Comparing The Great Gatsby 'And America'

Stephanie Mendoza Garcia, Ms. Forget English 2H 28 March 2024 Comparing and contrasting The Great Gatsby and “America”

The 1920s was a great age for people, that was named the Jazz Age. During the Jazz Age, many people had American dreams of wanting things. Such as wanting money, power, people, or other things. “America” by Claude McKay is a poem written in 1921. This poem talks about the love and hate relationship between America and African American people. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel written in 1925. Throughout the novel, it shows how people try to achieve their American Dream. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is shown through the characters wanting to become successful, rich, and gain more power. The poem

Disillusionment and hope in the poem are shown through how the character feels about America. In the novel The Great Gatsby and the poem “America”, the American dream is shown through the idea of disillusionment and hope through the different perspectives of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby shows disillusionment and hope through people trying to achieve the American Dream in different ways. “We backed up to a gray old man who bore. in a basket swung from his neck cowered a dozen very recent puppies of an indeterminate breed.”(Fitzgerald 27) The old man on the street is selling dogs to try and show one way of trying to achieve the American Dream. It shows disillusionment and hope because he is selling the puppies for a cheap price, thinking he will achieve it. In reality, he most likely won’t achieve the dream because of the low price. Although the price is low, the old man hopes to achieve this dream through his small business. In comparison to the poem,

“Although she feeds me bread of bitterness, And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth, Stealing my breath of life, I will confess, I love this cultured hell that tests my youth”(McKay 1). This poem's perspective comes from how African Americans' lives were. America is giving the person “bread of bitterness,” this is something they don’t enjoy, but America is providing for them. This could also mean that America is making life hard for the people. The next few words talk about how America is hurting the person and taking their breath away. However, the person still likes being in America, this can be seen as a love and hate relationship. The disillusionment can be seen when America sinks her tooth into their throat and steals his breath away. Hope can be seen when they say they love the culture that tests their youth. They may not like the struggles they have to go through, but they still like America because they have hope for it. To summarize, African Americans have hope and disillusionment with their lifestyle. In conclusion, the American dream can be seen in different ways. Some of those ways could be working hard or trying to reach the top. Every person can see this dream as wanting to get a job, getting into a school, being successful, and more. Both of these works show hope and disillusionment. These topics help form the stories and have