Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Great Gatsby And The Catcher In The Rye Analysis

The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920s while The Catcher in the Rye is set in the 1950s. Despite the time periods being 30 years apart, both novels depict the American Dream in similar ways through the protagonist. The Great Gatsby follows the story of young man, Jay Gatsby, trying to win back his former love interest, Daisy, through his acquisition of wealth. The Catcher in the Rye is narrated by a male teenager, Holden Caulfield, and follows the story of how he ended up in a mental hospital. The concept of the American Dream is displayed in each novel. The authors of The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye use the American Dream to motivate the protagonist to try and achieve unattainable dreams. However, only Holden realizes his dream†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"‘I think he [Gatsby] half expected her [Daisy] to wander into one of his parties, some night,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Chapter 4). Yet, no matter what Gatsby does, his American Dream is unattainable, because Daisy ch ooses her husband, Tom Buchanan, over Gatsby. â€Å"Her [Daisy] frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage, she had had, were definitely gone† (Chapter 7). The protagonist from The Great Gatsby desires something he cannot obtain, similar to the protagonist from The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield. Holden’s American Dream is to preserve children’s innocence, and this dream motivates Holden to rub out the curse words written on the walls of his little sister’s, Phoebe, school. In Chapter 25, the text states: Somebody’d written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them†¦.But I rubbed it out anyway, finally. This quote shows how Holden believes the curse word, fuck, will taint his sister and other childrens innocence. Holden describes their innocence as not knowing what the word means until another kid tells them what the curse word means, which signifies the tainting of their innocence. Holden does not want his sister and the other children to lose their innocence.This motivates Holden to rub out the â€Å"Fuck you† on the wall. Therefore, the kids will never see it and still retain theirShow MoreRelatedCatcher In The Rye And The Great Gatsby Analysis1122 Words   |  5 Pages The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald both have Characters who are phonies. Holden Caulfield complains about everyone and everything and he hides his real emotions so no one can see who he really is and get close to him. Jay Gatsby lies about his past to be with Daisy , leaving everyone in his past behind. 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