Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Love, life, and death. All of these things is what really gave these characters ambition. The main ambition of each character was different but over all the same. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby just wanted to live a happy life with Daisy and make her happy. And in the other novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tea Cake he wanted to be with Janie and make enough money for both of them. Jody was the odd man out in this case, he wanted money and power and to live a “perfect” life. The similarities they have together is with Gatsby and Tea Cake they just wanted to live a nice life with the ones they love, and Gatsby and Jody both wanted a “perfect” life with their loved ones. Jody and Tea Cake both wanted Janie but also money. Jody, Tea …show more content…

Jody's he always holds a lot of power, and he does not rely on anybody, but he wants people to rely on him. When people disagree with him, he makes many people feel uncomfortable. For example, “There was something about Joe Starks that cowed the town. It was not because of physical fear. He was no fist fighter… He had a bow-down command in his face, and every step he took made the thing more tangible” (Hurston 65). Jody Starks is a man who has big ambitions, and can easily meet his goals with his money, but he also had power unlike the others. This contributes to his ambitions because if people continue to follow him then he can easily reach his goals, and his ambitions will only grow. When Jody and Janie's marriage comes to an end, Jody's life is also soon to end, but he still tries to keep the tough guy act even though he knows he is going to die, “Janie! Janie! don't tell me Ah got tuh die... Shut up! Ah wish thunder and lightin’ would kill yuh!” (Hurston 106-107). Janie came to say her final goodbyes and Jody tries to keep the tough guy act but obviously fails to do so, after he wishes death upon her, he passes away. Jody shows his ambition in this because he tries to look tough until the very end and wants power still and no one to look down on him. The money that Jody worked so hard to achieve would all go down the drain. With Jody ambitions he planned to do great things but his desire for …show more content…

Tea Cake is younger than Janie but is still very willing to find love. He does not have the money to really help or support Janie cause he does gamble a lot. But he starts telling her, “Ah no need no assistance tun help me feed my woman. From now on, you goin tuh eat whatever mah money can buy and wear the same” ( Hurston 65). Tea Cake is telling Janie about how he is going to take care of her, and that she won't have to worry about money because he will provide it. This shows Tea Cakes ambition very well because he's telling Janie about how he loves her and will find a way to gain money to support her. Tea Cakes gambling problem ends up getting worse and Janie gets the full wrath of it. For example, “That was when she found out her two hundred dollars was gone” (Hurston 140). This is the point of the novel where Janie understands Tea Cake gambling problem, and how bad it really is. This does show Tea Cakes ambition because it shows how badly he wants money and what he's willing to do to get it. Over all Tea Cake is a caring man and is winning to do whatever it takes to get money, even if it does hurt