Similarities Between Carraway And The Great Gatsby

In contrast to Carraway, Gatsby lives externally trying to bring happiness from his surroundings whether it is the material possessions he has or the people who are attracted to him for his wealth. For example, for Gatsby, his home symbolizes immense wealth and a sense of him being a part of the wealthy society. In fact, when Gatsby shows Daisy his house for the first time in order to show her how rich he is now, he “revalues everything in his house according to the measure of response it draws from Daisy’s well-loved eyes” (Fitzgerald 96-97). In addition, when Gatsby responds to Daisy’s question of how he lives in such a big house alone, he responds by saying, “I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting

things. Celebrated people” (Fitzgerald 96). This shows how Gatsby holds high importance for the famous people he attracts. He might not know a single one closely, but his happiness comes from the fact that these rich people are attracted to him due to his wealth.
Similarly, Fitzgerald believed that a person’s reputation came from the people he associated with (Arkett). Thus, just like Gatsby, Fitzgerald associated himself with many famous people and revered clubs. This trait spanned throughout his entire life from college until his death. For example, at Princeton University, Fitzgerald joined many high clubs, one of them being the Triangle Club (Brucolli). This helped him gain a sense of satisfaction that he was a powerful person, capable of impressing anyone. This characteristic of Fitzgerald continued throughout his life. One particular example was when he met Zelda, his future wife. As soon as he met her, he committed himself to her, making it an act of dedication. However, she didn’t commit so easily. Thus, in order to impress her, Fitzgerald started throwing grand parties just to associate himself with rich people so that Zelda would think he was rich too.
In addition to other similarities, both Fitzgerald and Gatsby also die tragic deaths where they lose everything they thought they had. After wasting all his money on unnecessary parties and drinking, Fitzgerald drowned in debt, and his writing career deteriorated. Struggling through bad health and alcohol problems, Fitzgerald finally died of a heart attack with no wife or any money at the end (Brucolli). Likewise, at the end of his life, Gatsby has nothing he can truly call his own; Daisy leaves him to go with Tom, and there is no one Gatsby can call a true friend. In fact, at both Gatsby’s and Fitzgerald’s funeral, there are only a few people since all of Gatsby’s and Fitzgerald’s friends only cared about them due to their money and nothing else.
Despite the similarities, there are also differences between the lives of Fitzgerald and Gatsby.

While both Fitzgerald and Gatsby desperately try to make money in an attempt to win the affections of Zelda and Daisy respectively, only Fitzgerald succeeds. After publishing This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald makes enough money to convince Zelda to marry him. After marriage, both Fitzgerald and Zelda go to Paris and participate in numerous social events, trying to live life like the wealthy. On the other hand, Gatsby tries to marry Daisy, but ultimately he fails. At first, after seeing his wealth, Daisy falls in love with Gatsby; however, once she realizes that Gatsby has no real money, she goes back to the wealthy Tom despite Gatsby’s immense love for her. At the end, Gatsby loses Daisy forever, and all his dreams get shattered. Another difference between Fitzgerald and Gatsby is in the parties that each hold. While both Fitzgerald and Gatsby love leisure and socializing, Gatsby never drinks alcohol in his parties. On the other hand, Fitzgerald always used to get drunk in parties. In fact, due to his drinking problems, his health deteriorated which eventually led him to his death at the age of

44.
By adding real life experiences to The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald added a sense of realism that couldn’t have been achieved without real experiences.

Because of this, the reader can connect to the main characters because they all represent something real. By adding real experiences, Fitzgerald transforms a piece of fiction in to a piece of art that represents something more than just its characters and its society; it represents the real world’s society during that time period. By writing about his experiences during the 1920’s, Fitzgerald adds his own commentary about that society in his book. For example, when Fitzgerald writes Gatsby’s character, he shows the real life corruption and greed present in American society during the 1920’s. Fitzgerald also shows other aspects of society during the 1920’s such as partying, drinking, and getting

rich.
In conclusion, Fitzgerald lived an extravagant lifestyle with most of it being destroyed towards the end due to his own doing. Fitzgerald had many important events in his lifespan, some being filled with happiness while others bringing disaster and grief. Fitzgerald portrays most of these events in his book The Great Gatsby, infusing his emotions within the characters of the book. He utilizes two of his main characters – Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby – to portray different sides of the same coin, the coin of his life. When combined, the Midwestern nature of Carraway and the Eastern nature of Gatsby portrays the two different natures within Fitzgerald’s life.