Great Gatsby and Death of...
"Dreams are the touchstones of our characters." This quote from Thoreau basically states that the dreams of a character define his or her life, whether it be their characteristics or their lifestyle. This statement is prevalent in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. This inspiring novel and play express this lens through the literary elements of theme and characterization. While each member of the Loman family is living in denial in one way or another. However, Willy Loman's situation is most disturbing. Willy is incapable of accepting the fact that he is a mediocre salesman. Instead, Willy strives for his version of the American Dream, a main theme in Miller's play. Willy's version of the American Dream revolves around success and popularity, even if he is forced to deny reality in order to achieve it. Instead of acknowledging that he is not a well-known success, Willy retreats into the past and chooses to relive past memories and events in which he is perceived as successful. For example, Willy's favorite memory is of Biff's last football game because Biff vows to make a touchdown just for him. In this scene in the past, Willy can hardly wait to tell the story to his buyers. H
Gatsby is not interested in power for its own sake or in money or prestige. e considers himself famous as a result of his son's pride in him. This unfortunately makes Willie somewhat believe it as well. The fact that he is not able to satisfy his dream makes Willy's life incredibly hard. Willy begins to tell Howard stories of Singleman, continuing with stories of Howard's birth and the derivation of Howard's name. What he wants is his dream, and that dream is embodied in Daisy. It is a kind of romantic idealism, "some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life," Nick calls it. According to him, his son has made him well known, and this makes him happy since being popular and well liked is his dream. In fact, Gatsby buys the mansion, throws the parties, wins popularity, and almost fulfills the American Dream all for Daisy. The American dream plays a large part throughout Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as well. The yearn to obtain "the girl," the last piece of Gatsby's puzzle, seems unreachable and restrains him from reaching his own American Dream. His dream of Daisy preoccupies him and leads him to try to buy her love. However, through it all, he loses himself. Since he has left her, his character has gone to piece and never matured from the boy that he was when he was with her. Since it is Willie's dream to be successful, he puts on a front to make others believe that he is.
Common topics in this essay:
American Dream,
Gatsby Gatsby's,
Howard Willy's,
Fitzgerald's Gatsby,
Dream Daisy,
Miller Fitzgerald,
,
York Howard,
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Daisy Gatsby,
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version american dream,
win daisy,
willy's dream,
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past willy,
version american,
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Acceptance Essays
