The Great Gatsby as a literary work

The Great Gatsby

To start this discussion about the Great Gatsby it’s necessary to first define the meaning of literary work. I consider a written piece to be a literary work if it has a plot, a setting, characterization and a theme; it also need to be written with a purpose, a meaning and with a point of view.

I believe that The Great Gatsby satisfies these aspects in every-way creating it a literary work.  The plot of the story is clear, even thought narrated in a “diary like” way in first person, there is a clear storytelling behind the writing; the setting in this piece is evidently present and its an essential part of the piece, the story is set in the East of the United States at a time of incredible wealth and economical growing (1920’s). There are also identifiable characters throughout the story, the main character can be controversial to define, between Nick the narrator and Gatsby, but there is no doubt of the characterization of this piece. The theme is the decline of the American dream on the 20^th century. I believe the piece’s aims to criticize and analyze this decline of the American dream. It emphasis on material excess and the wealth fever, possibly as the result of the end of World War, consequently criticizing the results of the War on the veterans and society in general. Through the way Gatsby deals with his ruined dream and love relating it to wealth and money, the author compares it to the way the American dream is in the 20’s, ruined by the worthlessness of its object, money and pleasure.

Furthermore, The Great Gatsby also uses literary devises such as symbols like the green light as hope for Gatsby but also for the American dream, which confirms even more the fact that this is a literary work.

Comparison between Oz and The Hunger’s games

Comparison between Oz and The Hunger’s games

The Hunger Games shares many similarities to the American fairy tale The Wizards of Oz, but they also differ in many aspects.

On the first place, the two stories start off in a similar way. The main character, a female young woman in poverty, is in her room that shows the misery of the surrounding. Both pieces start narrating the suffering situations of the main characters, the grayness and poverty to their life. In Dorothea’s case involuntarily and in Katniss to save her sister, both of the characters find themselves in a new unknown and magical location full of surprises and unexpected situations. There is also a clear relation between the transformation of the misery and grayness of where they are from to the extravagance to where they go, the Emerald city and the capital, with an extravagance and colorful fashion and colors in general.

The main female character is in both cases followed by a second character that doesn’t play a main role but that it leads to many things, Peeta and Dorothy’s dog Toto.

Dorothea as well as Katniss aim to go home, and to do so they need to kill, the Witch and the other kids in the TV show. Both of the stories have a real cruelty.

Though both of the stories share many similarities, I believe that the ultimate theme and metaphor of the stories are completely different from each other. The emphasis from the writers differ a lot from each other. 

On The Wizard of Oz there is a large significance on the other travelers, her friends and what they desire and why, and on The Hunger’s Game the role of technology and the control of the media and entertainment over the people.