The traditional American philosophy known as the ‘American Dream’ declares the people’s right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness. This ideology shows up in various novels, including F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. F. Scott Fitzgerald published and set The Great Gatsby in 1925, during the opulent period known as ‘the Roaring Twenties’, where people lived lavishly and carefree. John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men, published twelve years later in 1937, was written and set during an entirely different era. Starkly different from the Roaring Twenties, the 1930’s was the depression era, where people had to work hard to make a meager living. Despite the disparate settings of these classic American novels,
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Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck use complex characters in their novels to reveal flaws in the classic idea of the American dream, showcasing the impracticality of the dream in the 1930’s and the corruption of morals in the 1920’s. Both authors had pessimistic views when reflecting on American ideals during their separate era’s. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck had characters pursue the idea of freedom and happiness. George and Lennie pursued freedom when they created a dream where they could own their own farm and sustain themselves. The riveting idea of independence in an era where poverty forced the working class to depend on their bosses for money captured the imagination of many people throughout the novel. However their dream was ended abruptly when George was forced to shoot Lennie and he realized he was no different from the others who came through the ranch with big dreams and he would never be able to afford freedom. None of the characters were able to obtain freedom, revealing the impossibility of achieving the American dream during the 1930’s Depression. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald used the protagonist Nick Carraway to portray the decline of American ideals in the 1920’s. From the beginning of the novel, Nick observed how the interests of people in the East where specifically material, as many of the people he knew were interested only in money and luxury. It was only after Gatsby’s death, Nick truly discovers the declining morals of the East …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, many characters were enchanted by the freedom owning their own property would offer. For example, Candy wanted to join George and Lennie in buying a farmhouse after he heard their conversation. Later on, Crooks also wanted to join them, even though he had strong beliefs about the impossibility of their dream. For the most part, the characters in Steinbeck’s novel believe in the dream and attempt to pursue it throughout the novel, until it was proven impossible. However, in The Great Gatsby, Nick was the only one with honest, traditional morals. The other characters never attempted to pursue the American dream, they only pursued wealth. Even though most of the characters, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, as well as Jay Gatsby, were from the West as well, they did not share the same morals. The different personalities in the novels show slight variances in the theme. For example, Steinbeck painted a picture of the Depression era, where people chased impossible dreams, as opposed to Fitzgerald, who showed a society with corrupted morals during the Roaring
Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck use complex characters in their novels to reveal flaws in the classic idea of the American dream, showcasing the impracticality of the dream in the 1930’s and the corruption of morals in the 1920’s. Both authors had pessimistic views when reflecting on American ideals during their separate era’s. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck had characters pursue the idea of freedom and happiness. George and Lennie pursued freedom when they created a dream where they could own their own farm and sustain themselves. The riveting idea of independence in an era where poverty forced the working class to depend on their bosses for money captured the imagination of many people throughout the novel. However their dream was ended abruptly when George was forced to shoot Lennie and he realized he was no different from the others who came through the ranch with big dreams and he would never be able to afford freedom. None of the characters were able to obtain freedom, revealing the impossibility of achieving the American dream during the 1930’s Depression. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald used the protagonist Nick Carraway to portray the decline of American ideals in the 1920’s. From the beginning of the novel, Nick observed how the interests of people in the East where specifically material, as many of the people he knew were interested only in money and luxury. It was only after Gatsby’s death, Nick truly discovers the declining morals of the East …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, many characters were enchanted by the freedom owning their own property would offer. For example, Candy wanted to join George and Lennie in buying a farmhouse after he heard their conversation. Later on, Crooks also wanted to join them, even though he had strong beliefs about the impossibility of their dream. For the most part, the characters in Steinbeck’s novel believe in the dream and attempt to pursue it throughout the novel, until it was proven impossible. However, in The Great Gatsby, Nick was the only one with honest, traditional morals. The other characters never attempted to pursue the American dream, they only pursued wealth. Even though most of the characters, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, as well as Jay Gatsby, were from the West as well, they did not share the same morals. The different personalities in the novels show slight variances in the theme. For example, Steinbeck painted a picture of the Depression era, where people chased impossible dreams, as opposed to Fitzgerald, who showed a society with corrupted morals during the Roaring