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Willy Loman, Jay Gatsby, and the Pursuit of the American Dream
Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller, author of Death of a Salesman, both tell the stories of men in the costly pursuit of the American dream. As a result of several conflicts, both external and internal, both characters experience an extinction of the one thing that they have set their sights on.... The American Dream.
Jay Gatsby, a mysterious, young and very wealthy man, fatally chases an impossible dream. Gatsby attempts to rekindle an old relationship and has confidence in repeating the past. Gatsby claims that he is going to “fix everything just the way it was before” (Fitzgerald 117). In a a conversation with Nick, Gatsby discusses how the past can be repeated and how he wants the relationship that he once had with Daisy (Fitzgerald 116). Secondly, Gatsby attempts to exemplify his wealth through fancy cars and stylish clothing. Gatsby shows his clothing to Daisy and informs her that he has a “man in England” who buys his clothes every season (Fitzgerald 97). Illustrating his wealth, Gatsby drives a Rolls Royce that “was a rich cream color, bright with nickel” (Fitzgerald 68). Although Gatsby’s foolish quest of the American dream exemplifies a respectable aspiration, it ends in a tragic death that goes virtually unnoticed. A sharp contrast to the parties , the funeral was sparingly attended and “nobody came” (Fitzgerald 182). Following the ...
Gatsby’s wealth did not bring him happiness nor did it bring him Daisy. Gatsby was so devoted to his love for Daisy that when she ran over her husband’s mistress, he took the blame. It was that last act of gallantry that cost him his life. In a mad rage the husband of the woman Daisy ran down killed Gatsby. It was only then that the truth that Gatsby’s new life was superficial came to light. His so called friends were users. His love affair a farce. Instead of staying by his side Daisy returned to her husband. None of the hundreds of people who came to his parties ventured to his funeral. Not even his partner in crime, Meyer Wolfsheim, cared about him in the end. He was no longer of value to any of
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby provides the reader with a unique outlook on the life of the newly rich. Gatsby is an enigma and a subject of great curiosity, furthermore, he is content with a lot in life until he strives too hard. His obsession with wealth, his lonely life and his delusion allow the reader to sympathize with him.
As a young man, Jay Gatsby was poor with nothing but his love for Daisy. He had attempted to woe her, but a stronger attraction to money led her to marry another man. This did not stop Gatsby’s goal of winning this woman for himself though, and he decided to improve his life anyway he could until he could measure up to Daisy’s standards. He eventually gained connections in what would seem to be the wrong places, but these gave him the opportunity he needed to "get rich quick." Gatsby’s enormous desire for Daisy controlled his life to the point that he did not even question the immorality of the dealings that he involved himself in to acquire wealth. Eventually though, he was able to afford a "castle" in a location where he could pursue Daisy effectively. His life ambition had successfully moved him to the top of the "new money" class of society, but he lacked the education of how to promote his wealth properly. Despite the way that Gatsby flaunted his money, he did catch Daisy’s attention. A chaotic affair followed for a while until Daisy was overcome by pressures from Gatsby to leave her husband and by the realization that she belonged to "old money" and a more proper society.
Jay Gatsby is an enormously rich man, and in the flashy years of the jazz age, wealth defined importance. Gatsby has endless wealth, power and influence but never uses material objects selfishly. Everything he owns exists only to attain his vision. Nick feels "inclined to reserve all judgements" (1), but despite his disapproval of Gatsby's vulgarity, Nick respects him for the strength and unselfishness of his idealism. Gatsby is a romantic dreamer who wishes to fulfill his ideal by gaining wealth in hopes of impressing and eventually winning the heart of the materialistic, superficial Daisy. She is, however, completely undeserving of his worship. "Then it had been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor" (79). Nick realizes Gatsby's estate, parties, shirts and other seemingly "purposeless" possessions are not purposeless. Everything Gatsby does, every move he makes and every decision he conceives is for a reason. He wants to achieve his ideal, Daisy. Gatsby's "purposeless splendor" is all for the woman he loves and wishes to represent his ideal. Furthermore, Gatsby believes he can win his woman with riches, and that his woman can achieve the ideal she sta...
Peoples’ lives hold the greatest power over their works. From the people around them and their interactions, to the places they grow up in and the perspective of the world it give them; peoples’ lives shape everything they do. There is no more of a perfect example of this then the fiction of Henry James Jr. Henry James Jr.’s withdrawal from society and his relationships with his siblings create the backing force for his settings and plot in his short fiction, Turn of the Screw.
In conclusion, in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Miller’s Death of a Salesman shows how dreams can be made and destroyed. By having the American Dream dominate one’s way of life can lead to death, just like Gatsby’s and Willy’s. This was due to the lack of control over their own lives. The novels shows the ideal life that is dreamt of and how many went to the extreme extent to achieve it, if it was not met they believed that they were not worthy of living, thinking that would be the best way out. The two novels show the American dream; either to pursuit of happiness, or to pursuit of material wealth.
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is usually read as a ghost story in which the central character, the governess, tries to save the souls of two children possessed by evil. However, the short-story can be also analyzed from many different perspectives, as we come upon a number of hints that lead to various understanding of certain scenes. One of the possible interpretations is the psychoanalytical one, in which we interpret the events either from the point of view of the governess or from the perspective of the two children. I will concentrate on the problem of the governess who, restricted by her own problems and moral dilemmas, projects her fears on her pupils and in this way harms the children. What causes her moral corruption and gradual maddening lies deep in her psyche. Both the Victorian upbringing and the social isolation of a poor village tell her to restrict her sexual desires evoked by the romance reading. The result is tragic. The governess becomes mad and the children psychologically destabilized and scared of the adults. The story ends with the governess strangling the boy in a hysteric fit. The Turn of the Screw is a very popular work of literature, with reach history of critical interpretations where not much can be added, therefore my essay is mostly based on The Turn of the Screw. A History of Its Critical Interpretations 1898 1979 by Edward J. Parkinson.
Nick describes Gatsby as “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life(Ch.3).” Such description unifies the appearance of Gatsby with people’s expectation of a man who accomplished the American dream. The obsession with wealth often blinds people from the potential crisis. The crisis of having everything they worked and struggled for redefined if the reality fails them. Just like strivers who chase the American dream, Gatsby also spent his whole life in pursuit of his American dream, which Daisy was a major component of.
Peter Quint and Miss Jessel symbolize the indistinguishable nature of both the governess and Miles’s sexuality in Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw. Whether or not these ghosts actually exist in the literal sense, Quint’s presence evokes what could be construed as sexual desires in the governess while also reminding her of her social status. Similarly, Quint forces the reader to question Miles’s sexuality because of the implication that their past relationship was of a sexual nature. Miss Jessel, on the other hand, serves as the governess’s only reminder of the wickedness of her desire for a sexual self and ultimately, prevents her from acting upon those desires. These developments emphasize the mysteriousness of the connection between Miles and the governess and lead to a deeper sense of dismay about the true nature of their bond.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, “The Great Gatsby”, is one of the few novels he wrote in 1925. The novel takes place during the 1920’s following the 1st World War. It is written about a young man named Nick, from the east he moved to the west to learn about the bond business. He ends up moving next to a mysterious man named Gatsby who ends up giving him the lesion of his life.
As a romantic, Jay Gatsby does not understand how money actually works in American life. He believes that if he is rich, then Daisy can be his. This is displayed most powerfully and poignantly in the scene where Gatsby shows Daisy and ...
No one can be trusted. In Henry James's The Turn of the Screw, the ambivalent nature of the novella causes suspicion of the sanity of his narrator, the Governess. The characters of the Governess, the children, and the apparitions, as villains and victims, cannot be told apart. Henry James impeccably makes use of ambiguity to create mystery and suspense through the dubiety roles of his main characters and the liability of the narrator.
Henry James's Turn of the Screw was written in a time when open sexuality was looked down upon. On the surface, the story is simply about a governess taking care of two children who are haunted by two ghosts. However, the subtext of the story is about the governess focusing on the children's innocence, and the governess trying to find her own sexual identity. Priscilla L. Walton wrote a gender criticism themed essay about the Turn of the Screw, which retells certain parts of the story and touches on the significance they provide for the sexually explicit theme. Walton's essay is accurate because James purposely put an undertone of sexuality and identity confusion in the Turn of the Screw.
The Great Gatsby, a novel by Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, and the downfall of those who attempt to reach its impossible goals. The attempt to capture the American Dream is used in many novels. This dream is different for different people; but, in The Great Gatsby, for Jay, the dream is that through wealth and power, one can acquire happiness. To get this happiness Jay must reach into the past and relive an old dream; and, in order to do this, he must have wealth and power.
Henry James’ the Turn of the Screw, written in the Victoria era, tells a ghost story of a governess’s experience with two children in the house. By presenting the story in a symbolic way, the ambiguous narrative of the ghost story suggests an inner conflict of immorality and innocence in the governess. It also seems to imply a loss of insanity and a tragedy as a result of the oppression of desire. This paper will argue that chapter 23 is the most crucial part of the story, because it is the first moment the Governess found the weakness of the ghosts and has a real confrontation with the ghost indirectly through Miles. Miles’ suggestion of going out drives her to the wall, which leads to the tragic end that the only way for governess to protect Miles is to hold him in her, even it is too tight to kill him. The paper will first analyze important scenes in chapter 23. Then it will reveal the symbolic meanings and the latent conflicts in the story, which is significant to their “battle” in chapter 23 and the ending.