Essay about The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises

Americans in the 1920s were fresh off of World War I and freshly into the Prohibition Era. The American Dream was well defined- a life of wealth, comfort, and exuberance. After a World War I victory, the Dream was thought to be in the near future for every American. The country was seen as a world superpower, wealthy after the devastation of a war fought entirely overseas and brimming with hope and possibility- at least on the surface. Despite the highs experienced by much of the country, it wasnt without its problems. Crime violence was benevolently running the streets and the Speakeasies beyond the reach of full Prohibition, the world was being set-up for The Great Depression, and America was brimming with members of the Lost†¦show more content†¦Because of this injury, Jake cannot be with the woman he loves- and this plot line serves as a catalyst for the larger and far more important theme about the American Dream - and chasing everything desired, but never truly being a ble to achieve these dreams to satiation. Hemingway portrays the Dream as both an overarching theme of the novel, but also shows us its failures and quirks through more minor means. Gender dynamics are broken and often swapped between characters- the protagonist, Jake Barnes, is unable to have sex or reproduce, putting him in a more effeminate role as a man who must remain celibate for the remainder of his life. To juxtapose this lack of masculine identity, Hemingway even places Jake opposite Lady Brett Ashley (Jakes love interest throughout the novel) who self-proclaims herself one of the chaps. She oftens exhibits what has traditionally been considered masculine behavior. Brett has a rebellious wild streak, smokes and drinks, lacks any religion or fully-formed moral beliefs. Shes promiscuous and soon to be a divorcee. Brett seems to emasculate many of the men around her; both because of her self-confident, almost aggressive mannerisms and because of her ability to collect and thro w away men at her slightest whim. Lady Brett is everything (or at least many aspects) of what Jake might have been- the strong, self-assured and self-satisfied macho man who believes everything is someShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby Compared to The Sun Also Rises793 Words   |  3 Pagesthey have left is wild and free lifestyle and love. Author also did not leave out the meaningless relationships to the society and conventions. One of the main characters, Jay Gatsby, a mysterious, wealthy man living in luxurious mansion in Long Island, throwing parties almost every weekend for people he doesn’t even know – â€Å"This is an unusual party for me. I haven’t even seen the host.† sais one of the quest to Gatsby, the host. Gatsby is a perfect example of careless lifestyle. But these partiesRead MoreGender Roles In The Great Gatsby And The Sun Also Rises1657 Words   |  7 Pagescommon concepts that helps further the plot, also known as a theme. When reading all the literary works In all the literary works assigned to us in class, each having a different author, expresses a common theme.The authors force us to examine the limitation of conventional gender roles and how they express this in each story. The literary works that specifically include this theme of gender roles are,The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway , The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes WereRead MoreTh e Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald And The Sun Also Rises1061 Words   |  5 Pages† the value of materialism is used in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, to illustrate how collecting or consuming an excess is used in attempts to stave off regret. Characters in both novels show how far Americans take this, and help to perpetuate Kohls’ ideas regarding self-indulgence and its effect on people and their relations with others. In The Great Gatsby, the character of Jay Gatsby acts a great example of American acquisitiveness, dueRead More Comparing Barnes of The Sun Also Rises and Caraway of The Great Gatsby1531 Words   |  7 PagesSimilarities Between Barnes of The Sun Also Rises and Caraway of The Great Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Supported by Ten Quotes from   Sun Also Rises, No quotes from Gatsby  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jacob Barnes shares a personality quirk with Nick Caraway; both want to give the impression of being decent, honest men forced to endure the corruption and pettiness of those around them. â€Å"Whats not clear through most of The Sun Also Rises is whether or not Jake believes his own press†(Trilling, 34). Nick Caraway speaks openly of hisRead MoreLiterature And Art : The Sun Also Rises, The Great Gatsby, And Night1502 Words   |  7 Pagesreader or the observer to understand that the characters and the story they wrote or drew was based on their perspective of the era when their written books or painting. In this essay I will be talking about the events in literature (The Sun Also Rises, The Great Gatsby, and Night) and art (The Scream, and The Persistence of Memory). I will be showing you example indication what event which books and art came from by showing you quotes or explaining how it related to what event. The first piece of literatureRead More A Comparison of Biographic Features in The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby2532 Words   |  11 PagesA Comparison of Biographic Features in The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby The writers F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway included biographical information in their novels The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises that illuminated the meaning of the work. Although The Sun Also Rises is more closely related to actual events in Hemingways life than The Great Gatsby was to events in Fitzgeralds life, they both take the same approach. They both make use of non-judgemental narratorsRead More Parallels Between The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald 1064 Words   |  5 PagesParallels Between The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the decade of the 1920s, America was going through many changes, evolving from the Victorian Period to the Jazz Age. Changing with the times, the young adults of the 1920s were considered the Lost Generation. The Great War was over in 1918. Men who returned from the war had the scars of war imprinted in their minds. The eighteenth amendment was ratified in 1919 which prohibitedRead More Comparing Daisy Buchanan of The Great Gatsby and Brett of The Sun Also Rises2630 Words   |  11 PagesDaisy Buchanan of The Great Gatsby and Brett Ashley of The Sun Also Rises      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Written right after the publication of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is apparently influenced in many ways.   The most obvious of Fitzgeralds influence is manifested in Hemingways portrayal of his heroine, Brett Ashley. Numerous critics have noted and discussed the similarities between Brett and Daisy Buchanan, and rightly so; but the two women also have fundamental differencesRead MoreThe Great Gatsby Modernism1513 Words   |  7 Pageswords, the pursuit of happiness. Two writers that illustrate this theme of modernism are F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Ernest Hemingway, author of The Sun Also Rises. From the outside, one may think The Great Gatsby is a tragic love story. However, its overall theme is more about The American Dream and how people are unable to obtain it. The Great Gatsby took place in the 1920s, a time in which America’s economy was booming. At the same time prohibition that created an undergroundRead MoreEssay on With the setting of the sun1266 Words   |  6 PagesWith the setting of the sun In F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel, The Great Gatsby, there is a constant feeling of movement and the desire to get away. Nick, Gatsby, Wilson, Tom and Daisy all move, or have the intention of moving. Not only does this movement seem to foreshadow events in the book, but it also seems to lead to the conclusion that society as a whole in the 1920s was rather unstable and was undergoing constant change. Not all the characters move in the same way, and this shows how