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Symbolism in literature essay
Character comparison essay
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism in literature essay
Character comparison essay
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In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there are two characters by the names of Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. Throughout the book, these two particular characters seem to be very different from each other in nearly every way. However, it becomes clear as the story continues that they share some ideas and attitudes in common. Specifically, Tom and George were noteworthy in the way they felt about women, the methods by which they conveyed violence, and how they responded to their wives cheating on them.
The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on a man named Jay Gatsby, who represents the American dream. Gatsby’s ultimate hope is winning over Daisy Buchanan, the women he is in love with; however, Daisy is already married to a man named Tom Buchanan. In addition, Tom is having romantic relations with a mistress in the city who is named Myrtle Wilson. Daisy and Tom both have suspicions about each others affairs but remain together even when they want to be with different people. Deceit is prevalent in The Great Gatsby when Daisy cheats on Tom with Gatsby, Tom has relations with his mistress Myrtle, and Myrtle lies to her husband about having an affair.
Both tom Buchanan and George Wilson are two vastly different people but are alike in the most unusual ways. They are the only two characters in the book to use violence; both say they “love” Myrtle and both fight for their women only when they are about to lose them. That is where the similarities cease. Tom is the man who cheats on his wife daisy, with George 's wife Myrtle, and then proceeds to slap her when she would not stop speaking Daisy 's name. George, on the other hand, is a passionate and faithful husband to Myrtle and is crushed to learn that she was cheating on him so much so that he assassinates Gatsby whom he thinks was cheating with myrtle and murdered to get rid of the evidence of his adultery.
The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.
However the more one looks in depth at the main characters, the easier it becomes to understand their similarities. Holden Caulfield and Jay Gatsby share the need to hold on to what was once. Both characters grasp so tightly to memories in the past, it blinds them to reality in present-day. This is mainly a result of both characters being idealists and rejecting change. Whilst both characters thrive in the past they struggle in reality with their individual distinct flaws.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays love, obsession, and objectification through the characters Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Some might say their love was true and Gatsby’s feelings for her was pure affection, while others say that he objectifies and is obsessed with her. Perhaps Gatsby confuses lust and obsession with love, and throughout the novel, he is determined to win his old love back. At the end of the novel, Gatsby is met with an untimely death and never got to be with Daisy. The reader is left to determined if Gatsby’s and Daisy’s love was pure and real, or just wasn’t meant to be.
If Gatsby is to truly love Daisy, instead of destroying her marriage, he would have let her go. However, because of his extreme devotion towards Daisy, he dreams of a utopia where their feelings for each other is mutual. Thus, he demands her to say that she has never loved Tom to affirm that she loves him only, but Daisy does fall in love with Tom at some point in her marriage, in between the five years of Gatsby’s absence. Nonetheless, Gatsby does not give up. He “[clutches]
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway are among the most prominent exponents of literature of the twentieth century. Forming part of the Lost Generation, these authors not only develop similar themes throughout their works, but heavily influenced each other. The Great Gatsby being Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, serves as a prime illustration of the staples of contemporary literature. In the novel The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, the author depicts himself through a character, Nick Carraway, conforming to other self depiction common in the Lost Generation, such as Hemingway in the Nick Adams stories. Nick Carraway and Nick Adams represent Fitzgerald and Hemingway, both serving as apertures into Fitzgerald’s and Hemingway’s view of the world.
Every story has a character that stands out. Tom Buchanan is an example of a character stands out for the wrong reason. Nick Carraway describes him saying, “Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body—he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body”(Fitzgerald,7).
Imagine a life where everything you ever wanted was yours. F. Scott Fitzgerald a man who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota (F. Scott Fitzgerald) didn’t really have everything especially since he lived Minnesota a place that is very similar too North Dakota. The Great Gatsby was one of Fitzgerald’s biggest books that made him famous. The story is narrated by Nick Carraway who served in World War I and is now trying to learn about the bond business. He moves to west egg a very rich area in Long Island and is now stuck with a big mess.
Gatsby later tries to reconnect with Daisy, much to the dismay of Tom. Fitzgerald utilizes the characters of Gatsby and Tom to create parallels and highlight certain characteristics in both men. Tom and Gatsby are similar in that they both are very wealthy and love Daisy, each in their own way. While they share this similarity, there are a myriad of differences between the two. Tom is a racist, is part of the old money society, and does not face judgement for his actions.
Gatsby falls in love with Daisy the first minute he meets her and never stops loving her even though she has obviously moved on. Gatsby does everything he can to be closer to her like buying “that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay” (78). Gatsby knows that if he can get the girl of his dreams he will not feel lonely anymore. " He talked a lot about the past… he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was” (87).
Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.
(99) In this moment, Gatsby makes it clear to Daisy that he could easily provide her with the same lifestyle she shares with Tom. Once Gatsby captures Daisy’s affection, he becomes full of greed and doesn’t want to believe she ever gave any of her love to Tom. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you.’” (118) When Daisy states “‘Even alone I can’t say I never loved Tom,’ (142), Gatsby begins to feel a “touch of panic” (142). All of his parties, stories, and entire persona were all fabricated to win Daisy back.
Throughout the book, Gatsby wants their relationship to work, but he mainly uses money to impress Daisy. Gatsby really loves Daisy because he will not stop trying to get her and Daisy also feels the same way about Gatsby because she shows her true self. However, on a closer examination, it becomes clear, that both Tom and Gatsby’s relationships with Daisy are based on money than love because money can lead to a destruction of love. However, both of their relationships with Daisy involve love proving