Similarities Between American Beauty And The Great Gatsby

Anyone can succeed through hard work and persistence. That was the original American Dream, and that notion has somewhat been at the heart of American culture through history. However, composers F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of 'The Great Gatsby ' (1926), and Sam Mendes, director of the movie 'American Beauty ' (1999), explain in their texts that the pursuit of the American Dream is futile. In addition, Fitzgerald shows that subscribing to it leads to irresponsibility and a lack of morals, and doesn 't make you happy. Mendes shows that it brings about superficiality and an unrealistic expectation of self. They do this through characterisation, metaphors and various linguistic and (in Mendes ' case) audio visual techniques. Both texts are set
However through the use of extended metaphor, Fitzgerald makes out these characters to be irresponsible towards others. The car is the symbol of the times, owned mainly by the upper classes due to their cost. On being told she was a careless driver Jordan, a wealthy girl from old money, remarks; _"Well other people are…They 'll keep out of my way…It takes two to make an accident"_, metaphorical of the West Eggers ' attitude to life. The irresponsibility of Tom and Daisy who were born into the Dream 's fulfilment and _"smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…"_ combined with the delusion and persistence of Gatsby, who tried to attain the Dream, was indeed a clash of two bad drivers, a 'car-wreck ' which ended up killing both Myrtle and
It is said to be pretty on the outside, yet rots quickly on the inside and breaks on the touch. Mendes places the rose prominently throughout the movie, notably as the title, in Carolyn 's garden and predominantly in and around the Lester 's affair with Angela. By placing the rose here, Mendes shows that although Lester thinks that having Angela may appear to be good for him, it is actually destructive for both of them and everyone around them. More importantly he draws parallels to the households of American suburbia, who appear to have realized the American Dream, yet like the Fitts ' and the Burnham 's are riddled with broken