Scott .F. Fitzgerald's cult novel "The Great Gatsby" and Orson Wells cinematic masterpiece "Citizen Kane" both explore similar themes and ideas and in very unique and different ways. Key ideas such as the theme of 'the American Dream', narration, symbolism and characterisation are expressed in both "The Great Gatsby and "Citizen Kane." The differences in the essential ideas although moderate are very distinct.
             "The Great Gatsby" and "Citizen Kane" both introduce the theme of the American Dream. In the case of "The Great Gatsby" the American Dream involves a slowly uncovered case of corruption. The American Dream of which Scott .F. Fitzgerald personifies relates to dreams of freedom, hope and following one's goals. Fitzgerald uses the American dream through the tension between two definitions of what exactly the American Dream is. One belief is that of hope, limitless possibilities and reaching human potential. This is where Nick Carraways view of Gatsby as a "good man" stems from. The second version of the American Dream is one that has materialistic values, where one's dream is realised with gaining riches and having a high social potential. It is Gatsby's means of gaining his riches that eludes Carraway to his "Unaffected scorn" towards. This shows Fitzgerald's view that the American Dream cannot be reached without defeating its own purpose. However where corruption occurs with the attempt to achieve the American Dream in "The Great Gatsby," "Citizen Kane" offers the same theme in a vastly different manner. Orson Wells creates the American Dream through Charles Foster Kane. Charles Kane, unlike Jay Gatsby, inherits vast fortunes. It is the inherited fortune that allows Kane to achieve the American Dream with minor effort. The main difference between the two stems from the ways in which Jay Gat...