Andrew Comer 3
Andrew Comer 3/28/14
Research Paper
Reality, not unlike time, is a man-made construct. Each person has their own personal illusion of the real world and the American Dream. The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman are two books that exemplify the desperation and lies that surround the American Dream. One is about a man who desperately wants to turn back time and right his wrongs and the other is about a man who is in denial about the present and constantly lives in the past. By examining the notion of lies, despair, and illusion in both stories, one can demonstrate how self-glorification acts as a defense mechanism for one’s inability to adapt to the modern world
Despair is the heaviest burden a man can bear. It will weigh you down until certain death seems the only route of escape. In The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, this is the inevitable end to the stories, albeit in two different ways. In Willy’s case it was suicide; in Gatsby’s case it was death at the hands of blind and scorned widower. Nevertheless, in both cases the two men were individuals who were filled with ambition, a frequent resident of the past, but blind to their reality. As they desperately try to fix their lives into the story they always wanted to no avail, all they can do is dream about what could have been. As Fitzgerald writes, “It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment” (104). This quote uses the notion of illusion covering up our reality to great lengths. Using phrases such as “expended your own powers of adjustment”, Fitzgerald conveys to the reader that we can’t change the past and that as a society don’t recognize when our world is crumbling because we are still caught up in the illusion that we are living in this perfect world; and that we can’t accept the harshness of the reality surrounding the illusion. But, using other words such as “new eyes”, Fitzgerald tells the reader that an
Research Paper
Reality, not unlike time, is a man-made construct. Each person has their own personal illusion of the real world and the American Dream. The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman are two books that exemplify the desperation and lies that surround the American Dream. One is about a man who desperately wants to turn back time and right his wrongs and the other is about a man who is in denial about the present and constantly lives in the past. By examining the notion of lies, despair, and illusion in both stories, one can demonstrate how self-glorification acts as a defense mechanism for one’s inability to adapt to the modern world
Despair is the heaviest burden a man can bear. It will weigh you down until certain death seems the only route of escape. In The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, this is the inevitable end to the stories, albeit in two different ways. In Willy’s case it was suicide; in Gatsby’s case it was death at the hands of blind and scorned widower. Nevertheless, in both cases the two men were individuals who were filled with ambition, a frequent resident of the past, but blind to their reality. As they desperately try to fix their lives into the story they always wanted to no avail, all they can do is dream about what could have been. As Fitzgerald writes, “It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment” (104). This quote uses the notion of illusion covering up our reality to great lengths. Using phrases such as “expended your own powers of adjustment”, Fitzgerald conveys to the reader that we can’t change the past and that as a society don’t recognize when our world is crumbling because we are still caught up in the illusion that we are living in this perfect world; and that we can’t accept the harshness of the reality surrounding the illusion. But, using other words such as “new eyes”, Fitzgerald tells the reader that an