man versus self. One of the major man vs. man trials Oskar faces throughout the course of the book is in the form of the noticeable and consistent bullying he takes because of his awkward personality and odd quirks. Kids like Jimmy Snyder can be seen exploiting Oskar’s social shortcomings verbally, and even being ready to turn towards physical bullying (Foer 189-192). As Oscar is not the knight in shining armor, he rarely stands up for himself, instead fantasizing about actions he would like to take and follows that up by saying, “that’s what I wanted to do. Instead I just shrugged my shoulders” (Foer 203). Throughout the course of the story, Oskar also faces many internal conflicts. The death of his father has left Oskar traumatized giving him fears of taking showers and getting into elevators…people with mustaches, smoke, knots, tall buildings, and turbans” (Foer 36). As Oskar continues on his quest, he eventually comes face to face with many of his fears, and is forced to confront and ultimately overcome them. Oskar’s final and arguably most daunting challenge is facing his own inner demons in regards to the death of his father. A year after his father’s passing, he has
As depicted by Scott F. Fitzgerald, the 1920s is an era of a great downfall both socially and morally. As the rich get richer, the poor remain to fend for themselves, with no help of any kind coming their way. Throughout Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the two “breeds” of wealthier folk consistently butt heads in an ongoing battle of varying lifestyles. The West Eggers, best represented by Jay Gatsby, are the newly rich, with little to no sense of class or taste. Their polar opposites, the East Eggers, are signified by Tom and Daisy Buchanan; these people have inherited their riches from the country’s wealthiest old families and treat their money with dignity and social grace. Money, a mere object in the hands of the newly wealthy, is unconscientiously squandered by Gatsby in an effort to bring his only source of happiness, Daisy, into his life once again. Over the course of his countless wild parties, he dissipates thousands upon thousands of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to attract Daisy’s attention. For Gatsby, the only way he could capture this happiness is to achieve his personal “American Dream” and end up with Daisy in his arms. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is somewhat detrimental to himself and the ones around him; his actions destroy relationships and ultimately get two people killed.
“The Great Gatsby” and “The Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock” are two pieces of writing written in the 1920’s. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and T.S Elliot were able to express the overwhelming force of the most powerful human emotion. Although the two eponymous characters seem vastly different from each other in, it can be seen when analyzed in greater depth that the two hold more similarities than differences. Both Prufrock and Gatsby live more in their own minds than the actual world. This causes them to become isolated from other people and become captives by their own illusions. Both men will eventually allow love and fear to corrupt their lives and lead them to make decisions which will ultimately bring about their demise.
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. When you take them together, however, you discover the complicated and unique individual that is Jay Gatsby.
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.
While Gatsby has yet to be seen in chapter two, the reader learns some of what people believe about the titular character. Chapter two portrays Gatsby as a figure shrouded in mystery with an extraordinary past; Catherine, Myrtle’s sister, tells Nick rumours surrounding Gatsby’s heritage. It is believed that Gatsby is part of the German royalty--that he is relative of Kaiser Wilhelm. Gatsby's image is followed by intrigue as well as fear; Catherine mentions how she is “scared of him” and does not want to know what he is capable of doing. Chapter eight mirrors chapter two in the way where the reader gets to know Gatsby again, however, this time the reader finds the truth about “Jay Gatsby”; this chapter reveals Gatsby’s true backstory as a “penniless young man”, son of a farmer from Nebraska and Gatsby stops being a mysterious figure. In chapter eight, the audience learns about the ordinary man that Gatsby truly is and he ceases being greater than life. The image of Gatsby as a dangerous man is also destroyed when he becomes a powerless victim killed by the deranged George Wilson. By shattering the illusion of Gatsby, the perfect image of the self-made man, Fitzgerald shows his belief that the type of man Gatsby was, was an unattainable dream that was no longer achievable by the 1920’s.
Thesis: How does F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, compares the American Dream in today's generation and back in the 1920's-30's? What did the American Dream really mean and why? So why did this issue happen? Do you think America can change in the future? What is the american dream really about? When did the phrase: ‘american dream’ started? Have you ever wondered what the 20s and 30s were like back then? How can this so called dream ever bring hope to our country? These are all the questions I would like to know myself. I’ve found three online sources & one source from the novel that can help explain about the 20th century, the Gatsby novel, today's generation, and about Mr.Gatsby from the book.
Gatsby represents the many reasons the Lost Generation gave up on America’s past of hope and dreams and began to find self-fulfillment in the present. Unlike Gatsby, they tried to avoid the consequences of pursing a single dream. They were unable to hope for a better future and realized the actual corruption and isolation when the Great Depression occurred. By not living a life of illusions for some future or past, it diminishes optimism but at the same time, improves the lives of the present-of reality.
Nella Larsen’s Passing and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby both share a miserable tone and displays the concept of what an accepted identity means. By creating eccentric roles for each characters in “The Great Gatsby” and “Passing”, both author conveys how simple it is to lose themselves. One of the characters in passing, Clare Kendry, who abandoned her real ethnicity, never had the opportunity to associate herself with a specific race because of her inconvenient death. Irene Redfield was part of the reason for her suicide because she was jealous of Clare, she destroyed her mentally until she lost all her senses and control over her emotions. In “The Great Gatsby” the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, tried to create a new life for himself. Frankly,
The Roaring Twenties is considered to be a time of excessive celebration and immense corruption. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a criticism of American society and its values during this era of history. This criticism is first apparent in the people who go to Gatsby's parties. They get absurdly drunk, do not know who their host is and are rude by excessively gossiping about him. This commentary is also shown in the corruption of the police. Gatsby is able to pay off the police so that the activities going on at his home will go unnoticed and so that he may behave as he wishes. This criticism is finally shown in the corruption of friendship and love, the simple fact being that there is none. People use Gatsby and then throw him away. Fitzgerald's criticism of American society and its values during this time period is first shown in the behaviour of people at Gatsby's parties.
Themes of hope, success, and wealth overpower The Great Gatsby, leaving the reader with a new way to look at the roaring twenties, showing that not everything was good in this era. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates the characters in this book to live and recreate past memories and relationships. This was evident with Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, Tom and Daisy’s struggling marriage, and Gatsby expecting so much of Daisy and wanting her to be the person she once was. The theme of this novel is to acknowledge the past, but do not recreate and live in the past because then you will not be living in the present, taking advantage of new opportunities.
As an American citizen we seem to make presumption that all cultures are different from ours, and some might even call those cultures weird. Americans fail to realize just how similar we are to these “weird” cultures. By reading Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe and The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald , it makes the reader realize how similar the African culture is from the American culture. There 's those obvious differences we already knew about with the two cultures, but readers can learn that not just American culture value men and give them advantages, but many cultures including 1900 's African culture. In both books we come across two main characters that is portrayed as being more superior compared to others. Okonkwo, main