Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Death Of A Salesman

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Throughout both The Great Gatsby and Death of A Salesman, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald and playwright Arthur Miller use the focus of materialism and the consumerism of 1920s and 1940s America to explore the failure experienced by many in relation to the American Dream. In context to the time periods in which the novel and play are set in post war America and the financial boom which occurred in America following both WW1 and WW2 are reflected in the consumerist lifestyle led by the characters of Fitzgerald’s and Miller’s works due to the misguided belief that through acquiring wealth and the purchase of material objects, they will attain happiness. It is this false image of the American dream which is central to both works and the continual …show more content…

Through this poem extract it is suggested to the reader that Gatsby perhaps loses sight of his original goal of the novel, as it is implied by the poet that wealth is the key to love as to ‘wear the gold hat’ is presented as the means to impress his lover. Although the epigraph suggests that she can also be won by ‘bouncing high’ and winning them with charm, the use of the word ‘if’ at the beginning of this statement gives the reader a sense of doubt that this alone will be successful in winning over a lover and this is emphasised by the repetition of gold in the poem; suggesting that the only way in which to truly win her heart is through …show more content…

Although the poem of the epigraph was written by Fitzgerald, the pseudonym under which it was written ties into Gatsby’s journey as the name Thomas Parke D’Invilliers also features as a character in Fitzgerald’s earlier novel This Side of Paradise as a talented poet, but one whose poems often ignore the more problematic or unpleasant aspects of reality. This plays into the novels theme of the mutability of identity as the lowly James Gatz transforms himself into the more glamourous ‘Jay Gatsby’, forever looking to regain the past and lost lover through the money and material objects he believes are necessary to find happiness. In this continual search for happiness through wealth it is suggested that whilst Gatsby never loses sight of his goal to be reunited with Daisy, his dreams quickly fall short of reality and so he becomes unsatisfied with what she feels she can offer in contrast to what he had hoped for. “Daisy tumbled short of his dreams… because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.” “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart.” Gatsby remains throughout the novel unaware of the flaws of

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