A Response to: F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Art
Settlement in North America has been filled with arrogance and a certain self-satisfaction since it's beginning. Religious dissenters, original colonist, believed they were creating a 'new Jerusalem' in the woods. The United States Constitution claims to be based on 'self evident' truths. Americans believed that it was their 'Manifest Destiny' to take up the entire continent. American's religious fervor matched with its greediness to expand explains American arrogance and worship of material wealth. The 'American Dream' is nothing more than the claim that any individual can become fabulously wealthy and that fabulous wealth, in turn, produces great happiness. Immorality is embedded is these assumptions. How a person accumulates the frills of the 'American Dream' seems to be less important than that person has. The restless pursuit of wealth and the popularity of the 'American Dream' are key themes in American literature. They are present in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.In the case of Death of a Salesman the preeminence of the American Dream is immediately stated in the title. The tragic hero, who is Wille Loman, in Death of a Salesman, watches his life collapse around him. His
Tom is a perfect example of the 'American Dream'. Tom Buchanan's failure as a human being is foreshadowed in his first appearance in the novel. past, present and family all fall apart as he is driven to suicide. He possesses great wealth yet is relatively meaningless and unspectacular as an individual. Gatsby's character presents a second, and different, assault on the American Dream. Gatsby has come from great poverty to fabulous wealth. Through the portrayal of Tom Buchanan, Fitzgerald demonstrates the fundamental oddness of the American Dream. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In the case of Tom Buchanan there is no connection between obtaining the American Dream and being a better person. More importantly, Gatsby's success story is simply a trick. In Death of a Salesman Miller portrays capitalism, the fundamental process of the American Dream, destroying an individual's humanity and moral sense. Fitzgerald presents his perspective more complicated than does Miller. Willie Loman is a salesman, essentially it is profession and his possessions that define him not his humanity. Gatsby is trying to pursue his wife and at the same time chase his own interest. However, Fitzgerald's portrayal is more complex than Miller's.
Common topics in this essay:
American Dream,
Tom Buchanan's,
Dream Gatsby,
United Constitution,
Tom Buchanan,
Death Salesman,
Willie Loman,
North America,
american dream,
Ivy League,
Gatsby Gatsby,
'american dream',
death salesman,
tom buchanan,
fabulously wealthy,
dream gatsby,
tom buchanan's,
success story,
american dream gatsby,
success american dream,
scott fitzgerald's,
fitzgerald's gatsby,
miller's death salesman,
scott fitzgerald's gatsby,
|
Acceptance Essays
