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The great gatsby with modern society essy
The great gatsby with modern society essy
The great gatsby as a social commentary
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A young woman marries a rich man that she doesn't love. A wealthy man gets more greedy with another paycheck. A hopeless soul steals and kills to get a glimpse of what wealth feels like. The majority of Americans long for richness and the idea that this green paper will bring happiness and satisfaction. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden comes from a wealthy family and has dealt with many challenges, so he understands what money can do. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris is also from a wealthy family. Like Holden, He wants to leave society because of its responsibilities and the high standards people try to reach. Most importantly, Both characters understand and agree upon what wealth and materialism can do. Holden and …show more content…
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden says, “All of a sudden I started to cry. I'd give anything if I hadn't, but I did” (Salinger 103). This depicts Holden feeling powerless and alone when Maurice and Sunny take his money away. It shows how money can make people do despicable acts of crime. Also, Holden feels immense pressure and guilt when someone can't afford what he can. For example, Holden says, “That depressed me. I hate it if I'm eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee” (Salinger 110). Holden realizes the unfairness wealth can create. In the same way, Chris feels that money can cause depression. “Do you think I want some fancy boat? Are you worried what the neighbors might think?”(Krakauer). Chris believes that people expect more from those who have money. It causes depression because of the upsetting tone he uses when speaking with his parents about this. It depresses him that money is the only thing that matters. As a matter of fact, Chris is so upset with the importance of money that he burns it. “I don't need money” (Krakauer). Chris says this because he realizes what money can do to people and society. Since Holden and Chris come from wealthy families they experienced a lot of situations that would cause depression and anger because of …show more content…
On the other hand, Holden and Chris realize the value of close relationships. The characters have many experiences with money and the feeling makes them both depressed. Through their experiences, they've seen many people turned into phonies because of their wealth. Soon, They realize that true happiness came from the close relationships they had. It made them feel loved and not isolated. The message and idea Holden and Chris learned is that materialism and wealth make a person corrupt (phony) and upset. It cannot buy real love or happiness that all desire. The only way is to be close to the ones you love and to stop trying to become wealthy. Learn from Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby who spent most of his time trying to achieve the american dream by becoming wealthy. However he was lonely, desperate, and heartbroken. Becoming wealthy isn't all that it is meant to
The thought of having an immense sum of money or wealth brings certain people to believe that money can buy almost anything, even happiness, however in reality, it will only lead to loss and false hope. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, writes a story about a man named Gatsby who is a victim of this so-called false hope and loss. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald clearly demonstrates and elaborates on the relationship between having money, wealth, and one's ethics or integrity by acknowledging the idea that the amount of money or wealth one has attained does affect the relationship between one's wealth and one's ethics whether or not in a pleasant manner. Although money and wealth may not be able to buy a person happiness, it surely can buy a person's mind and action, given that a wealthy person has a great deal of power. Fitzgerald analyzes the notion that even though many people dream of being both rich and ethical, it is not possible, and therefore, being poor and ethical is much better than trying to be rich and ethical.
Happiness: an idea so abstract and intangible that it requires one usually a lifetime to discover. Many quantify happiness to their monetary wealth, their materialistic empire, or time spent in relationships. However, others qualify happiness as a humble campaign to escape the squalor and dilapidation of oppressive societies, to educate oneself on the anatomy of the human soul, and to locate oneself in a world where being happy dissolves from a number to spiritual existence. Correspondingly, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Krakauer’s Into the Wild illuminate the struggles of contentment through protagonists which venture against norms in their dystopian or dissatisfying societies to find the virtuous refuge of happiness. Manifestly, societal
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger creates judgemental and superficial characters to critique capitalist ideologies. The biggest proponent of capitalism is the main character; Holden Caulfield. Socioeconomically, Holden is considered to be member of the upper-class because his family makes a large amount of money, and they are socially elite. Holden discriminates against those who posses less money than him, and even requires his roommates to have expensive luggage. Holden gives monetary value to many other objects including shoes, a baseball glove, and women. Holden’s discrimination of those in lower classes, and his belief in “sign exchange value” reveal his capitalist morals. Another novel that criticizes capitalism in a
Wealth can be a noble thing or a dangerous thing, depending on who does what with it. In The Great Gatsby, the wealth of Jay Gatsby was used for a multitude of reasons, the main one being to get the attention of Daisy. In contrast, the Joad family’s wealth, in The Grapes of Wrath, was staying together throughout the loses and hardships. One of the aims of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was to show how money and materialism could change a person again and again until they were hardly the same person anymore. In comparing their work it is clear that Fitzgerald and Steinbeck felt that materialism changed people for the worse. While both of their novels deal with wealth and poverty, each novel conveys its message from a very different perspective-
The world today is very deceptive and phony. J.D. Salinger’s well known novels, The Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey attack this fake and superficial society which is evident through the lives, ideas, actions, and words expressed by the characters in these literary pieces. The transition from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood is inevitable. The protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield goes through this stage and finds himself in a crisis. He alienates himself from everyone who is around him and tries his best not to grow up. Holden often dwells upon his childhood and the life he had with his family. Franny in Franny and Zooey has already passed this stage but finds it difficult to live in a world where everyone she is surrounded by is only concerned with outward appearances. In these worlds, both characters, Holden and Franny, reveal their struggle of growing up and trying to live as an adult in a world full of deception and shallow-minded people who only care about appearances.
Holden explains his understanding of money through his situations of suitcases. Although Holden and Dick Slagle got along quite well, the issue of money still brought them apart. Thus, displays how money can affect someone’s view and emotions on one another. Dick feels ashamed and jealous because he does not have the same quality of suitcase as Holden, therefore suggesting he is not as rich. On the other hand, Holden feels bad that his suitcase has made Dick too embarrassed to leave his suitcase out. This also reflects Holden’s view on the world and how he notices money can affect people. Citizens around him assume he is not smart since he failed all of his classes. However, this passage proves Holden has deep thoughts and sees the world in its true form. As a result, he may be smarter than his criticizers. Holden’s criticizers are all lost and oblivious to what money does to people, yet Holden understands money and realizes why people associate with others in the same class. Or perhaps it also demonstrates how people manipulate money in a way that degrades others. Mankind turned money into something that is used to determine how to treat someone, and has such a large reputation that it affects others emotions. In a way this situation is similar to Finny and Gene in A Separate Peace. Gene shows jealousy towards Finny because of his ability to be perfect in everything. In addition, Gene is even more jealous that Finny does not see him as the same quality as Finny himself. It is just like Dick, where he is jealous of Holden’s suitcase being much better quality than his own, which could represent him feeling less important and worthless compared to Holden who has more money. Both Gene and Dick feel ashamed, and represent the jealousy that happens when they feel inferior to one another. Moreover, both the boys try to act like they were not ever jealous. Holden describes Gene and Dick as
Throughout the history of literature, a great deal of authors has tried to reveal a clear understanding of the American Dream. Whether it is possible to achieve lies all in the character the author portrays. The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye stand as prime examples of this. F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger, the authors of these titles, respectively, fashion flawed characters, Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield, with one vital desire: the longing to gain what they can’t have; acceptance and the feeling of belonging. Each retaining characteristics that shows their differences and similarities in opinion of the world around them.
In both Catcher in the Rye and ‘Barn Burning’, the issue of self-identification is a key theme. Specifically that of the main characters, Holden and Sarty. Both characters constantly attempt to find themselves and are conflicted throughout the book. Holden struggles in his teenage world with the issues of individualism, who to trust, and adulthood. Sarty, experiences different issues. He struggles with weighing the consequences of family and society. His dad plays a major role in the oppression of his identity and stops him from truly being an individual, expecting him to put family before anything else. They both use their journey to struggle through the difficult challenge of finding one’s self. For these reasons, both Sarty and Holden struggle
Many people connect Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Catcher in the Rye as similar Coming of Age stories. Both stories have a key death that impacts the main character. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is impacted by the death of his brother. In Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlie is impacted by the death of his aunt. There are some similarities in the way the main character in each story reacts to the death, however there are also some significant differences.
Chris and Holden both agree that wealth is not the priority or helping their social well being, as Chris literally burns his money in an act to be less cautious, Holden is depressed by wealth’s way of dividing people. Before the longest stretch of Chris’s journey he burned his cash in a bonfire because “money [and] power is an illusion”, his distaste and rejection of money is also seen when Chris comments that his trip became “too easy” with money that he earned from working(Krakauer). The pent up anger towards money and wealth came from his father and mother’s life style of well off business people, all the money they earned or married into made them corrupt and bad parents for Chris and his sister. Another line of his was that “money made people too cautious”, the cautiousness that Chris mentions is the way someone is caution of losing the money they have, without that money people are less “cautious” and they can really live so Chris is really saying that money is holding everyone back from living their lives(Krakauer). Though Chris comes out purely against wealth and money, Holden follows suite with suddeler tactics by sharing his discomfort with money. Holden remarks “That depressed me. I hate it if I'm eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee,” he is depressed because of someone else's lesser status than him which correlates with his wealth hiddering him and causing unnecessary “conflict” for lack of a better word(Salinger 122). There was also Holden’s story about his old room mate that had a cheaper bag than his, he ends on a negative note because the bags got in the way of a possible friend. Since wealth in society is so important, for Holden and Chris to resent it will not yield complete acceptance into society. Chris
In the novels, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Ordinary People by Judith Guest, both Holden Caulfield and Conrad Jarrett experience internal anxiety. Both Holden and Conrad are about the same age and have problems within and outside the school walls. Their behavior problems originate because both Holden and Conrad have been traumatized by the loss of their brothers. The two experienced an abundant amount of stress within school grounds and outside of them, but had no one to express their feelings to. Although being from intact families who were well above average financially, the two struggled with communicating to their parents. Throughout the story we realize that getting over the loss of a loved one can be extremely difficult
Society has based various cultural aspects on money. Whether it be through obtaining an education, or what social class you are in, e have been categorized based on the money that we have to our name. Certain aspects make this a positive for communities but for many, it is a hindrance. Within the novel The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses his character personalities to elaborate on the idea that not all wealth is good wealth. Affluency in the novel “ The Great Gatsby ”, is the foundation of each character, and goes on to further establish what the author is trying to convey; Money can not truly buy happiness.
Wealth has both a good and a bad side. It can change the life of a person for the better or worse, and that is clearly shown in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Wealth affects the lives of the characters of Their Eyes Were Watching God very differently than the characters of The Great Gatsby. Janie’s wealth came about, mainly, from her failed relationships.
For some, simply having infinite wealth and popularity is enough for them to be happy. For others, they need something that money can’t buy. Two books that express these qualities are: The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both of these books describe the life of a wealthy man but each of them have different ideas of the American dream. Examples from these books will show how the American dream differs from person to person.
Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the movie Pleasantville, and even in real life, a theme constant is the theme of protection of innocence. The Catcher in the Rye portrays the idea of protection of innocence through the main character of Holden Caulfield. Holden is a highly troubled boy, and is constantly getting kicked out of schools. However, there is one idea he is fiercely serious about. He explains this idea to his sister when she presses him about his life choices. “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids...and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean, except me....What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all”(Salinger 173). This quote spoken by Holden is him