The Grapes Of Wrath And The Great Gatsby - 1738 Words

Imagine a time when the aristocracy controls a poor man’s life. Every second he lives with the risk of an upper class member deciding whether or not to change his life for better or worse because they believe he is less than human. Although America in the nineteen twenties and thirties was known as the land of opportunity and the home of the American Dream; authors John Steinbeck and Scott Fitzgerald express different opinions in their novels, The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby, respectively. Each author uses the characterization of the wealthy classes to condemn the American Dream and show how people of this time portrayed by fictional characters were dehumanized. Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath portrays dehumanization through landlords and government officials, who are seen persistently harassing the Joad family, the main characters of the novel, and making their quest of survival near impossible. On the other hand, Fitzgerald, through the use of characterization, r eveals the upper class citizens to be the source of all problems for the middle and lower classes. Gatsby, whom the book is named after, surprisingly only receives a small part of the blame more generously bestowed upon Tom Buchanan and his unloving wife Daisy. Nick, the narrator, is seen in a constant struggle of whether to lose his humanity and become one of these rich apathetic â€Å"monsters†, his goal in the beginning of his journey, or to keep his humanity but give up on his dream. Therefore, bothShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath Essay1000 Words   |  4 Pagestheir actions are inhumane, that their actions leave â€Å"fifteen or twenty families [hungry]† (Steinbeck 5.50). Stubborn and passionate about becoming part of the prosperous capitalist economy (which is the tone Steinbeck carries out throughout The Grapes of Wrath), they forget about humility, honesty, and selflessness. The tone, along with the repetition of the three dollars a day the aggressors earn, reflects their cold-hearted determination to risk all that ever mattered to them in order to savor theRead MoreThe American Dream In The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath825 Words   |  4 Pageslink plummet. The true American Dream can be chased, but exists if and only if the one trying for it can accept failure and move on. This continually presents itself in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Taking place in the height of the Great Depression, Grapes depicts the Joads, a family with no wealth that loses everything due to foreclosure and repossession. This family continually looks for both jobs and stability, which are reflected in the synopsisRead MoreThe Selfish and the Selfless in The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath919 Words   |  4 Pagesrepeatedly takes place in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, where many characters act out of their own self-interest. However, throughout The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, the individuals often commit acts of true altruism. Instead of always being on the lookout for themselves, they often make sacrifices for others. The Great Gatsby’s selfish, egocentric acts contrast with the altruistic, selfless acts in The Grapes of Wrath through demonstrations of self sacrifice, greed, andRead MoreSelfishness Explored in The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath1114 Words   |  5 Pagesdescribed by W illiam E. Gladstone as â€Å"the greatest curse of the human race† (William E. Gladstone quotes, 2010). Collectively, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath demonstrate how selfishness breaks society, affecting both the individual as well as those around him, and how selflessness repairs it. Loneliness results from selfish choices. In The Grapes of Wrath, Muley Graves chooses selfishness when his entire family moves to California in hopes to find a better life, knowing that they willRead MoreAmerican Ideals : The Grapes Of Wrath And The Great Gatsby2037 Words   |  9 PagesAustin Iverson AP English American Ideals: The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby Throughout history there have been certain political and social ideals that have been upheld by most individuals in American society. These ideals include liberty, equality, and pursuing the American dream. Many of these American ideals can be seen in the classic novels The Grapes of Wrath and The Great Gatsby. Both novels take place within two decades of each other in the same country but with vastly differentRead MoreEssay on Greed In The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath935 Words   |  4 Pagesbetter than most novels of that period. These novels, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath, show that despite the difference between the 1920s and the 1930s, greed remained a part of human life, whether superficially or necessarily, and that many people used their greed to damage themselves and others. In both of these novels, greed as a whole is negative, corrosive, abrasive, destructive, and apocalyptic. As an example, in Gatsby the namesake, Gatsby’s, desire for Daisy forces him to becomeRead MoreThe Role of Food in The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath Essay837 Words   |  4 Pagesin F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work The Great Gatsby and John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath vary immensely. The complexity and need for sustenance differ between the books, but both reflect the events, viewpoints, and attitudes of the time periods they are set in. The complexity of food and drink changes from book to book. Extravagant and sophisticated food and drink litter the background in The Great Gatsby. For instance, chapter three of The Great Gatsby describes â€Å"buffet tables, garnishedRead MoreScott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath1720 Words   |  7 PagesScott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath In the novels The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the authors present similar ideas, but use different methods to portray them. Similarities in themes can be made between the two texts; these include the pursuit of the American Dream and the use and misuse of wealth. Other themes are also central to each novel, the strength in unity and the influenceRead MoreThe Great Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Grapes of Wrath1799 Words   |  8 Pagescontent and comforted, love can make anyone feel more alone than ever before. Love is presumed to be a step in life. The expectation society applies to it leads to alienation of characters in the summer reading of The Great Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Grapes of Wrath. For some characters, love is a moral value right from the start. Zora Neale Hurston introduces us to Janie in her book, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie is a young, vibrant African American living with her grandmotherRead MoreTheme Of Pride In The Great Gatsby1177 Words   |  5 Pagesdisplay characters who embody excess pride, that the pride either sets them apart in society or pushes them to start separating society by themself. With evidence from The Great Gatsby, The Crucible, and The Grapes of Wrath it can be proven that pride can lead to separation within a society. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby outlines this theme through the hollowness of the upper class. In the book there are two divisions of the upper class, the old money and the new money, those who inherited