Similarities Between The Wasteland And The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, with the comparative themes of The Wasteland, by T.S. Eliot, comments on the foundation of which American lifestyle is built on, consumerism and modernism. Following World War One, American culture dove into the industrial and brand new age of the “roaring twenties,” which both Eliot and Fitzgerald incorporate into their literature. This time period, in history, allowed for the economic and social growth of American culture; however, Eliot, with The Wasteland, further discusses how this post-war lifestyle actually moved the citizens of the time to a corrupt, and almost systematic way of living. Eliot alludes to different religious, and historical references to compare the American lifestyle, and the …show more content…
Aspects of the poem are incorporated into the smallest components of the characters, such as the way Jay Gatsby develops throughout the story with conflicting dreams of money, class, and love. In the end, Fitzgerald incorporates this determined aspect of Gatsby to find his grail, Daisy, to, parallel to The Wasteland, criticize the modern and post-war world that Americans have established. Fitzgerald’s depiction of Gatsby’s reckless manner to achieve this intangible goal of Daisy, money, and class, exposes the moral issues associated with the first-class lifestyle in the modern era, which is molded by the references of the Grail legend, and the treatment of women in The …show more content…
In Death by Water in The Wasteland, Eliot describes a voyage of Phlebas the Phoenician, and says, “Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss” (313). Phlebus is seen ignoring clear signs by the ocean, and the seagulls around, which ultimately led to his death by water. Gatsby follows this sort of lifestyle which Phlebus lived, in which Gatsby is blinded by this goal of achieving Daisy and class. Connecting to the signs of the ocean, Gatsby ignores his past with the description of Fitzgerald which says, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (98). Gatsby had a view for the way he wanted to live, encapsulated by the name Jay Gatsby. This version of James Gatz sets his goals, and always achieves what he wants; however, Gatsby does not realize the corruptness of society, which Fitzgerald integrates into the story. Showing the emphasis of the wealth and class of this time is when Fitzgerald includes the scene in the town when Tom says, “You two start on home, Daisy, [...] In Mr. Gatsby’s car” (135). Throughout, Gatsby attempts to win Daisy over Tom, but ignores the clear signs that he had since the beginning. Fitzgerald uses Tom to demonstrate how, although Gatsby and Daisy did love each other, in the end, Gatsby will never be able to provide the security
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