What Are The Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And The American Dream

“The American Dream”. What is it? What is it all about? “The American Dream” by definition is; the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to live a successful life through hard work and dedication. In both the novel ; The Great Gatsby, as well as the film ; Catch Me If You Can, both protagonists, James Gatz (Gatsby) and, Frank Abagnale Jr demonstrate how they view their own “American Dream” as well as how they pursued it. Although they both view it differently, they both pursue it in similar ways.

In the novel The Great Gatsby, James Gatz views “The American Dream”, through Daisy . When James met Daisy in Louisville before the war he knew that she would be the one to fill the “void” in his life. Daisy was everything that James

wanted to be ; rich and from a respected family. Years later, James envied how Daisy lived her luxurious life with her husband Tom, and did everything he could in order to impress her and win her over. A way that Gatsby did so was through organized crime. Alongside his mentor Meyer Wolfshiem by bootlegging alcohol in Chicago. This fits into the puzzle of Gatsby's pursuit of “The American Dream” by demonstrating how desperate he is in order to be able to chase it. After he made his money and ran with it, Gatsby moved to Long Island to once again, pursue his “American Dream”. James ends up putting the “American Dream” (Daisy) above all else in his life, which ultimately leads to his downfall, which is his death.Gatsby got caught up in the “greatness” of this idea and led himself onto his own fate.
In the film Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale views “The American Dream” as a way to reunite his family. When Frank is given the news of his parents divorce, he is given the choice of which parent he will live with after the divorce papers are signed. This leaves Frank torn between the choice of living with his two parents, which leads him to run away from the situation (literally), and pursue his “American Dream”. In order to bring his parents back together, Frank goes into crime by committing cheque fraud in order to get money fast. After a few years pass, Frank manages to rack up four million dollars alongside many “characters” that he portrays in order to get this money. From an airline pilot, to doctor, to lawyer..etc, Frank stops at nothing in order to get his “American Dream”. Just as Gatsby had done, they both use different personas in order to achieve their “American Dream”. However, Frank’s chase of his “American Dream” gradually comes to an end when he realizes no one is “chasing” him. This makes Frank lose his drive to pursue his “American Dream” and brings him mentally closer to reality.
In contrasting both the novel as well as the film, there are many similarities as well as differences between the two.

Even though both characters view “The American Dream” differently, they both pursue it in similar ways. Frank learned the lesson of not getting too caught up in “The American Dream” and came to the realization that he couldn’t live the life that he had been living over the past few years. Frank came to the realization that he could no longer run from something if nothing is chasing him. This correspondingly, is where Gatsby goes wrong. Gatsby never comes to the realization that it’s too late to achieve his “American Dream”, instead he keeps going on and on, which is just digging his own grave even deeper. At the same time, both characters chase their “dream” by committing crimes: Gatsby by bootlegging, and Frank by committing cheque fraud. The idea that crime will lead to success is both present in the novel as well as the film. Although both characters pursued their “dream” in different ways, Gatsby paid the ultimate price for his failure, which was death. This is “the American Dream” in its purest form. The hard work and dedication demonstrated by these two characters is unmatched. This is what everyone dies and lives for…“The American

Dream”.