Name Course Instructor 10th November 2012

Comparative essay on destructive nature of dreams in the Great Gatsby and American Gangster

Great Gatsby a novel by famous American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald is a love story set in the period of 1920s. It was known as the Jazz period. The novel provides a remarkable depiction of Jazz age with its shallow values and superficial life. America has been known as a land of unlimited opportunities for everyone. American society shares a common goal of attainment of wealth, freedom and prosperity. This is an American Dream of almost every individual of an American society. Fitzgerald takes the readers on a journey to describe the American dream in the corrupted society of 1920s. In the society of that time money and lust for power gained central importance. People thought that money could buy everything for them from material things to happiness. The story of The Great Gatsby involves the two main characters Daisy and Jay Gatsby. The whole scenario presented in the novel, depicts the destructive nature of American Dream. It shows how societys moral and ethical values collapse in an attempt to gain an American dream. The characters of Daisy, Gatsby and Daisys husband Tom Buchanan takes the American dream to a level of destruction and extravagance. Nick Carraway acts as a spectator and narrator of whatever goes on in the life of Daisy and Gatsby. Daisy is the character who is in search of American dream though she already possess wealth, a husband, love and family. She wanted something more than the wealth and luxurious

material life. She wants to uphold her image of beautiful little fool, to hide her selfishness under disguise of innocence. The character of Gatsby is deeply analyzed by Nick. He sees the inside of Gatsby beyond his deceptive outward pretense. Gatsby fought in the war and Daisy was his girlfriend whom he loved dearly. While he was away at war, Daisy married a rich and wealthy but cruel man,Tom Buchanan. He too was having an affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. Gatsby somehow gained the wealth and riches through illegal means in an attempt to get Daisy back. He wants to attain his dream of getting Daisy back by using all means whether legal or illegal. His greatest dream was to win back Daisy from Tom for which he did all the efforts. The whole melodrama is depiction of shallow dreams and shallow lives in which true emotions have no place. One day daisy was driving Gatsbys car, runs over and kill Toms mistress Myrtle. Myrtle husband in turn traces the owner of the car and kill Gatsby, who remain quite to protect his love. The dream of getting Daisy back proved destructive for Gatsby. It instigated corruption and immorality in his thoughts and vision. He wanted to have her through all means whether moral or immoral. It destroyed him at spiritual, mental and physical level. It has truly explored the destructive nature of an American dream as it existed in the corrupt period, in which illusion seemed more real than the reality. The American Gangster produced by Riddley Scott and Brian Grazer is also no exception to the theme of destructive nature of dreams. It depicts the destructive dream to gain power and wealth in the material world, by using every possible means. Like the character of Gatsby in Great Gatsby, the story of American Gangster revolves around the life of Frank Lucas, who plays a hero of the crime world in 1970s. Lucas was an unknown driver to one of the black crime bosses

of the inner world. This is in comparison to the Gatsby prewar life. Suddenly, his boss dies opening a gateway into the crime world, where he build his own empire of power and he constructs his own destructive American Dream. By following a strict business ethics and ingenuity, he was able to rule the world of drug trade. He flooded the streets with the pure drugs at comparatively cheaper rates. Lucas was able to take over the drug trade business becoming a don of the inner world of crime and corruption. In parallel to the life of Lucas is Richie Roberts, a cop, kept a close watch of the drug trade of the inner world. Robert had all the information about the mafia families but he started to suspect that some power player who came from nowhere has dominated them. Roberts and Lucas, both had one thing in common, that is they were true to their ethics and this quality sets them apart from their colleagues in their fields. They both were on the opposite ends of the law. The film comes to an end by showing Richie successfully prosecuting the lord of drugs, Lucas in court room. Lucas turned an informer which helped him in getting reduced sentence. After that Richie and Lucan meet each other after release of Lucas in 1991 from prison. Both the Novel The Great Gatsbyand the movie American Gangster, share a common theme of destructive nature of the dream. The characters of Gatsby in the Great Gatsby and the character of Lucas in American Gangster came from almost the same low level backgrounds. They wanted to gain something in life, something which denotes power and wealth. Gatsby gets this way by using all the means to gain power and wealth to win Daisy from Tom which was his ultimate dream. He gained all that by trading his values and morality. He did not value anything but just wealth and material gains. Similarly Lucas wanted to take over the drug trade. His lust to become don of the inner black trade landed him nowhere. The plague he brought along with addiction, money and corruption ate his family as well. But he did not care. This is a height of a

destructive dream which he envisioned. It reflects the grim reality of a destructive dream envisioned by Lucas in the film. In both the characters of Gatsby and that of Lucas there is some innate natural emotions present which negate their destructive dream. In case of Gatsby his love for Daisy was pure, but he used unethical and improper ways to gain that love. He placed his morality and values at stake which lead him towards his fate. Lucas in the end turns to be an evidence and helps in convicting a large number of offenders and recovering huge amounts of money from them. This shows that despite the destructive part of his nature he has some innate morality in his character lost somewhere inside him. The novel and the film both depict the destructive dream of gaining wealth, power and supremacy to gain an influential place in the world. they clearly demonstrate the decline of moral values, ethical values and decline of the pure ideals which have been replaced by money , lust and materialism.They both are embodiment of a conflict between the illusion and reality which is at heart of the American life .

Works cited American Gangster. Filmicafe.com, n.d. Web. 10th November. 2012. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." 123HelpMe.com, n.d. Web. 10th November. 2012. Fitzgerald,F.S. The Great Gatsby. NuVision Publications, LLC, 30-Nov-2008. Web. 10th November. 2012 Parril,W.B. Ridley Scott: A critical filmiography.McFarland & Company, Inc,2011. Web. 10th November.2012. The Great Gatsby. Ukessays.com,n.d. Web. 10th November.2012.