Similarities Between Fences And The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the Roaring Twenties, is a novel that follows a young businessman and journalist named Nick Carraway. Carraway’s adventures explore different thematic ideas while exploring different environments of wealth and class. Fences, by August Wilson, is a play set in the 1950s about the life of Troy Maxon, whose adventures have underlying ideas around race, and opportunity. Through synthesizing two texts, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Fences by August Wilson, one will reach the understanding that the American Dream is often turned into a chase for materialistic, pointless gain and that this dream isn't available to everyone, particularly African Americans. It is important to contrast this

This quote shows the living conditions of Troy’s family and the pursuit of money that Troy constantly needs to be worried about. Troy’s house is clearly in bad shape, as shown in the quote, with the fact that his roof hasn’t been tarred in ten years and is at risk of leakage. Troy’s experience as an African American in America is far from what one would consider success in the context of the American dream. Although it may be in progress, his pursuit of money for his home reflects Wilson’s messages about money and race in the background of his main idea: The American Dream. Reflecting, Fitzgerald’s character Gatsby being unhappy shows the nature of chasing wealth in the American Dream, and Wilson’s Troy reveals the nature of the pursuit of success and wealth in the shoes of an African American in the 1950s. Fitzgerald’s message around the opportunity to pursue the American dream is slightly more difficult to understand, though. The Great Gatsby takes place during one of the greatest economic decades of the twentieth century, and by looking at each of the characters during this time, we can begin to understand Fitzgerald’s message about