The phrase “Pursuit of Happiness” has been around as long as our country. It became one of the three unalienable rights listed in the Declaration of Independence. The Pursuit of Happiness is commonplace in everyone’s lives, and has frequently been displayed in American literature. Every single person pursues their own sense of happiness, whether it may be the typical “American Dream,” or even as simple as getting out of poverty. Happiness is the goal everyone strives to achieve.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an exemplary example of American literature in which the characters are caught up in the Pursuit of Happiness. Jay Gatsby wants to rekindle his former romance with Daisy Buchanan, and he is insistent on reliving the past. No …show more content…
Both Tom and his wife are very greedy characters. Her reaction, as described by Irving, is as follows: “All her avarice was awakened at the mention of hidden gold, and she urged her husband to comply with the black man’s terms” (327). Tom’s wife eventually became so greedy that she tried to make the deal with the Devil herself, who disappeared. Tom finally makes the deal with the Devil: the former’s soul for riches. Washington Irving uses this story as a way to show the great lengths people may go to achieve happiness, much like Fitzgerald’s The Great …show more content…
The two protagonists, George and Lennie, are homeless and poor. George is lean and intelligent, whereas Lennie is large and strong, as well as being mentally handicapped. This handicap often gets the pair in trouble, and they’re constantly moving throughout the country, working on ranches. Their idea of happiness is much different from that of the characters in The Great Gatsby or even the characters in “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The duo simply wants to own their own property. “‘We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’” (49), George says. In this quote, Steinbeck starts to build on the idea of their hope for a better life, on the hope of happiness in their lives. Steinbeck continues to establish their Pursuit of Happiness with George telling Lennie, “Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs’” (49). Steinbeck uses these characters to show, like in the other two stories, shows what people will do for their own sense of happiness. In Of Mice and Men, the characters constantly persist and refuse to give up, even as they have to hide from the law in some
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an exemplary example of American literature in which the characters are caught up in the Pursuit of Happiness. Jay Gatsby wants to rekindle his former romance with Daisy Buchanan, and he is insistent on reliving the past. No …show more content…
Both Tom and his wife are very greedy characters. Her reaction, as described by Irving, is as follows: “All her avarice was awakened at the mention of hidden gold, and she urged her husband to comply with the black man’s terms” (327). Tom’s wife eventually became so greedy that she tried to make the deal with the Devil herself, who disappeared. Tom finally makes the deal with the Devil: the former’s soul for riches. Washington Irving uses this story as a way to show the great lengths people may go to achieve happiness, much like Fitzgerald’s The Great …show more content…
The two protagonists, George and Lennie, are homeless and poor. George is lean and intelligent, whereas Lennie is large and strong, as well as being mentally handicapped. This handicap often gets the pair in trouble, and they’re constantly moving throughout the country, working on ranches. Their idea of happiness is much different from that of the characters in The Great Gatsby or even the characters in “The Devil and Tom Walker.” The duo simply wants to own their own property. “‘We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’” (49), George says. In this quote, Steinbeck starts to build on the idea of their hope for a better life, on the hope of happiness in their lives. Steinbeck continues to establish their Pursuit of Happiness with George telling Lennie, “Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs’” (49). Steinbeck uses these characters to show, like in the other two stories, shows what people will do for their own sense of happiness. In Of Mice and Men, the characters constantly persist and refuse to give up, even as they have to hide from the law in some