Comparing the Great Gatsby and American Beauty - 1954 Words

Set in the summer of the Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby follows the hedonistic and destructive lifestyles of the upper social classes of post-war America. This novel, written by F Scott Fitzgerald in the same time period, criticizes the shallowness of the actions of this outlandish generation and their eventual disillusionment with their society. American Beauty, the 1999 film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan ball, uses the setting of contemporary middle-class suburban America to examine the differences between the inner and outer realities of a â€Å"typical† American Beauty are obvious in connection between Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Mendes’ American Beauty are obvious in the themes, plots and the actions of the†¦show more content†¦The colossal dream that Gatsby builds up and holds onto eventually becomes his downfall and is the most prominent illustration of the failure of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. Although it is the repercussions of their deceptive fantasies that Gatsby and Lester fall victim to, it was their continued search for love that leads them to these. Love is the principal value in The Great Gatsby and is illustrated best by the contrast of Gatsby’s idealized romantic love for Daisy with Daisy’s â€Å"love† for wealth and status, a love which is common to the majority of their irresponsible society. F Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes Gatsby’s â€Å"romantic readiness† through this contrast as well as Gatsby’s fall from grace that results in him becoming lost in â€Å"the colossal vitality of his illusions† (pg. 92). Daisy characterizes the power of a love of money in the Great Gatsby and is used by Fitzgerald in condemning Gatsby’s hedonistic society as well as his own. However it is the absence of love –rather than the presence- that is most prominent in AmericanShow MoreRelated F. 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