ipl-logo

Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Catcher In The Rye

794 Words4 Pages

What consequence will a man have if he wants to challenge the whole society? Normally it will be like a moth flying to the flame. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby and J.D. Salinger’s the Catcher In the Rye, both protagonists Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield try to accomplish this challenge for different reasons. Unfortunately, neither the wealthy man nor the junior kid in high school wins. Even though Holden and Gatsby have totally different personalities, troubles, and endings, they both share the same trait that shows their strong spirits when they face the challenge of the society. Gatsby and Holden have different personalities, but they both decide to challenge the society because of their same spirit. Gatsby has a unique smile …show more content…

Gatsby’s success belongs to his obsession to Daisy. So do his troubles. After Daisy accidently kills Tom’s affair, Gatsby realizes it seems impossible for him and Daisy get back to the past together. However, he is still obsessed by her. Nick and Gatsby’s conversation is a symbol of his obsession: “How long are you going to wait?” “All night, if necessary. Anyhow, till they all go to bed” (Fitzgerald 144). Even though the society will reject Gatsby’s dream, he does not want to give up. His resistance blinds him. Compare to Holden, he is blinded by his sensitiveness and extreme. He wants to keep his past. Once he wonders by the Museum of Natural History and wants to stick certain things “in one those big glass cases and just leave them alone” (Salinger 122). Growing up kills his innocence. He wants to keep them well in the glass boxes so that they will be good forever. But the society does not allow this. Holden knows he will be in adulthood anyway, but he tries his best to stop it. He chooses to blind himself, which eventually becomes troubles. So despite their different circumstances, Gatsby and Holden both have many

Show More
Related
596 Words | 3 Pages

Daniel Aguirre Ms. Tobias English III GT - 6th 12 January 2017 After analyzing both the movie and the novel, I have discovered similarities and differences. Ill try to compare and contrast the two since the movie does not depict the story exactly as how the novel does. Similarities There were still some similarities in the film that tied back to the book. One of the main ones is when Nick walks to Gatsby’s backyard and finds him standing at the edge of his dock reaching out to what was a green light.

Read More
1078 Words | 5 Pages

Authors of classic American literature often utilize a character’s development to establish a worldview or opinion. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Great Gatsby, Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald use their narrators, Huck Finn and Nick Carraway, to suggest an argument about American society. Seeking adventure, both characters embark on a journey, but their encounters with society leave them appalled. While they each have personal motives for abandoning their past, both end up interacting with different cultures that lead them to a similar decision about society and their futures. Ultimately, they stray from the dominant culture in order to escape the influence of society.

Read More
1960 Words | 8 Pages

Blinded by Memories How protagonists of Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby are similar by rejecting reality and how it leads to their downfall? The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby share the podium when best portraying the American dream and experience. Despite differing greatly, J.D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield’s experiences and inner aspirations are akin to those of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby. The Great Gatsby and the American dream and success it illustrates including: wealth, fame, and roaring parties held by Jay Gatsby may initially seem wholly different from The Catcher in the Rye.

Read More
1317 Words | 6 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald shows many points in Gatsby’s actions and words that the reader can decide how he really felt for Daisy. It’s up to the reader’s imagination to see what mindset Gatsby has and whether his love for Daisy was either obsession, affection, or objectification. The Great Gatsby is a perfect example of how love and lust can drive a man crazy, whether it’s Tom, Gatsby, or Wilson. When Nick ends with, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189). Showed that no matter how hard Gatsby fought for Daisy’s heart and his American Dream, he was pushed back and had to start over, getting closer and closer, but he never got to fulfill his dream, and that’s the way life goes for many

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

Casandra Salazar Ms. Tobias English III GT 12 January 2017 The Great Gatsby After reading and watching The Great Gatsby, I gathered the dissemblance and alikeness in both the book and motion picture. As written in “The Great Gatsby”, the first example of similarity is that the book has the same theme to the “Roaring 20’s”. In the written book, Fitzgerald described the parties as huge and dramatic, where as in the movie, the directors did a fantastic job translating Fitzgerald’s words into a lavish visual spectacle of booze, sequins, and confetti.

Read More
899 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the poem, “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, both authors are in fact pointing out; don't judge someone for how they look or what they posses, because no one knows what they feel inside and what they are living. In The Great Gatsby, there are many characters whom live the American Dream, but only one best fits with the theme and that is Jay Gatsby. As the final lines of the poem get closer, it becomes more clear that the author's point is; Luxury does not fulfill someone's life. The people in town see Richard Cory with all his luxuries and wish to be in his place, “In fine, we thought that he was everything/ To make us wish that we were in his place” (Robinson 11-12).

Read More
756 Words | 4 Pages

Gatsby’s dreams and aspirations in life are rather interesting and amazing as he goes about his life in the book. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald helps highlight the social, moral, and political issue that were very present during the 1920’s and today. Gatsby is the focus of the book as before the book began, he was an ex-soldier who came to wealth by some rather illegal ways. Daisy a married woman is his person of interest, who was his ex-lover 5 years before the book started. Gatsby’s actions, and words demonstrate a clear obsession with Daisy that seems to have no end.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet and The Great Gatsby are very similar because of their themes. Hamlet, written by Shakespeare in 1603, and The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 share the themes of madness, vengeance, mortality, murder, and disloyalty. Although the plots are not very alike, the two main characters in each have similar qualities. These characters are not exactly the same, their flaws and actions both lead them to being disloyal to others, including themselves, and in the end, their death. Both Hamlet and Gatsby were obsessed with their past and trying to solve it.

Read More
1837 Words | 8 Pages

The deception of the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel signifies the emptiness and artificial lifestyle of people in the 1920s. From a young age, Gatsby has never accepted the life he was born into, always seeking a way to participate in the abstract customs of the rich, resulting in his lies to convince Daisy as well of others of his rich background. Gatsby is presented as a character that has not been able to transition his life to the present day time period, keeping his eyes shut from the realities of his dreams, "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"(Fitzgerald 116). In Gatsby’s attempt to change all the features he was born with, including his name, James Gatz, he fails to realize that his dreams are not worthy of him and he will never be able to achieve them.

Read More
889 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1223 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby has criminal wrongs rather than moral wrongs, is part of the new money society and dies as a result of his actions. In addition, Gatsby made his fortune through illegal activities, while Tom inherited his wealth through his

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many characters in which each symbolizes their own life lesson and message. The book's main character Jay Gatsby, loves to simulate and relive the past. Gatsby is a nostalgic character who throughout the story has a moral ambiguity with his obsession with trying to prove that he can recreate past triumphs, believing that the past held everything that was great about his life, but it’s impossible to re-spark past emotions and memories. Nothing can be as it once was, people grow each day. Each new day a person has a new outlook on life, they have new feelings, emotions, and opinions.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

He has trouble growing up and accepting life as it is. Holden thinks adults are "phony" which makes him hate the fact of growing up and staying innocent as much as he can while he is old enough to become an adult. He is frustrated with the world and people which makes him act with anger. His innocent childish dream is to be the Catcher in the Rye, to catch the kids before they become phonies like Holden says about adults. The moment he realizes that he cannot keep kids from falling or in other words, from growing up and becoming adults, he, reaches adulthood, and takes a big step towards it at the end of the novel.

Read More
1268 Words | 6 Pages

How Holden matured People go through rough stuff in their lives, such as losing a close sibling. It seems impossible to pull yourself out of the pain and guilt of your loss. It appeared Holden was in the same predicament, but through his experiences in the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger he learns to grow up. Aside from being very immature, holden refuses to grow up and dislikes people who have grown up.

Read More

More about Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Catcher In The Rye

Related Topics

Open Document