The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller share its set of similarities and differences. Both stories detail the slow downfall of the protagonist.
Both stories also include the elements of secrecy and hiding things from others. The multiple philanderers between the two stories suffer with distraught after attempting to hide their affairs, creating difficult situations for them. The books are different in that the problems faced by the protagonists are different, but in the end the two become highly unsatisfied with the course of their lives and makes drastic, illogical decisions.In the Great Gatsby, the opulent Jay Gatsby expresses a deep interest in the married Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby poses his interest to her cousin, Nick Carraway in hopes of getting closer to Daisy.
As Gatsby makes progress towards persuading Daisy, they rekindle and old fire of their past relationship. As daisy has an affair with Gatsby, little does she know of her husband, Tom Buchanan, and his affair with Myrtle Wilson. As the unfaithful couple cheats, they become closer and closer to their lovers, and drift farther apart from their own marriage.Tom and Daisy spend less and less time together, in order to have more time with Gatsby or Myrtle. This predictably causes a sense of unrest between the two, as they become more bitter towards each other. As the situation becomes more serious, secrets begin to emerge.
Tom discovers his wife's affair with Gatsby, Myrtle's husband, George Wilson discovers his wife is unfaithful. When Tom informs George whom he thought was driving the vehicle that killed Myrtle, George sought revenge. Wilson shot Gatsby, directly before shooting himself. Gatsby's involvement in Daisy directly relates to the chain of events that lead to his death.Had he not been involved with Daisy, they wouldn't have been driving in the car together that night of Myrtle's death. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is an aged man who no longer makes an adequate living for his family.
Committed to the American dream, Willy believes that he will be able to make money due to his selling ability and "contacts". In reality though, no business is willing to offer him a job. Willy Loman gradually loses his mind throughout the story, attempting to kill himself several times, and hallucinating, seeing deceased friends and family in his imagination.Willy has a troubled relationship with his family, especially his sons Biff and Happy, both of which are jobless and unsuccessful.
Willy implores the two to seek work and do something with their lives. Willy and Biff's agitated relationship began when Biff discovered his father having an affair. From that point on, there was always a disturbance between the two. Had Willy not been unfaithful, his relationship with his son could have potentially ended up better. This rocky bond between them caused Willy to become depressed and eventually made him lose his ability to work.Willy ultimately killed himself due to the fact that his uneasy relationships with friends, family, and business partners drove him insane and suicidal.
The main difference in the two stories is the contrast in class between the two protagonists. Gatsby, being a wealthy, lavish man living a luxurious life, versus Willy Loman's struggle to put food on the table. The two men also desire different things, where Gatsby seeks the woman of his dreams, whereas Willy looks for wealth and business. The fact that they both desire something so deeply, that it indirectly, killed them both, teaches a very important lesson.
Regardless of social class, wealth, or status, one always has the potential to have a great downfall. The two stories, The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman both teach critically important lessons. Although the scope of the story is slightly different, they have their similarities somewhere along the story line. Even with the major differences of character and situation, they both converge to teach an even better (aforementioned) lesson. It's vital that one realizes the causes and effects in this series of events that eventually caused a tragic death for both protagonists.
