Preview

Willy and Gatsby

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
650 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Willy and Gatsby
Willy and Gatsby

Many people in the 1920s tried to achieve the American dream. In both, the play The Death of a Salesman and in the book The Great Gatsby, the idea of the American dream is making it in life. The character in the Death of a Salesman that is very eager to live the American Dream is a man named Willy Loman. Willy is an older guy that lives in the city with his wife and two sons. In The Great Gatsby it is Jay Gatsby that is attempting to live the American Dream. Gatsby is a middle aged man that lives in the suburbs by himself. They both try to make their life seem like it is something it’s not. The Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby portrayed the American Dream by trying to succeed in life, having money, and being liked by everyone.

Willy from The Death of a Salesman wants nothing more than to succeed and be able to provide for his family. He tries to make his job seem better than what it really is. Although he has worked there for years it is not as good as it use to be. Willy is not very good at his job, so it makes it hard to pay the bills he needs to. On the other hand Gatsby idea of succeeding is winning over a girl that he could never have in the past. Gatsby wanted to prove everyone wrong and show them that he has everything, but the one thing he strived for most was a girl named Daisy. He never succeeded at getting her. Not only was succeeding something the both wanted but they also wanted to have money.

Money was a huge part in the play and the book, but also in the 1920s. Willy had a job but he did not make any money. He has to borrow fifty dollars a week from a neighbor to pretend he was doing well at his job. Willy Loman had tried to make it by himself and never wanted help from anyone. Money was everything to Willy. In order for him to be happy he needed money. Gatsby had all the money he could dream of but was always lonely and unhappy. His idea of living the American Dream was showing

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In 1931, the term “American Dream” was made popular by James Truslow Adams in his novel Epic of America in which the quote read: “But there has also been the American dream, that dream of a land in which life would be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” In both The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men the attainment of the characters ' own "American Dreams" are portrayed. Jay Gatsby was the epitome of success; coming up from nothing to having anything he wanted and more. Lennie just wanted to tend the rabbits and live off the “fat of the land” with his best friend George. Two completely different forms of dreams, this goes without question, but one fact still remains: everyone has a dream. The key to whether they achieve it is a matter of work put into it, the faith a person keeps, and, regretfully, fortune.…

    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Gatsby builds his identity as a greater and alternate man—a man above an average man. He creates this rich yet calm and collected side of him. He's part of new money and so, worked his way to get to where he is at. Everything that lead him to become rich was all for Daisy. Like the many Americans at the time, he was more disillusioned on the idea that he could obtain his American dream—to have a house and own land. Fitzgerald suggests that the American dream is not attainable to everyone. He shows this through the valley of ashes; people like Myrtle and George who worked hard but couldn’t get rich. Even though Gatsby became rich, he ultimately couldn’t get Daisy who was his life ling dream.…

    • 502 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although they are chasing different goals, they both can't see the reality and are caught up in a fantasy. Willy is after success in the business world by being well-liked and has already attained personal success with his wife and sons. On the other hand, Gatsby is after success in his love life by winning Daisy back; he has already become a rich and powerful man in business. But these men are a lot alike. Both are so caught up in their individual ideas of success that they can't see the truth. They will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. Willy lies to his boss about his sales in order to keep his job and to hold on to his dream of success. It is rumored that Gatsby was involved in illegal bootlegging in order to amass the fortune he needs to win Daisy's love. Gatsby even protects Daisy from the law after she hits and kills a woman. Both men also lie to themselves. Willy tells himself it is important to be well-liked and that having friends is all it takes to be successful. But Willy is not well-liked and is not making sales he should. He tells himself his funeral will be packed with friends who liked him; when he dies only a handful of people show up. Gatsby lies to himself throughout the novel. He tries to believe that Daisy is this perfect woman and completely in love with him. But the truth is that Daisy is superficial, selfish, and not willing to leave her husband for Gatsby. These…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby a man of tremendous wealth and power could have chosen anybody to be his wife he wanted Daisy. Although he failed to see that part of his attraction to her was because of what she represented for him: money and the upper class. In a way, Gatsby believes that if he can get her to love him, he can prove to himself that he belongs to the upper class. Though he learns too late that both Daisy, and, therefore, the American Dream, are unreachable goals. In conclusion, Gatsby follows the American Dream model to a point and is a perfect candidate for representing it. Though not in the storybook happy ending version, Fitzgerald wanted to show how hollow the idea of the American Dream is and how even if it is obtained its outcome would not be anything that a person would necessarily want which, in this case, was…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy Buchannan

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gatsby’s abstract idea of who he wants to be takes form in Daisy. Since he was a young boy, he wanted to rise up from his lower class roots and become a successful, wealthy man. When he fell in love with Daisy, he fell in love with money. “[Her voice] was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it…high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl” (120). Daisy represents everything Gatsby has wanted to obtain since he was a little boy. She has an aura of ease, wealth, and aristocracy, which is what initially attracted him to her. Being back together with her would crystalize his success in the world. He puts Daisy up on a pedestal of innocence and materialism that she does not deserve. Gatsby is blind to her limitations because his dreams of money have so far had no limits. He was able to move up the economic ladder, build a gaudy, lavish house, and obtain celebrity status, in order to become closer to Daisy. Without Daisy, it would all be for nothing. He invests all his dreams into the love from Daisy. The problem is that Daisy is not able to live up to his fantasy. In reality, she is shallow and fickle. When the dream of her is taken away from him, Gatsby is left to see all the corruption in the world of…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, they both knew what it was like to be poor. Secondly, they both had lovers who left them for being so poor. Thirdly, both of them weren 't achieving happiness within themselves. They were trying to make other people happy, which would make them happy. Christopher Gardner was trying to make his son happy, and provide him with a good life once his wife left. Gatsby was trying to make Daisy happy by taking her away from Tom and impressing her with his riches. Lastly, both wanted more out of life. They wouldn 't settle for what they already had. Christopher wanted to be able to support a family, and make them happy. Gatsby on the other hand kept trying to relive the past. Both wanted…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jay started out with no money, but made a fortune selling alcohol. He got to live the glamorous life with a ginormous party every weekend, the latest style of car, the top clothes, and he got to live in a huge mansion. Although Gatsby had everything he needed, he did not have Daisy. Daisy was Gatsby's dream and to win her would mean that he achieved the unachievable, but it didn't work out that way. Jay Gatsby tried to charm Daisy with all of his fancy things, but in the end she could not be with him. Gatsby lost everything he had, and Fitsgerald made this his main concept because the American Dream really is unachievable.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby is a classic novel in which many characters lives revolve around money, however money cannot buy happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald pursued many things writing the book The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald offers many themes in the book he shows power, greed, and betrayal. Fitzgerald showed Gatsby as a Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating distinct social classes old money, new money, and no money Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism running throughout every strata of society.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

     Willy Loman - Jay Gatsby: The Pursuit of the American Dream Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller, author of Death of a Salesman, both tell the stories of men in the costly pursuit of the American dream. As a result of several conflicts, both external and internal, both characters experience an extinction of the one thing that they have set their sights on.... The American Dream. Jay Gatsby, a mysterious, young and very wealthy man, fatally chases an impossible dream. Gatsby attempts to rekindle an old relationship and has confidence in repeating the past. Gatsby claims that he is going to "fix everything just the way it was before" (Fitzgerald 117). In a a conversation with Nick, Gatsby discusses how the past can be repeated and how he wants the relationship that he once had with Daisy (Fitzgerald 116). Secondly, Gatsby attempts to exemplify his wealth through fancy cars and stylish clothing. Gatsby shows his clothing to Daisy and informs her that he has a "man in England" who buys his clothes every season (Fitzgerald 97). Illustrating his wealth, Gatsby drives a Rolls Royce that "was a rich cream color, bright with nickel" (Fitzgerald 68). Although Gatsby 's foolish quest of the American dream exemplifies a respectable aspiration, it ends in a tragic death that goes virtually unnoticed. A sharp contrast to the parties , the funeral was sparingly attended and "nobody came" (Fitzgerald 182). Following the death of Gatsby Daisy leaves town with Tom and "hadn 't sent a message or a flower" (Fitzgerald 183). An elderly salesman lost in false hopes and illusions, Willy Loman works for strict commission and cannot bring home enough money to pay his bills. Willy foolishly pursues the wrong dream and constantly lives in an unreal world blinded from reality. Despite his dream Willy constantly attempts to live in an artificial world and claims "If old Wagner was alive I 'd be in charge of New York by now" (Miller 14).…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Love and Gatsby

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The way an author concludes a story can be key in the success of the novel. Whether the ending is satisfying or not, it needs to be conclusive. The reader should be able to answer and adjust to a novel’s uncertainties. The conclusion to The Great Gatsby could be see as one of the most well-designed in American Literature. Fitzgerald’s ability to wrap his novel up with only a few sentences that leave the reader in awe but still lifted from all confusion. The Great Gatsby concludes so that the themes of the novel are in entirely understood. Fitzgerald’s approach to retouch on the themes throughout the novel: hope, love, and the burden of the past in the conclusion refreshes the reader’s mind allowing him/her to comprehend the overall message of the novel.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What are personal desires? How do we make the decision to decide between our desires and choosing to conform? When making a decision between desires and conforming it is a difficult choice that we all face in our lives. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzerald it demonstrates the difficult conflict between what we want and conforming. When we have personal desires it can be difficult to conform.…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money is what makes the world then and now revolve. In The Great Gatsby money is what makes a person who they are. Money shapes them. The concept of the American Dream is the pursuit of happiness. And that is exactly what Gatsby wants. He wants happiness in the form of lots of money, a perfect wife, and a perfect family. Gatsby slowly works…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It was only through living up to the American Dream did Gatsby believe he could accomplish what he truly dreamed for, which was his gateway to Daisy’s heart. This led him to base his entire self-worth purely on his wealth and prosperity, yet failed him to look past the American Dream. Gatsby was portrayed as what seemed to be a successful, picture perfect man…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream is the ideal way of living for people trying to create the well rounded, cookie cutter family. In the play Death of a Salesman, The Loman's attempt their own version to american dream through rough patches and conflicts. Firstly, lies and excuses point the Loman family in the direction to become dysfunctional and broken. Moreover, The families inability to accept facts and faults help lead them to tragedy. Lastly, Willys brother finds the American Dream which Willy tries to act upon and make possible. Thus, the buildup of false impressions leads to the corruption and loss of the american dream.…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Failure of American Dream

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The American Dream is a dream that glorifies fame, the pursuit of success , and power. It is the idea if needing to have to have material goods in order to feel successful and obtain a higher status. In The Great Gatsby, The Winter Of Our Discontent, Babbitt, and Death Of A Salesman there are many similarities between the backgrounds of the main characters that attempt and fail at the American dream.…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays