Similarities Between This Side Of Paradise And The Great Gatsby

Let’s face it, our forefathers were brilliant salesmen. Their idea that any person, from anywhere, no matter their social status, can achieve the American dream spread like a wildfire helping to build this country into the superpower it is today. There are many ideas of what the American dream is, but the most popular is the one that goes something like…after x amount of years of hard work, a poor person turns $1.50 into a multi-billion dollar corporation. This popular long shot story has been told time and time again, but following World War One, F. Scott Fitzgerald “revealed the wizard behind the curtain” by uncovering the dark side associated with the pursuit of wealth and status in “This Side of Paradise” and “The Great Gatsby”. The two semi-autobiography novels received literary acclaim, but what readers and critics failed to realize is they actually contain important lessons Fitzgerald learned during his quest for wealth and status. Although there are many lessons included, let’s discuss the three key lessons Fitzgerald considered …show more content…
By analyzing the lessons learned from both “The Great Gatsby” and “This Side of Paradise” readers will be able to recognize and avoid some of the potential risk’s that may come up along the way. First, be yourself. In both stories the main characters Jay Gatsby and Amory Blaine fall into the classic pitfall of changing themselves in order to fit in. Gatsby becomes a rich aloof in order to get Daisy, Blaine a stuck-up aloof to get Rosalind; both fail to get the girl. Next, get a friend to help you along the way. Dick Humbird pairs up with Blaine to help navigate Princeton while Nick Carraway helps Gatsby do almost everything. Both are successful and actually learn something from their guides along the way (Avey, web). Finally, once you get there, money may or may not buy you love. This is where the two stories