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Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Harlem

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American society once praised as a symbol of opportunity has suffered from widespread Decay and moral corruption. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby and Langston Hughes poem,”Harlem” both reveal the breakdown of societal values and the Loss of moral direction. Through their vivid depictions and Powerful language, these works shed light on the dark side of American society showing the consequences of excessive materialism, and the elusive pursuit of the American dream. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby served as a warning, illustrating the decay and moral corruption that seeps into American society. One example of this is the character Jay Gatsby who embodies the Reckless Chase for wealth and status. As Nick Carraway notes Gatsby's Mansion is “ a copy of some fancy building in Normandy, with a tower on one side, brand new under a thin layer of green ivy” (Fitzgerald,5). Gatsby’s extravagant display of wealth is nothing but an illusion hiding his moral emptiness and the shallowness of his existence. This corruption extends beyond Gatsby himself to the privileged class that attends his parties, engaging in superficial interactions and pursuing selfish desires, unconcerned with the suffering around them. …show more content…

The poem vividly presents the delayed dreams of African Americans, who are left to endure poverty and despair. The lines “What happens to a dream deferred?/ does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?” (Hughes) evoke feelings of Hopelessness and frustration. The dreams of marginalized individuals are crushed by a society that shows indifference to their struggles, resulting in moral corruption as the oppressed turn to desperate measures. The poem suggests that a society that neglects And fails to fulfill the dreams of its citizens will ultimately succumb to moral decay and social

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The novel The Great Gatsby and the poems of the Harlem Renaissance depicted life during the 1920s in New York. While these two movements were fairly different, they still shared many similarities in their portrayal of life during that time. So, this essay will be exploring those similarities and differences. One similarity between The Great Gatsby and the Harlem Renaissance is the shared theme of the American Dream and how it was illustrated. In The Great Gatsby, the characters strive to achieve the American Dream, which in the novel meant wealth, power, and love.

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596 Words | 3 Pages

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby deceives everyone around him concerning the legitimacy behind his wealth, claiming that he had become affluent through respectable means. Gatsby’s deception is intended to regain Daisy Buchanan’s love, which he had long-missed ever since before he went to war. However, with this deception, Fitzgerald makes clear the hypocrisy and deceit present in the 1920’s – deceit not only within relationships and interactions but also in the very mantra of the United States, the American dream. Fitzgerald reveals his views with Gatsby’s superfluous luxury, which he prominently displays, whether in the form of lavish parties or a grandiose house. He takes every opportunity to make his wealth known; for example, he often offers a multitude (and often excessive) of favors to Nick, implicitly desperate to make his wealthy reputation spread across the city.

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Gatsby is a timeless novel that examines the decadence and moral corruption of the wealthy class during the Roaring Twenties. Set in the lavish lifestyle of the elite class of Long Island, the book follows the tragic story of Jay Gatsby and his hopeless love for the charming Daisy Buchanan. The novel displays harsh criticism of the wealthy's excesses and their inclination to act immorally to achieve their goals. Through the characters and their actions, Fitzgerald depicts a society in which the characters are immoral to reach a goal. In Fitzgerald’s

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1072 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby hosts these gatherings to grab attention. When looking at the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, imagery is used to give the poetry movement, to arouse the readers' imagination, and to develop their inner feelings, as well as to give them a sense of the flavor and scent of the made-up world. Hughes uses words like "stink," "rotten," "explode," "fester," "dry," "crust," "heavy," and "sag” (Hughes.) He uses these words to drive the reader's senses to feel, smell, see, hear, and taste this important dream. Also, Hughes vividly compares the feelings of people to visuals of a sore.

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463 Words | 2 Pages

Some people have different moral standards than others. In some situations, one’s moral standards may be corrupted. In the book the Great Gatsby, a story set in the 1920’s, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald shows that the pursuit of the American Dream may result in moral corruption. Fitzgerald does this through one of the main characters, J. Gatsby. While attempting to achieve the american dream, he undoubtedly does many immoral things that he may have never done otherwise.

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680 Words | 3 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is written as a mockery of American ideals, and emphasizes materialism, sexual immorality, and selfishness. Though it appears at first glance to be a love story about Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby is actually a satirical take on American culture, especially in the 1920s. In the 1920s, known as the “Roaring Twenties”, America’s economy was booming, jazz was immensely popular, and alcohol had been banned. Organized crime ran rampant, and Americans seemed to lose their moral values.

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Fitzgerald creates Jay Gatsby to illustrate the elite as a detriment to American society. Gatsby had fallen victim to the American

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“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is a powerful poem that points out all of the struggles minority groups and lower-class people go through. Hughes believes that the American system is corrupted and unfair. He thinks that the businessmen are greedy, taking from the poor and giving to the wealthy. The American idea is something that is not real for many people because of their race, economic situation, and come up.

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995 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Langston Hughes was a pioneer of contemporary African American literature. His work, Montage of a Dream Deferred, is comprised of several poems which read as one, centered mainly on the African American community in post World War II Harlem. The overarching motif is of the dream deferred, which was Hughes’ way of responding to racial oppression in America. The dream deferred refers to how there is the American dream, which exists for white Americans, and the dream deferred reflects on how the ideals of the American dream do not always include all people, like African Americans, Jewish people, and any person who has heard “the music of a dream deferred” (Hughes, p.425).

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Langston Hughes, once described as “one of the most notable poets among the writers of the Harlem Renaissance,” depicts the challenges experienced by African Americans long after the abolition of slavery (“Langston Hughes” [The Bedford Anthology] 744). Attempting to explain his work, Langston Hughes once said, “My writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America” (746). The life of an African American compared to their white neighbor reveals the deeply institutionalized racism that defined American life, which Hughes’s poetry addresses. He captures the oppressed, unvalued African American heritage and culture with his use of African American vernacular, sorrow songs, and vivid imagery. In his poem, “Negro,” Hughes

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1319 Words | 6 Pages

In Langston Hughes's poem Harlem, he attempts to exemplify the extent to which dreams and aspirations of African Americans during the 1950s are thwarted. Hughes was one of the most famous writers of the Harlem Renaissance and his different writings serve and have served as sending extremely influential and impactful messages and themes to American citizens. His poem Harlem is a perfect example that brings out his overall message he had attempted to express as a person. Nevertheless, Hughes main theme of this particular poem expresses the idea that--prevalent to the 1950s-- America defers black people’s dreams and aspirations for the American dream, which may lead to consequences if allowed.

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1909 Words | 8 Pages

An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.

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764 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prime piece of literature during the Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as the Jazz Age (coined by Fitzgerald). The Harlem Renaissance was a spike in jazz music, black culture, and more. Fitzgerald’s novel encapsulated this age in America. While Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and the artists and authors of the Harlem Renaissance share black people achieving the American Dream in common, only The Great Gatsby portrays this ambition as inaccessible and unachievable for women.

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1342 Words | 6 Pages

Segregation and inequality of People of Colour play a big role in the poems that I will be addressing in this Essay. As a Black American he uses his experience and the experiences of People of Colour in America to create his works and connect us in the struggle against racial injustice. Langston Hughes used these poems to express what People of Colour were going through and how we felt in that time. “Let America be America Again” was a criticism of the treat of black people and other poc in America. The poem speaks to America or rather white America who have created a false sense of freedom on stolen land.

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