Gatsby and Loman's Past and Future

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how Jay Gatsby in "The Great Gatsby" and Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" are both men dreaming of a future, in large part as a reaction to the disappointments of their lives. The paper shows how Jay Gatsby conceals a past he finds inconvenient, although he understands his past and can address it honestly. The paper contrasts this to Willy Loman who tries to recapture a past, but fails because he cannot understand what that past is.

From the Paper:

"Gatsby has all but buried his past, at least to those who see him. The details of his family and his relationship with it are sparse. At the beginning of chapter 6, the first mention is made of "James Gatz of North Dakota" (Fitzgerald, 64) who became Jay Gatsby when he saw a yacht resting in seductive and treacherous shallows in Lake Superior."
"His family were "shiftless and unsuccessful farm people" (Fitzgerald, 65) whom he accepted as his parents only in a bare, reluctant biological sense. In his own conception of himself, he was an invention to which he stayed faithful to his tragic end, scrupulously dedicated to what F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to as "the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty" (Fitzgerald, 65)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Fitzgerald, F. Scott. (1925). The Great Gatsby. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Miller, Arthur. (1949). Death of a Salesman. Hew York, New York: The Viking Press.

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• Analytical Essay # 122893 : "Heroism in "Vanity Fair" and "Past and Present"
• Analytical Essay # 136987 : "Annette Baier on the Rights of Past and Future Persons"

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