Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Fahrenheit 451

A forever changing world, while inevitable and necessary, festers wonder for both the present and future society. Massive shifts like the Industrial Revolution swept over populations and would create movements like modernism and postmodernism as people focused on experimenting with the trends of “now”, while others feared a future with a limitless, cruel humanity following human progress. Literature was used to express a large portion of these concepts and can be recognized in many classic novels, namely The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. These specifically highlight modernism and postmodernism. The Great Gatsby represents modernist thought through its indulgent and empty characters and several elements

The characters exhibit a lot of greed and little care for the poor as different sectors of wealth emerge, specifically the new money and old money. Urbanization allowed for many different people to be concentrated in one area, and opportunities to gain wealth from new methods rather than having it passed down. This permitted new options for social statuses and the Great Gatsby provided a representation of how these played out, relating to modernist ideals. The older, more classic form of money was owned by Tom and Daisy. These characters were shown to be careless, indifferent, and lacked much discipline. Tom, to start, had racist and close-minded views that didn’t require empathy and complexity. He had an affair with another woman while being married to Daisy, and expected no consequence. Daisy, although on the receiving end, did something similar with her connection to Gatsby and proved they had no feelings of love. Fitzgerald, in the perspective of Nick, says, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and creatures then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness (Fitzgerald 179).” The recognizable disregard for others outside the richer inner

Postmodernism, beginning in the late 1900s, held the idea that truth is subjective and very dependent on individual perspective. After going through the horrors of two world wars, seeing how powerful propaganda was made interpreting different truths more important than ever. Bradbury incorporates this in particular during Montag’s time on the run from the televised hound hunting him down. His chase is used by the government to provide an entertaining show for the city, and to strike fear by claiming the hound never fails to catch a criminal. People only see what happens on the screen, and while Montag and the outsiders can figure out the truth, the government still has the power to warp the perspective. Bradbury points out, “They didn’t show the man’s face in focus. Did you notice that? Even your best friend couldn’t tell if it was you. They scrambled just enough to let the imagination take over (Bradbury 134).” Pointing out that truth in their society can easily be faked to manipulate their people further supports that progress narratives don’t take in the complexities that can arrive in their wake. There are even several different viewpoints within characters, like how Montag, Beatty, and Clarisse all contained the same desire to break off from society yet their actions differed from each other and led to their own unique