Similarities Between Their Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby

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Dreams The novels The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God both have strong metaphors for the protagonist’s hopes and dreams. From the beginning of the stories, the characters we are introduced to show strong emotions for finding what they desire. In Gatsby, Nick meets his luxurious neighbor Gatsby hopes to rekindle the flame with his previous lover, Daisy. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, we learn that from a young age Janie has always fantasized about finding her true love. Both stories follow these characters in their search for their dreams, but both outcomes show the reader that accomplishing these goals is much harder than they thought. When Gatsby returns from the war, he is met with the hard truth that his lover has moved on. He made it his goal to impress Daisy with extravagant things like his mansion and famous parties. As he tries harder and harder to pull Daisy from Tom, he fails to realize that his efforts are only pushing her further away. After Gatsby is killed by George, Nick contemplates his neighbor’s actions, “And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to …show more content…

Gatsby and Janie are both set on accomplishing their dreams, not matter the cost. Both characters are overwhelmed with the chance of finding their dreams that they fail to step back and take a moment to think. If Gatsby had realized that the things he was doing to try to get Daisy’s attention weren’t working, the story would have a much different ending. If Janie had taken warning that the storm was very dangerous and actually left earlier to somewhere safer, then her perfect life wouldn’t have been threatened. People get so caught up in the possibility of reaching what they desire that they don’t realize the dangers that they cause for