The Amoral Quest in Search of the American Dream
Although both Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman have admirable ambitions and dreams, the ways in which they strive to achieve their goals follow principles that lack any moral compass. The young, adventurous Jay desires a lifestyle of ambiance, prestige, wealth, and status. Most importantly Jay hopes to re-kindle a lost love and share a life with his high school sweetheart Daisy. Similarly Willy hopes to become a well off and stable businessman. However, he also wants to satisfy his own personal goals as a man, and become well-liked by his fellow workers and friends. Both characters are exemplified by their naive pursuit of the American Dream. In both novels the American Dream is accomplished only by hard work while remaining well-liked in society. True fulfillment of the dream is measured by wealth, status, and an external appearance of happiness. Their constant struggles to achieve and sustain this dream full of emptiness and corruption that society had engraved in their minds as the ultimate goal eventually leads to their downfall. The youthful, optimist Jay Gatsby found his humble beginnings in North Dakota under the name James Gatz. Two major events in Jay's life set the course for his future and what his dream will become. The ro
Willy believes so strongly that hard work and being well-liked will land him a place in the top tier of society. Much like Willy, Jay is constantly living in the past. The seasoned salesmen is constantly lying to his wife to convince himself that he has done well, and to prove to Linda that he is successful. On the other hand, the ambitious Jay Gatsby falls due to a chain of events which date back to Jay's attempts at re-capturing the fair Daisy. Both characters demonstrate a lack of morality in their pursuit of their goals and desires. The second half of Jay's dream is to reconnect and find love with Daisy, whom he was forced to leave during the war. Willy Loman's character fits the role of a tragic hero in the novel because he is a good man looking for a way in the world and to capture his own piece of the American dream. Consequently his desire eventually leads to a confrontation with Tom and can be indirectly attributed to his death. For Willy Loman, the continuous struggles of going through day to day life without becoming the man he wants to be gets the better of him. Both men have innate desire to become wealthy and successful, and both characters fall to ravages of society due to their tragic flaws. Both characters fill the roles of tragic heroes, and due to their tragic flaws and their propensity to stretch to achieve their dreams and goals they are eventually destroyed. Much like Jay, Willy is so overwhelmed with being successful that it causes him to deceive himself. In addition Jay develops a feeling of being above the law. These tragic flaws force them to travel through life committing actions of little moral value in their empty pursuit of their dreams. It is a great tragedy that none of his closest friends and family makes any attempt to bring him back to reality regardless of the risk of insulting the man.
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