When Similarity Creates Differences As the great F. Scott Fitzgerald best put it, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function” (source). This is greatly evident in the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his characters Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. The ideas that are presented in “The Great Gatsby” are similar as well as different in many ways to the life F. Scott Fitzgerald had. These similarities and differences can be seen through relationships and inheritable, money, and lifestyle. Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan are to central characters in The Great Gatsby, and both characters are extremely rich. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald lived as if
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Scott Fitzgerald and his characters of “The Great Gatsby” lived are very much alike. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda did their fair share of partying and enjoyed themselves at the beginning of their marriage. As the episode “The American Dreamer” states, “No party was complete without the Fitzgerald’s…They were caught riding on top of a taxi down fifth avenue and dancing on top of tables at the Waldrof Hotel…” (movie from class). The Fitzgerald’s did their fair share of partying and they did not let the world stop them. Zelda was queen of the flappers and was “The Girl.” This can be paralleled to Daisy Buchanan and the idea that people had of her. This can be seen when Nick states “…It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down…her face was lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion…” (Fitzgerald 9). From this quote it can be gathered what Nick as well as other men thought of Daisy Buchanan. This is similar to what people thought about Zelda Sayre. This is an evident parallel between Fitzgerald’s wife and his character Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Zelda both had good energy and they both lived similar lifesyles Also Daisy and Zelda were both flappers and both came from money. A big difference is that Daisy married within her wealth and Zelda married F. Scott Fitzgerald, a considerably poorer man than Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. Partying and drinking is a prevalent theme in “The Great Gatsby.” Trough Nicks observations, the party is described as “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights… girls came and went… I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft…” (Fitzgerald 39). Gatsby did not just have small parties with minimal guests. He would throw a party and it seems like the entire Long Island Sound attended the parties. This is a theme
Scott Fitzgerald and his characters of “The Great Gatsby” lived are very much alike. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda did their fair share of partying and enjoyed themselves at the beginning of their marriage. As the episode “The American Dreamer” states, “No party was complete without the Fitzgerald’s…They were caught riding on top of a taxi down fifth avenue and dancing on top of tables at the Waldrof Hotel…” (movie from class). The Fitzgerald’s did their fair share of partying and they did not let the world stop them. Zelda was queen of the flappers and was “The Girl.” This can be paralleled to Daisy Buchanan and the idea that people had of her. This can be seen when Nick states “…It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down…her face was lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion…” (Fitzgerald 9). From this quote it can be gathered what Nick as well as other men thought of Daisy Buchanan. This is similar to what people thought about Zelda Sayre. This is an evident parallel between Fitzgerald’s wife and his character Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Zelda both had good energy and they both lived similar lifesyles Also Daisy and Zelda were both flappers and both came from money. A big difference is that Daisy married within her wealth and Zelda married F. Scott Fitzgerald, a considerably poorer man than Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. Partying and drinking is a prevalent theme in “The Great Gatsby.” Trough Nicks observations, the party is described as “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights… girls came and went… I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft…” (Fitzgerald 39). Gatsby did not just have small parties with minimal guests. He would throw a party and it seems like the entire Long Island Sound attended the parties. This is a theme