Similarities Between Bodega Dreams And The Great Gatsby

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Bodega Dreams and The Great Gatsby effectively use literary techniques in their texts to convey the point that the time period in which they are set plays a key role in their sociological background and upbringing of the main protagonists and their perception of life. Ernesto Quiñonez, author of Bodega Dreams, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, builds their story by using imagery, metaphors and symbolism to build the stories. These techniques will reveal a similar message of the stories and look into the social and cultural aspects of the protagonists’ setting. Therefore, when all the factors contribute to the story, it bounds a large impact on the message that is being conveyed.

Both texts share the common theme of influential …show more content…

As has been noted before about Gatsby’s house, Fitzgerald adds symbolism to Gatsby’s house which gives it an entirely different meaning that is more deep and that impacts the message that Fitzgerald conveys within the story. His house serves as a key image of his goal, reflecting both Gatsby's prosperity as an American independent man and the fantasy of a character he has made to win Daisy's adoration. At last, the breakdown happens, as Gatsby loses Daisy and dies totally unhappy, instigating Nick to suggesting to Gatsby's house as "that huge incoherent failure of a house" (Fitzgerald, 188). In this way Quiñonez uses symbolism, showing the typical importance of an activity that is comprehended by when, where and how it is utilized. It additionally relies on upon who understands them. "East Harlem has no business being in this rich city but there it was, filled with broken promises of a better life, dating decades back to the day when many Puerto Ricans and Latinos gathered their bags and carried their dreams on their backs and arrived in America, God's country. But they would never see God's face. Like all slumlords, God lived in the suburbs" (Quiñonez, 161). Quiñonez records the abuse of foreigners, the minimization of the area, and the express disregard of the city whose nearness is represented more than whatever else by Bodega who plays by the abnormal American