The Great Gatsby Literary Comparative Essay
“Say goodbye to white picket fences, say hello to palm trees and Benzes, say we gotta fall to have it all. We don’t want two kids and a wife, I just want a job I just want a life. And the underdogs rise and the mighty will fall.” With over 10 million views, American Dream by MKTO has become a world-renowned song, only to find that the actual lyrics attack the American Dream and how it is unattainable. The American Dream was once thought of as an achievable task by everybody, but it has been proven that this is untrue. Education fees put many people in debt; the stay at home parent has become a thing of the past, and people are not receiving. Laborers make less money than other occupations. Nearly
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The book introduces a similarity of wealth for the two settings; however, this reveals an ironic situation. The American Dream indicates that hard work earns you wealth (big house), but this is not the case for Nick or Daisy. They both portray the opposite of the American Dream showing its decline. A grand comparison is made to the amount of effort put in by both characters and the size of their house. Nick is a small town man who has come from a wealthy family like Daisy. He fought in the war and after decides to move to the East, West Egg in particular. Nick has works incredibly hard to get where he is now only to have a small house surrounded by two large mansions. Nick has educated himself at Yale and even goes a step further to learn more about the bond business. A sense of disrespect and surprise is most well shown by Daisy when she sees Nick’s house for the first time. Daisy immediately points out the decrease in size. Upon exiting the car, she says, “ ‘Is this absolutely where you live, my dearest one?’ ” (Fitzgerald 82). Although the reference to the size of Nick’s house is not intentionally derogatory, it sets a tone for Daisy’s attitude. The questioning of the size of the house displayed an arrogant tone. She does not realize that Nick has worked very hard to earn money on his own and that he is not just handed the money. To enhance Nick’s efforts, Gatsby offers Nick the option to work for a drugstore to earn some extra cash. Nick, declines this offer. This shows that Nick holds pride in his work that he has achieved. By contrast, the complete opposite occurs in Daisy’s situation. Daisy’s house in East Egg reinforces the myth of the American Dream, her house is large however she has put no effort into achieving it. Daisy was similarly born into a wealthy family and carried on to marry a wealthy man securing her wealth and status. She shows a very snobbish and