The Great Gatsby and The Motorcycle Diaries

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Recommended: How does literature reflect society

Books are more than simple stories, they have a message to send, whether it be in a direct or indirect way. Books can also tell us about the author’s life, beliefs, inner ambitions and fears; Moreover, they often project the writer’s vision about their environment, reflecting their society in which they lived. Writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernesto Guevara were capable, not only of portraying the society in which they are immerse, but also to convey them in an exquisite social critique. Such literary pieces of art do not criticize in a direct way, nor to specific people or events. They, however, present the vision of the author’s concern with social issues of injustice, misguided values and loss of direction. The pursuit of money and the corruption of those who aim wealth, are the main subjects of critique in books like: “The Great Gatsby” and “Motorcycle Diaries”. These books present different visions of the effects the use of money have, and the social condition of “wanting more than needed”. This condition has the power of turn one simple and non-important object, into something important that could even seem vital for us. In our society, and the societies presented in Fitzgerald and Guevara’s books, money means more than a piece of paper or metal that it is supposed to make easier the exchange of things. People do not control the money, is money the one who control us. Hard cash and capitalism work by the usage of our vanity to sell us different products. It works by telling us that, what we have is not, and may never be, enough. This ideas implant a need of establishing a perpetuation of our sense of superiority. In the books “The Great Gatsby” and “Motorcycle Diaries” the reader is able to realize the repercussions the... ... middle of paper ... ...repercussions are what these two authors, Guevara and Fitzgerald portray in their novels, both complementing the same idea as the two heads of a coin. On the one hand, Guevara writes in “Motorcycle Diaries” about poor people way of living, and the unfairness money had caused in our society as a consequence of the lifestyle of those who lived in the period portray in “The Great Gatsby”. On the other hand, Fitzgerald, display the problematic people who pursuit wealth had to overcome as the decrees of morality and value. Fitzgerald characters were only superficially happy but unhappy on the inside, but Ernesto and Alberto, while traveling, and even though the things they saw, were happy. Guevara and Granada were capable of realizing and teach that fraternity, unselfishness and, moreover, the simplicity of life is able to bring more happiness than having a wealthy life.

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