The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is used in many classrooms as a prime example of the American experience or dream. Though drastically different in many ways, these same English classrooms use The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger as a variation on that same experience. The main characters of each novel, Gatsby and Holden, are very different at first glance, however when taking a deeper look at character analysis, it is found these two characters are more alike than previously concluded. Both Holden Caulfield and Jay Gatsby are characters so flawed that they are set up for their falls, however Gatsby is the character that, in the end, had a greater fall.
Gatsby and Holden, though extremely different characters, both suffer from similar problems. Being idealistic characters, they both desire what they cannot obtain; being accepted and feeling belonged. However where Holden seeks this in being a dislikeable character that believes everyone is a “phony” and he seemingly doesn’t, “…like anything that’s happening” (169), Gatsby is a likeable and more idealistic character that refuses to give up hope, even when Daisy seems to have chosen Tom over Gatsby himself (144-145). According to Nick’s narration, “‘You’re [Gatsby] worth the whole damn bunch put together’”(154). In stating this, Nick illustrates
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Although, in stating this, these characters do not deserve the pity. Gatsby’s flaw and the cause of his fall is the lengths he goes through to obtain his ideals whereas Holden’s flaw is his hypersensitivity to reality and believing it to be the cause of his downfall. These are two vital pieces that create such strong characters; however these key characterizing traits are what cause their