With life comes failure, it is expected for humans to makes mistakes and be unsuccessful. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman there are several characters that face failure. Their failures are based on their actions and it is the response of the characters that create a tragic story.
The characters fail at facing reality and accepting change which affect their way of thinking. One could understand that the final outcome of the two novels is due to the way the characters face his or her own failures.
Failure The Great Gatsby Death of a Salesman
The characters rely on others for happiness, because they did not deal with their failures properly. Gatsby relies on Daisy and his perfect image of her to make him happy.
He believes she is the only thing that can make him happy since she is his first love, but losing her was his failure. When Gatsby briefly achieves his dreams of being with Daisy it vanishes because his expectations were too high and she could not meet them. In the hotel Daisy admits she loves both Gatsby and Tom, but once she discovers Gatsby has become successful through illegal activities she stays with Tom because he is well established. In the end Gatsby finally accepts reality where he cannot have Daisy for himself.
Willy relies on additional mental affairsto make him happy because in his past memories he was somewhat successful. In the past Willy has two sons that have the potential to become successful, which gave him hope for his American Dream of success and notoriety.
The Essay on The American Dream Gatsby Fitzgerald Character
The American Dream in American Literature Working hard is the key to success. This struggle for success is most commonly called the "American Dream." The aspect of the American Dream has been around forever and is often the underlying theme in many pieces of American literature. The theme of the American is especially presented in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by F. ...
The past is also where his sons respected and looked up to him Willy often retreats to the past, because he does not want to deal with his failures in the present. Once Willy finally owns up to his mistakes he fixes the problem by committing suicide, because his family can get insurance money from his death. Their reliability on others for happiness, contributes to them creating a false reality. Lives with illusions and a false reality.
When Jay Gatsby was younger he was known as James Gatz he reinvented himself because he believed he was capable of great things. Although Gatsby is successful his whole life is a complete lie, an illusion because he denies his past.
Eventually Gatsby buys into his false reality that he has created and believes he was always been Gatsby. His success is motivated by his desire to be with Daisy and convince her that he is good enough. Gatsby gets involved with illegal activities like bootlegging to become wealth and provide for Daisy. This quest to win Daisy over is also a romantic illusion because he tries to recreate a past that is irretrievable. Willy Loman criticized his life through his brother Ben’s success and models his life after him.
Ben’s fortune is what he desires for himself and his family. Ben influences Willy’s life because he believes a person will become successful through good looks, charm and being well liked. He forces these values on Biff. In the present Willy creates a false reality where he is well liked and a successful businessman to help him cope with his failures. When the characters create a false reality they are unable to accept change. Inability to accept change.
Gatsby cannot accept that Daisy has moved on with her life and is married to another man. Gatsby lives in the past and is in love with a girl of the past, he cannot accept reality where Daisy is not with him.
Example: When Nick Carraway observes Gatsby and his motives, he insists that Gatsby cannot repeat the past, but Gatsby thinks he can by fixing the present. Too much has changed since Gatsby’s past; Daisy is older, has a husband, daughter and Gatsby has changed himself. He expects too much of Daisy and does not acknowledge the importance of Daisy’s experiences during their time apart. He believes his life with Daisy should pick up where it has left off.
The Essay on The Great Gatsby: Daisy And Myrtle
After first glancing at The Great Gatsby, it didn't seem as if any similarities between the wealthy, dainty Daisy Buchanan, the object of Gatsby's worship, and Myrtle Wilson, the bawdy, mechanic's wife who was having an affair with Daisy's husband. In fact, it was felt that there was no comparison at all, because I felt that other than sharing an abhorable man, there was nothing else to look at. ...
Willy cannot accept the fact that he is a mediocre salesman and has too much pride by believing he can be successful on his own. When his wife Linda insists for him to ask his boss to work in New York so he can stop travelling, he does not want to because he believes he is vital in New England which gives him a sense of worth. Willy Loman not being able to accept change contributes to the reason why he does not take responsibility and blames his failures on everyone else.
Conclusion: End result is because the way they dealt with failures
