The Great Gatsby and Glengarry Glen Ross - 1116 Words

The American dream, this is what draws the most people to move to America, whether it be legally or illegally. Everyone wants a piece of this dream. To people who look at America this dream means the perfect life. This is one of the similarities concerning the American dream in both The Great Gatsby and Glengarry Glen Ross. Both of these literary works have the American dream as a fundamental theme throughout. The ideas shared in both of these works range from success and freedom to self-creation and failure. These works portray these ideas in two different lights. However, are the ideas that they show truly so different? Success is defined as an accomplishment of an act or purpose. The title character of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby,†¦show more content†¦Ironically soon after Gatsby makes this statement is when he sees how much he has failed to secure his future with Daisy. Another character that experiences failure in The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway. Nick gets into a rel ationship with a professional golfer. The relationship goes well up until Nick realizes that she does not truly care for him, nor had she truly cared for anyone. Not only do these characters experience failure, these failures ultimately cause them to go through the process of self-creation. Gatsby experiences the most self-creation in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby used to be known as James Gatz, a poor soldier who came from the poorest part of town. After the war Gatsby tried to study at Oxford but did not stay for that long. From the time that Gatsby dropped out of Oxford to the time he was killed Gatsby decided to create a new James Gatz. Gatsby decided to participate in organized crime, most specifically bootlegging, to become rich. Gatsby’s plan worked so well that no one saw any indication of his previous life until Nick meets Gatsby’s father, then the truth comes out. Ever since Gatsby was a child he had wanted to improve himself, this is shown when Gatsby drops out o f college because he cannot stand to be working as a janitor to pay his tuition. This is the same sort of self-creation that Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross goes through. While the play or movie for that matter, neverShow MoreRelatedModern Us Drama Midterm Paper2508 Words   |  11 PagesDrama Midterm Paper March 30, 2015 Fucked: Glengarry Glen Ross in 1984, 1992, 2005 and 2012. The year is 1984. Ronald Reagan has just been re-elected by a landslide, including many votes from disaffected liberals. Yuppie culture fuels a high consumption economy. Tom Brokaw is now sole anchor of NBC’s Nightly News. Michael Jackson dominates the Grammys. McDonald’s debuts the McNugget. And Glengarry Glen Ross opens on Broadway. Because Glengarry Glen Ross is so inherently American, it’s hard to believe