Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Ernest Hemingway

Imagine. You are sitting in complete silence, even the nearby crickets won't dare to let out even the slightest of croaks. You stare down at your cluttered, dimly lit desk. Your hand grasps your pen, and the other rubs back and forth across your temple in angst. Your eyes pass over each paper, containing each incomplete thought, and your mind floods with memories of your past. Trapped by writer’s block, you are all alone with only your experiences, surroundings, and philosophy aiding you in the fall that is the dark reality of alcoholism and depression. For renowned authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, these influences all played a crucial role in identifying their style techniques, as well as determining similarities and differences

in two of the most recognized novels in schools across the world; Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, and Hemingway’s, The Old Man and the Sea.
Robert Tew once posed a question saying that, “It doesn't matter what happens to you.

What matters is, what are you going to do about it?” When looking at both F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway’s life experiences, through this lens, the recognition of their demise was inevitable. F. Scott Fitzgerald was the son of an Irish- American named Mollie McQuillan, and a wicker furniture manufacture from Maryland named Edward Fitzgerald. He grew up in an upper-middle class family, due to the donations of his aunt, however he still could not shake the idea that he was a poor man crashing a rich man’s party. From a financial point of view, Fitzgerald incorporated this reality into the character that was Nick Carroway. Nick Carroway was a reserved man, in the “[my house was a] eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked,” being next to Gatsby’s glamorous mansion. (Fitzgerald 5). Fitzgerald envied the rich, and made it evident in his writing, therefor, “Gatsby- who represented everything for which I [Nick] have an unaffected scorn,” (Fitzgerald 2). Because he experienced financial complications growing up and into adulthood, his writing style was altered to conform to what he had always known. He accentuated the rich, and compared his impoverished life to, “a certain desolate area of land. This is the valley of ashes,” (Fitzgerald 23). Fitzgerald believed in just getting items and the ability to be, “agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity,” and because of this, The Great Gatsby, references old money; however Ernest Hemingway had a slightly different outlook, influenced by his childhood. Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, a upper middle class suburb of Chicago to Dr. Clarence and Grace Hall Hemingway. Hemingway was the second of six kids, all of which were taught to hunt and fish from a very young age. Having learned these skills as a kid, he was able to incorporate the concept of fighting and working for something in his novel,

The Old Man and the Sea. He provided an immense amount of accurate detail when, “he then waited another line and left it coiled in the shade of the bow,” (Hemingway 34). Clearly one’s life experiences shape more than one's perception, but also the extent of one's imagination, given both these novelists made vividly successful characters and plots.
Both writers reflected the social trends of the time period through expertly developed themes and style techniques. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, has themes of romance, overarching the repercussions of cynicism, greed, and the empty pursuit of pleasure, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the hope supplied by the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, was set in the early 1920’s, a very tumultuous time. This time period was based on literary movements surrounding modernism as well as the opportunity for freedom, wealth, equality, and prosperity. All of these social trends were emphasized through the articulate word choice when describing Gatsby’s parties as otherworldly, almost as though, “the lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a higher key,” (Fitzgerald 40). These parties were immaculate and crucial in creating the perception of Gatsby through the public's eye, and contorting his success to fit the social norms. Hope and faith went hand in hand when determining Gatsby’s motivations through symbolism and relationships. In,The Great Gatsby, “I had thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock,”; had it represented everything he had ever wanted- Daisy. (Fitzgerald 180). This was Fitzgerald’s way of applying the universal goal of finding love, while incorporating his reality of loss and rejection. Ernest Hemingway incorporated the same concept of loss in his novel, The Old Man and the Sea, when the main character, Santiago, faced perpetual failure in his daily attempts to catch a fish. Although the type of success differed, both novels addressed the concept of being accepted within their society. Because Santiago wasn’t successful in catching a fish, many of the other Cuban fisherman would think he was crazy, “if the others heard me talking out loud” (Hemingway 47). The Old Man and the Sea was set in the 1940’s, and during that time period, like The Great Gatsby, many motivations behind acceptance were purely materialistic. People only noticed when he was empty handed, despite, “the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and gone into a dullness that he mistrusted” (Hemingway 65). It was not until the end of the novel that anyone more the young boy appreciated him, and even then society only recognized his findings, because they mistook the fish for a shark and, “didn’t know sharks had such handsome ,beautifully formed tails” (Hemingway 127). Although affected differently by their surroundings and social norms, both American novelists incorporated the concept of acceptance, through the brilliant use of style techniques such as visualization, and symbolism in the created societies of their novels.
Man has always questioned life, and tried to find the meaning of it- the answer to this question being one's philosophy. Philosophy is the study of the nature of knowledge and perception as well as, reality, and existence, especially when considered as the discipline of academics. One's philosophy is just as important as one's identity, because it speaks volumes to who you are as a person and why you do what you do. Ernest Hemingway's life experiences drained the faith out of him, making his outlook on life desolate and bleak. According to his beliefs, death was as clear as the samurai sword- it was the end and that there was simply nothing after it. He believed that no matter how hard one tries or how much work one puts toward something, one will never accomplish it. His philosophy reflects clearly in, The Old Man and the Sea, because, “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone 84 days now without taking a fish,” (86). Santiago fought day in and day out to catch this one fish, and despite this he still came up short. F. Scott Fitzgerald reflected this through his novel, The Great Gatsby, through many relationships, one of which being Gatsby and Daisy’s. Gatsby did everything he could to reunite with the women he loved before going to war, so, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay,” and he threw all these magnificent parties, hoping that one day she would walk through his front gate and into his arms once again( Fitzgerald 78). Both philosophies, depressing and austere, challenged the authors morally, with the promise of false hopes which were clearly emphasized through their writing styles and techniques.
Imagine. Your book is full. Every last page lined with everything that had ever happened to you. Your experiences are the first chapter. Your surroundings, the second and third, and your philosophy to conclude it all. Now who is going to read it, will anyone read it? Clearly Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald's life affected their writing techniques in ways both similar and different, ultimately inspiring the imminent success of their novels, especially after death.