The similarities between T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” suggest an affiliation between the two writers. An example is the quote “dead land, mixing memory and desire” (lines 2-3 of “The Wasteland”), and the description Fitzgerald gave of the valley of ashes “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens.” Also, in the quote from Eliot’s “The Wasteland,” one could see the “dead land, mixing of memory and desire” to be the relationship between Tom and Myrtle in the valley of ashes. In the beginning, their relationship is composed of Tom’s desire for never-ending change (the excitement of having an affair) and Myrtle’s desire for a rich lifestyle. In the end, …show more content…
their relationship is just a memory Tom relives every time he passes through the valley of ashes.
Another example is the quotation “What shall I do now? What shall I do? I shall rush out as I am and walk down the street with my hair down, so what shall we do tomorrow? What shall we ever do?” which is very similar to “What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years? What shall we ever do?” These quotations show a lack of purpose in life for the character. Daisy, from “The Great Gatsby,” almost never has anything to do with her life because she doesn't have to work for anything. Another example of the similarities is found in the quote “Your shadow at morning striding behind you or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” (lines 28-30) This quote portrays Gatsby’s love of Daisy. Gatsby loved Daisy even when she didn't know he did, and he fought to be with her even though he feared she may not love him like she did five years before. Also, the quote “You are a proper fool,” (line 162) relates to when Daisy says she wants her daughter to grow up to be a fool. Next, the quote, “I think we are in rats’ alley Where the dead men lost their bones…” (115-116) relates to the rich people who attend …show more content…
Gatsby’s party. These people just attend Gatsby’s parties so they can say that they know the “famous Gatsby” even though no one really knew him before Nick came into the picture. These are just a few of the similarities between “The Great Gatsby” and “The Wasteland.” Two other poems which relate to “The Great Gatsby” are “The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot and “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost. In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Eliot wrote “It is impossible to say just what I mean! But as if by a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen,” (104-105) which could be recognized as Gatsby not knowing how to show Daisy how much he loves her. Also, the “magic lantern” could be the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. On the other hand, in “Acquainted with the Night,” Frost wrote “I have walked out in rain—and back in rain,” (2) which is similar to Gatsby’s actions when Daisy arrived at Nick’s house. Gatsby went outside in the pouring rain when she arrived just to return soaking wet. Also, in “Acquainted with the Night,” Frost wrote “One luminary clock in the sky,” (12) which relates to two different situations in “The Great Gatsby.” One of which being when Gatsby and Daisy are at Nick’s house, and Gatsby knocks Nick’s clock off of the mantle. The other situation is when Gatsby and Cody were sailing. Sailors use the moon or sun as a “clock in the sky” as well as a compass. In conclusion, these are very similar literary
pieces.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle both portray drastically different social aspects of the early 1900s in America. Together, they both expose the unfavorable aspects of the new, modern society, that is not often portrayed in history. Although both The Jungle and The Great Gatsby are pieces of fiction, they portray an accurate depiction of the physical and the moral challenges people experienced during the growing industrialization in America. However, The Jungle's plot involved more factual evidence and the environment is a more accurate representation of the time period, whereas The Great Gatsby portrayed a slightly less realistic representation of that era.
“ Its attitude is one of disillusionment and detachment; Fitzgerald is still able to evoke the glitter of the 1920s but he is no longer dazzled by it; he sees its underlying emptiness and impoverishment” (Trendell 23)The story is narrated from the point of view of Nick, one of Gatsby’s friends. The problematic and hopeless romantic, Gatsby, sets out to fulfill his dream in acquiring Daisy, his lifelong love, through his many tactics and ideas. Gatsby is introduced extending his arms mysteriously toward a green light in the direction of the water. Later, Gatsby is shown to be the host of many parties for the rich and Nick is invited to one of these parties where Gatsby and Nick meet. When Gatsby later confesses his love for Daisy he explains she was a loved one who was separated from him and hopes to get her again explained when he says, “I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”(Fitzgerald 56). There are several obstacles that Gatsby must overcome and the biggest one that is Daisy’s current fiancé but that still does not get in the way of him trying to recover Daisy’s old feelings. His attempts are made through money and wealth because he tries to buy her love back instead of letting it happen naturally.
Individuals read books and plays in order to relate life to the characters. In both works of literature, The Great Gatsby by: F.Scott Fitzgerald and Fences by: August Wilson different characters show that they wanted to achieve better goals for their future. In The Great Gatsby the characters allows emotions of love to drive them. In both works the characters struggle with in their lives. The character’s demonstrate their limits within their everyday lives. The characters lead very different lives within the stories. Although some may say that one’s motivation does not differ based on Daisy and Troy’s gender. Motivation actually comes from what one proposes to do or by someone by the gender.
F Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “[m]ostly, we authors must repeat ourselves—that's the truth. We have two or three great moving experiences in our lives—experiences so great and moving that it doesn't seem at the time that anyone else has been so caught up and pounded and dazzled and astonished and beaten and broken and rescued and illuminated and rewarded and humbled in just that way ever before” (Fitzgerald, “One”). The idea that one experience so deeply affects an author that he or she will retell the story in different ways is seen in F Scott Fitzgerald book The Great Gatsby and the short story “Babylon Revisited”. The parallel between the two pieces of literature is clearly shown through many aspects. F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great
The two were young lovers who were unable to be together because of differences in social status. Gatsby spends his life after Daisy acquiring material wealth and social standing to try and reestablish a place in Daisy’s life. Once Gatsby gains material wealth he moves to the West Egg where the only thing separating he and Daisy is a body of water. It is through the eyes of Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, that the reader gains insight into the mysterious Jay Gatsby. In Nick’s description of his first encounter with Gatsby he says, “But I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” The reader soon discovers that the green light is at the end of Daisy’s dock, signifying Gatsby’s desperation and desire to get her back. Gatsby’s obsessive nature drives him to throw parties in hopes that his belonged love will attend. The parties further reveal the ungrasping mysteriousness of Gatsby that lead to speculations about his past. Although the suspicions are there, Gatsby himself never denies the rumors told about him. In Nick’s examination of Gatsby he says, “He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.” This persona Gatsby portrays shows how he is viewed by others, and further signifies his hope and imagination
Jay Gatsby lives across the bay from Daisy Buchanan and can see her green light at the end of her dock from his house. One night, Gatsby “stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling.” Nick describes Gatsby reaching out at the water at Daisy’s green light. Nick thinks that it is odd that Gatsby is trembling looking across the bay at Daisy’s light. Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy and hopes that one day she will fall in love with him again.
The novels Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are alike in many different ways, one being that they are both American novels set in the 1920’s. Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the life of a woman named Janie and her pursuit of love with her many husbands. The Great Gatsby is about a young entrepreneur named Nick that meets a mysterious rich fellow by the name of Gatsby who is in love with his cousin, Daisy. However, Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, which creates conflict between Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby. In these two novels there are character interactions, places and events that reveal the best of society. Some of these places are the parties Gatsby throws and a place in the
“The Great Gatsby” and “The Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock” are two pieces of writing written in the 1920’s. Both F. Scott Fitzgerald and T.S Elliot were able to express the overwhelming force of the most powerful human emotion. Although the two eponymous characters seem vastly different from each other in, it can be seen when analyzed in greater depth that the two hold more similarities than differences. Both Prufrock and Gatsby live more in their own minds than the actual world. This causes them to become isolated from other people and become captives by their own illusions. Both men will eventually allow love and fear to corrupt their lives and lead them to make decisions which will ultimately bring about their demise.
Many times we hear of society's affect on people; society influencing the way people think and act. Hardly mentioned is the reverse: peoples' actions and lifestyles affecting society as a whole and how it is characterized. Thus, society is a reflection of its inhabitants and in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is a wasteland described as the "valley of ashes." Since the characters of this novel make up this wasteland, aren't they the waste? Symbolically, this waste represents the lack of ethics of the 1920's society and civilization's decay. In The Great Gatsby, morals deficiencies such as a lack of God, selfishness, and idleness are reflective of a society as doomed as "the valley of ashes."
By exploring the physical site of the valley, followed by the inhabitants of the valley – George and Myrtle, George representing the working class and Myrtle the exception, extending this to the references of the valley to Gatsby’s humble origins, the Valley of the Ashes represents the low social mobility and the failure of the American Dream.
In Shattered Glass and The Great Gatsby there are some similarities in how the main characters, Antoinette (Toni) and Jay Gatsby, find themselves. An example
... middle of paper ... ... The Great Gatsby presents the similar wasteland ideals of The Sun Also Rises. Both authors appear to have taken cues or inspiration from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and depicts emptiness in the mass of their settings.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, display the customs and beliefs of past society. Both novels project the idea of wealth and high-class but also accentuate the search for love. Fitzgerald emphasizes the harm in devoting one’s life to achieving wealth for the one he loves, as Gatsby believes in order to win over Daisy he must acquire a great deal of money. Austen displays the importance of love over looks and money. She details the happiness Elizabeth is able to receive once she marries the guy who has similar wit and sarcasm. Although the novels were written a century apart, Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby encompass similar ideologies, along with people and beliefs, of the time.
Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, first sees Gatsby standing outside of his mansion, “standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars” (20). He is standing with his arms outstretched towards a green light. Nick says “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling” (20). Gatsby is staring at the light on the end of Daisy’s dock as it is later revealed. Gatsby is standing there, with his arms stretched out, to welcome the love of Daisy and to give his love to her. He is reaching toward her, trembling because of the power of his love and the pain from their years of separation. The light represents how close Daisy is to him, but still so far away, in separate worlds. It could also be thought of in the sense that his love is still burning bright for Daisy. “Green is the color of hope” (Einem), and can represent “Gatsby’s hope to meet Daisy again and a chance to win her back” (Einem). Gatsby has been separated from Daisy for many years, but he still loves her deeply. When Daisy and Gatsby later reunite, they are standing in Gatsby’s bedroom, looking out across the bay. Gatsby points out the green light and says “If it wasn’t for the mist w...
Within the debate on who is to be crowned the “Great American Novel,” a valid factor that may be taken into consideration is how ideals in culture become altered with an evolving environment, and therefore, the argument can be made on the behalf of The Great Gatsby to be considered for the title. Due to its more recent ideological concepts, the novel addresses American ideals that are not fully developed or addressed at all within The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These ideals can be boiled down to primarily two concepts: the fully-developed American dream of richness and upper-class goals, and consumerism in the industrialization of America. While Mark Twain’s piece touches on the “American dream” with Huck beginning the book off with $6,000