The Significance and Similarities of Nick Carraway and Tom Joad
             The two novels, The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby are completely different pieces of literature. Fitzgerald's Gatsby is a first person weaving of deep-rooted symbols, clever foreshadowing, and vivid alliterations. Grapes has a third person plot with fewer of these advanced literary methods, but with a unique intercalary chapter concept. However, the similarities between the two main characters are staggering. Both of these men are about 30 years old and seem to be quite average. Neither are especially smart, rich, strong, or good looking. They both come from a strong, supportive family and reside in decades not even twenty years apart. The situations brought to them are both extremely chaotic and undoubtedly grave. Nick and Tom are both optimistic characters desperate to find themselves, but their dilemmas intensify their morals and values and catalyze their evolution into dynamic characters.
             Nick and Tom both arrive into their respective plots abruptly. Nick "decided to go east and learn the bond business," (Fitzgerald 7) after years of his prominent middle-class middle-east family. Nick could have chosen to take over the "wholesale hardware business that [his] father carries on today,"(Fitzgerald 7), however, Nick chooses to be daring and decided to give New York and its fast pace of life a shot. Tom was ready to get out of McAlester after he "killed a guy"(Steinbeck 19). Tom kept his nose clean and got parole suddenly after 4 years instead of 7. The abruptness of the main character's entrances in the two novels is symbolic towards their obliviousness to the surprising new world they're about to enter. Nick and Tom have extremely high hopes and standards for the places they're about to go to. Nick thinks New York will bring wealth and a new way of life (with the latter accomplished rather tragically), while ...