Sunset Boulevard vs. The Great Gatsby
What is disillusionment and why is it so significant to American literature? Well, it goes hand in hand with the American dream, which was the concept that you could achieve success and wealth in America by starting fresh. At a first glance this seems ideal. However, as many famous literary works have shown, the American dream is very different from its unfortunate reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby lets its readers into the lives of the 1920’s wealthiest people on the east coast while simultaneously exposing the flaws in this dream. Similarly, Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard delves into the world of the west coast’s wealthy in Hollywood. These two works follow the lives of people as they realize …show more content…
However, they either are pursuing, or looking for insight on this world. Both characters are almost taken in, in a way, by the mysterious wealthy figure in the work. For Nick Carraway, this person is Jay Gatsby, his neighbor who lives in an absurdly large house and throws parties for no apparent reason. Nick moves to New York intrigued by the happiness and luxury he sees there. Once the secrets behind his mysterious wealthy neighbor and the lifestyle surrounding him are revealed, however, the east coast disappoints him. When he sees Tom cheat on his wife, Tom hit his mistress, and Gatsby stuck in love from the past, his perception of the American Dream is disillusioned. For Joe Gillis, an aspiring screen writer, this is mysterious wealthy Norma Desmond, former silent film star. Once poor, desperate for money, and struggling to keep his car, Joe Gillis lands in the grasp of Norma Desmond and her world of Hollywood glitz and glam. What he finds after not very long, is that she is a victim of a Hollywood Dream that once was thriving and prized only to be left, forgotten. He sees a broken woman and how this world effects the human …show more content…
The illusion that the 1920s was simply a time of flappers, jazz, and wealth is a misconception that The Great Gatsby in particular attacks. It shows the reader the luxurious lives of the people of this era and all of the beauty that surrounds them. Then, it exposes the corrupt side of it. For example, the infidelity, the violence, and the crime that it took some to achieve wealth. The title “Under the Red, White, and Blue” that Fitzgerald experimented with shows that this was absolutely a theme of the novel when it was being written. The red, white, ad blue represents America and the illusion that is the American dream. What is under it is was will disillusion the reader. Sunset Boulevard has the same effect on the Hollywood dream. The lives of movie stars and the movie industry seem highly enviable. However, Sunset Boulevard’s struggling screenwriters, wash-out movie stars, and the loneliness and mental dysfunction that are caused by the industry work to disillusion people of the Hollywood
What is disillusionment and why is it so significant to American literature? Well, it goes hand in hand with the American dream, which was the concept that you could achieve success and wealth in America by starting fresh. At a first glance this seems ideal. However, as many famous literary works have shown, the American dream is very different from its unfortunate reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby lets its readers into the lives of the 1920’s wealthiest people on the east coast while simultaneously exposing the flaws in this dream. Similarly, Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard delves into the world of the west coast’s wealthy in Hollywood. These two works follow the lives of people as they realize …show more content…
However, they either are pursuing, or looking for insight on this world. Both characters are almost taken in, in a way, by the mysterious wealthy figure in the work. For Nick Carraway, this person is Jay Gatsby, his neighbor who lives in an absurdly large house and throws parties for no apparent reason. Nick moves to New York intrigued by the happiness and luxury he sees there. Once the secrets behind his mysterious wealthy neighbor and the lifestyle surrounding him are revealed, however, the east coast disappoints him. When he sees Tom cheat on his wife, Tom hit his mistress, and Gatsby stuck in love from the past, his perception of the American Dream is disillusioned. For Joe Gillis, an aspiring screen writer, this is mysterious wealthy Norma Desmond, former silent film star. Once poor, desperate for money, and struggling to keep his car, Joe Gillis lands in the grasp of Norma Desmond and her world of Hollywood glitz and glam. What he finds after not very long, is that she is a victim of a Hollywood Dream that once was thriving and prized only to be left, forgotten. He sees a broken woman and how this world effects the human …show more content…
The illusion that the 1920s was simply a time of flappers, jazz, and wealth is a misconception that The Great Gatsby in particular attacks. It shows the reader the luxurious lives of the people of this era and all of the beauty that surrounds them. Then, it exposes the corrupt side of it. For example, the infidelity, the violence, and the crime that it took some to achieve wealth. The title “Under the Red, White, and Blue” that Fitzgerald experimented with shows that this was absolutely a theme of the novel when it was being written. The red, white, ad blue represents America and the illusion that is the American dream. What is under it is was will disillusion the reader. Sunset Boulevard has the same effect on the Hollywood dream. The lives of movie stars and the movie industry seem highly enviable. However, Sunset Boulevard’s struggling screenwriters, wash-out movie stars, and the loneliness and mental dysfunction that are caused by the industry work to disillusion people of the Hollywood