Similarities Between Atonement And The Great Gatsby

Although both core texts contributed a variety of themes such as Identity and Perception, the idea of Social Status and Classes between characters and plots remain as the connection of the two. To recap, in Atonement, destruction begins when Briony witness the flirtation of her sister, Cecilia Tallis and their housemaid's son, Robbie. In the eyes of readers, Robbie finally overcame his worries of being in a lower social class than Cecilia after all these years and fell passionately in love with her. As for Cecilia, she never once treated Robbie as their housemaid's son but as a man she loves. However, from Briony's understanding, she never really took into consideration that Robbie is practically a member of the Tallis household but simply as her nanny's son.

She believes that Robbie does not fit into the social class she's in, which mean Briony often looks down at Robbie.

Thus, when everyone went to search for the missing twins and Briony finds the vulnerable Lola lying in the dark field (after she got raped by Paul Marshall), she automatically assumes it was Robbie who committed the iniquitous act and accuses him of the crime Paul Marshall committed. In relation to The Great Gatsby written by the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Social Status and Class" can be seen exhibited greatly by Daisy Buchanan. Her relationship with Jay Gatsby share many similarities with Cecilia and Robbie, both are in a different social status where the female is higher than the male (gender differences) and both are madly in love but were only together for a short period of time. In the novel, she does not have the determination to abandon her current wealth and social status to be with him. Yes, Gatsby is wealthy, however, not enough to her standard. Daisy's "American Dream" is like the one Tom Buchanan is living, East Egg and the luxurious mansion and the

cars. She is not comfortable with Gatsby's lifestyle where wild parties are held every weekend. Daisy cannot possibly bring herself to love Gatsby and her status as Mrs. Buchanan at the same time. Thus, in the story, her character is portrayed as the coward who hides behind the strong characters whenever something goes wrong and reveal herself again when everything is back to normal. Just as she killed Myrtle, Daisy hid behind Tom and blamed it all on Gatsby, then when Gatsby is dead, she reveals herself once again and left New York with Tom.
In contrast, Cecilia refused to give up Robbie even though he was accused of raping Lola. She continued her relationship with Robbie after he came back from the war despite her family's objections. Whereas Daisy, the moment when "her perfect world" falls apart, she left Gatsby in order to maintain her wealthy status. She did not contact Nick nor did she attend Gatsby's funeral, the man she claimed as the love of her life. And the mess she created, is now left for Nick to fix.