Paper Summary:

The paper outlines how "The Great Gatsby" is a story of a failed attempt to live the American Dream. The paper focuses on the theme that ugly untruths exist behind the surface of beauty; Daisy and Tom seem like a lovely couple, but Tom is a crass adulterer and Daisy marries Tom for his money, and Gatsby loves the image of Daisy more than the real woman. The paper also demonstrates how both Daisy and Gatsby continually mistake things for feelings. The paper also discusses Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises" and how the novel is about a lack of belief, and a fruitless search for meaning in life. The paper also focuses on the theme of masculine vulnerability that is a result of war.

Outline
The Great Gatsby: Themes and Characterization
The Sun Also Rises: Themes and Characterization

From the Paper:

"One of the dominant themes of Gatsby is that ugly untruths exist behind the surface of beauty. Daisy and Tom seem like a lovely couple, but Tom is a crass adulterer and Daisy marries Tom for his money, and stays with him for the social cache he provides her. Gatsby's wealth is a less dangerous lie because people can see through it--everyone knows he is a bootlegger, and no one takes his pretentions seriously except for Nick Caraway, the narrator who becomes enamored with Gatsby, even though he should know better, given his own higher social status. Daisy herself is a lie--Gatsby sees her as pure, and protects her honor by taking a 'fall' for her when she runs over Myrtle, Tom's lover. He claims he was in the driver's seat. But after Gatsby commits suicide, Daisy does not seem scarred for life, and fairly quickly and easily moves past her unpleasant memories."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. May 11, 2009.http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/
• Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 2006.

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