In both “The Great Gatsby”, and “Of Mice and Men” the main characters have big dreams for themselves that to those around them may seem almost impossible. But to them their dreams seem completely within reason. Be it earning enough money to buy some land even though they can’t keep a job for long. Or marrying the girl of their dreams even though she is already married and has been for the last five years. in the end both dreams failed on an immense scale with four people in total dead. But, say nobody had died who’s dream would have been more likely to succeed. George and Lennie's dream of owning their own piece of land where they got to keep the harvest every year with no one telling them when to work or what to do after they “get the jack …show more content…
And for a minute it seems as if George and Lennie are going to achieve their dream. Until in a fit of anger Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, and any hopes of achieving their dream fades away. But what if Lennie hadn’t killed Curley’s wife, could George and Lennie’s dream have come true? Most likely no, when Lennie killed Curley’s wife it wasn’t the first time he killed something on accident, and it also wasn’t the first time that Lennie got scared and couldn’t think straight, it was just the first time George wasn’t there to keep Lennie from accidentally killing …show more content…
After all Gatsby’s dream was as simple as getting a woman he hadn’t seen or spoken to for five years to fall in love with him again, and leave her husband and child for him and then have her live across the lake from them. His dream almost comes true too, that is until Tom, Daisy’s cheating husband who for some reason has a problem with his wife cheating on him while he cheats on her exposes Gatsby as a bootlegger which Daisy had a problem with even though she drank alcohol. But, before Gatsby could try win her back he was killed by
When the book begins, it is assumed that his dream is fortune and “fame,” but as the book continues, it reveals his dream is love. He has a love, Daisy for many years, she is the reason he lives where he does and has the parties he has, just to impress Daisy. Daisy never even showed up to one of his parties until the end. Gatsby bought a big house right across the river from Daisy’s house and and throws extravagant parties to get her to come, all he wants was love. Although he never truly achieves it, he is able to work hard to try to achieve it. That is a part of the american dream, it may not be attainable and Gatsby might be working hard for something that just is impossible for him to achieve . “―I thought of Gatsby‘s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy‘s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could barely fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night” (p. 180,
In the beginning, Gatsby was a poor army boy who fell in love with a rich girl named Daisy. Knowing from their different circumstances, he could not marry her. So Gatsby left to accumulate a lot of money. Daisy, not being able to wait for Gatsby, marries a rich man named Tom. Tom believes that it is okay for a man to be unfaithful but it is not okay for the woman to be. This caused a lot of conflict in their marriage and caused Daisy to be very unhappy. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy, and since he has accumulated a lot of money, he had his mind set on getting her back. Throughout the novel, Gatsby shows his need to attain The American Dream of love and shows his determination to achieve it. You can tell that Gatsby has a clear vision of what he wants when 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. Involuntarily I gla...
Gatsby is unrealistic. He believes he can relive the past and rekindle the flame he and Daisy once had. He is lost in his dream and accepts that anything can be repeated, "Can't repeat the past…Why of course you can!" (116, Fitzgerald). For Gatsby, failure to realize this resurrection of love is utterly appalling. His whole career, his conception of himself and his life is totally shattered. Gatsby's death when it comes is almost insignificant, for with the collapse of his dream, he is spiritually dead.
Gatsby is a dreamer, he dreams that one day he and Daisy will be able to be together once again. To achieve this dream Gatsby has made himself a rich man. He knows that in order to win Daisy back he must be wealthy and of high social stature. Gatsby becomes rich, has a beautiful mansion, nice things, things like shirts “They’re such beautiful shirts. . . it makes me sad because I’ve never seen such-such beautiful clothes” (pg.98).Gatsby believes his dream will come true because of all the money and nice things he has. The way that Gatsby becomes rich is in a way the demise of his dream. Gatsby becomes wealthy by participating in organized crime, including distributing illegal alcohol and trading in stolen securities. Daisy eventually learns about this and it is one of the reasons she will never again be with Gatsby. The other reason is Daisy a...
The part where Gatsby's dream turned to an illusion was when he convinced himself that it was possible to erase five years of his and Daisy's life, five years of memories and personal growth. Gatsby’s obsession kept him from moving forward with his life. He valued nothing that he had done or experienced over his five years without Daisy. Daisy on the other hand had moved on, found love and had valuable experiences that kept her from being blinded by a dream or illusion. It is unclear what kept Gatsby's dream alive, whether it was love or simply obsession. However, it is clear that even after Daisy had made it clear that she would not be leaving Tom to be with Gatsby, he still had hope that eventually she would love him again. One of Gatsby’s last remarks is an attempt to get Nick to confirm that his dream could still be a reality. He looked anxiously at Nick and stated, “I suppose Daisy’ll call too” (154). Until the very end Gatsby believed wholeheartedly in his version of the American dream. He could not see that there was nothing there for him. Gatsby’s gift of hope and romantic readiness lead to the failure of his own dream. Loss of hope too early is often the cause of failure but in Gatsby’s case his downfall was caused by his inability to give up hope and recognize the end when it had
The dream Lennie and George had, was most likely unachievable for them. They did not have the opportunity to achieve
Even though at first when they finally got together after all those years and everything seem great and romantic but good things always come to an end. The affair effected Gatsby in his life by having him back the old love he first had for Daisy even hoping for a lifetime future together. His dream is very much vivid about his romantic hopes about Daisy in his mind, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams, not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). He seems to be falling deeper in love with her even maybe more than the love she really had for him even though through the end of the chapters her love that she claims to have for him seemed not truly. In New York, the truth comes out more about she feels about Gatsby by being questioned and feeling guilty when Tom gets to the fact that she loves him and not Gatsby but Gatsby rejects his sayings and tells Daisy to say how she truly feel about him. Over all the excitement, Daisy tells how she truly feel about the whole love affair, “I did love him once but I loved you too” (132). It is possible that the leading of Gatsby’s death was caused from Tom’s jealousy of his wife’s confessed love for Gatsby. Tom would had told Wilson that Gatsby was the driver of the car that killed Myrtle and her secret
He died with no children and no wife. No one to live on of his legacy and name. No one to leave him money to. No on to love him memory. “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream.” This proves he lived one dream which was one of riches. Not love, Gatsby and Daisy love was pure and real but, Daisy was a very timid girl and did what she was told by her husband. “Only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away...” This is saying he died so young and fast. He didn’t even get to live his whole life. He dreamed of having a full life with Daisy. He didn’t even really get to be with Daisy, because she was still with Tom and I don’t think she ever planned on leaving Tom. He never even got to live out the American Dream.
Jay Gatsby is another character who chases an empty dream which results in a life of hardship and misery. Jay Gatsby devotes his entire life to chasing this dream he has of him and Daisy Buchanan being together. Gatsby explains that the main reason for chasing this dream so relentlessly is, “[Daisy] only married [Tom] because I was poor” (Fitzgerald 120). Gatsby believes that the only way to achieve his dream is to become wealthy. In order to acquire this high economic status, Gatsby partnered with criminals to carry out the illegal distribution of alcohol. His attempt to gain wealth to obtain the love of Daisy is very unrealistic due to that Daisy is already married into a very wealthy family. At the end of the novel, evidence is revealed
Gatsby and Lennie both had these dreams set but it was a dream for their future that was created due to their past. Gatsby’s dream was to change the past, he wanted everything to go back to how it was when he first met Daisy with the only difference being that he was no longer poor. He never accepted the fact that time had passed and she had made a life for herself without him. “Jay Gatsby, a figure marked by failure and shadowed by death throughout most of the novel…” (Will 1). He will always be distinguished by failure because he lost Daisy once and it will happen through his own actions at the end of the novel anew. He will always be shadowed by death since his one and only goal in life was to be with Daisy to the point where nothing else
Gatsby’s literal dream is to reunite with Daisy. After being separated from her by World War I, Gatsby creates an unrealistic image of Daisy
Gatsby’s dream was to marry his lover Daisy. However his dream went south as Daisy broke her promise of marrying Gatsby when he returned from war. Gatsby was so bent on attaining Daisy; one could say that he was obsessive or crazy. Dreamers should not end up crazy. When rejected by Daisy, Gatsby responded by watching her and Tom overnight, “I waited, and about four o’clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the light” (Fitzgerald 147). Gatsby’s actions can be compared to those of creepers and stalkers. Ultimately, Gatsby’s love for Daisy, his dream, lead him to talk the bullet for Daisy, as it was Daisy who was driving the yellow car, not Gatsby. Myrtle, unlike Gatsby was not rich, but her American Dream was to attain wealth and material possessions. Myrtle’s dream led her to have an affair with Tom, which caught her into all the drama and danger that the affluent were involved in. All these factors lead to her death. As seen through the obsessive and crazy actions of Gatsby and Myrtle, the American dream is like bait that lures unsuspecting dreamers to false hopes that later end in tragedy. The deaths of Myrtle and
In The Great Gatsby, when Mr.Gatsby told Vick he wantedto return the past over again with his lover- Daisy, Nike Carroway warned him to give it up, because it was impossible. Unforturately, Mr.Gatsby was not believe it. So at the end, Mr.Gatsby's dream still had not came true because Daisy did not break up with Tom and go with him. It can be seen in the last chapter on the novel, when Gatsby was murder, Daisy went to somewhere else with her husband, and did not go to Gatsby's funeray.
Gatsby’s following aspiration is to reunite with Daisy, but as he strives for this dream it affects his character emotionally due to his realization of loneliness, and sadness from false hope. Lucas also continues to dream about the things he wants and as he tries to establish them it only makes his character become violent.
As before mentioned, Gatsby’s argument with Tom revealed that he had gained everything he had by illegitimate ways. Tom points out, “‘He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter,’” (143). This changed the reader’s stance on Gatsby. The reader now realizes that Gatsby is a crooked individual who will do anything to further himself. The reader also realizes towards the end of the story that Gatsby had become completely consumed in his obsession of Daisy. Gatsby confirmed his obsession to the reader by admitting, “‘I waited, and about four o’clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the light,’” (157). Everything that Gatsby did was to impress or to win over Daisy. However, Gatsby 's chase for Daisy is irrational as she has already said that she won’t leave Tom for Gatsby. Gatsby is intent on recreating the past, even though it became evident that Daisy and Gatsby will never regain what they had back in Louisville. The narrator adds, “He wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave Daisy until he knew what she was going to do. He was clutching at some last hope and I couldn’t bear to shake him free.” (158). By the time of his untimely demise, Gatsby had evolved into a shady, obsessed, and unreasonable