The Great Gatsby Comparative Analysis

The novel Of Mice and Men has many parallels to the novel The Great Gatsby. These parallels may be discrete or relatively blatant. For reference, these books were written roughly ten years apart, with Of Mice and Men in 1936 and The Great Gatsby in 1925. Despite this age gap, both books discuss man’s search for relevance in a materialistic world. The first parallel is blatant and easily discovered. It is that both George and Lennie, as well as Gatsby in his respective novel, are in search of relevance and to be noticed. George and Lennie have made it their live’s mission to own a small farm with rabbits and to “live off of the fat of the land.” These two men are in search of the money and funds, unlike Gatsby. On the other hand, Gatsby is seeking his relevance and recognition through the means of love. Gatsby essentially estranged himself from any other normal human while on his quest to recapture Daisy’s love. This headstrong stubbornness would eventually lead to his demise. The second more discrete parallel is both George and Gatsby’s desire to feel wanted. George had his desire of wantedness fulfilled with Lennie, whom he despised, but whom he …show more content…
In Of Mice And Men, George is forced to end Lennie’s life, in order to keep Curley from making him suffer. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s life is taken by George Wilson, whose wife was hit by Gatsby’s car. These deaths both remove a major protagonist from the novel, and change the entire tone of the novel. After George was forced to execute Lennie, he no longer had any drive to continue work and buy his own land. Even though Lennie was a constant pain for George, he was still his best friend. In Gatsby’s novel, Gatsby’s demise was brought upon by Daisy, as she had been driving the car. Out of Gatsby’s sheer stubbornness he took the blame and hid the car. When George Wilson discovered that his wife had been hit by Gatsby’s car, he immediately had Gatsby in his