The Great Gatsby and the Cathedral
Introduction
The film the Great Gatsby is adapted from the novel by the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald' written in 1925.It tells the story of young man who strives to become wealthy so as to win the heart of a lost love. The story is based during the prohibition era where sale of alcohol had been deemed illegal. The book is named after its major character, a 30 year old man, who was able to rise from an impoverished background in North Dakota to become one of the wealthiest men. Jay Gatsby is this man whose life rose from typical rags to riches, and became an embodiment of the American dream. The young man is able to fix his financial situation, change his name and adopt a lifestyle that is synonymous with that of those born with a silver spoon in their mouth. This paper identifies the similarity between this character Jimmy Gatz who metamorphosis into Jay Gatsby, and ‘the narrator’s’ character in the short story ‘the cathedral by Richard carver.
The cathedral is a short story that revolves around its three main characters, the narrator, his wife and the narrator’s wife’s blind friend; who has recently lost his wife (Carver, 2015). The blind man visits the narrator’s home and the narrator is not thrilled about the visit. After interacting by drawing a cathedral together, the narrator changes his attitude towards the blind man. The two stories appear totally different having been set in different time zones, and also revolving around different themes, however, the characters do appear to show similar traits. The paper will demonstrate these similarities; explain why the specific characters were chosen and if their characters are relatable. It will also conduct a psychoanalytic critism of the same.
Similarities between the two Stories
The main similarity is apparent between the main characters in the two stories, the unnamed narrator and the Jay Gatsby, is that they both underwent a metamorphosis of some sort. Jay Gatsby went through the biggest change; he was able to change his financial status from a poor man from North Dakota to a wealthy individual whose wealth was speculated upon by many. He even changed his name completely from Jimmy Gatz to jay Gatsby as soon as he got off the boat. He lives his whole life trying to distance himself from his past life, but always ends up stuck to a love in his past.
In addition, the narrator is able to change his perspective about his blind visitor who he initially introduces with a lot of distrust, and he stereotypes him to the society’s perspective that blind people are not self-sufficient. Besides, the narrator implies that his dead wife must have had a sad life being married to him for that long (Carver, 2015). After interacting with him and realizing that being blind did not make the man any less or weaker, he starts to admire him because he is able to identify things that he had previously assumed blind people would be un aware of.
Another similarity is in the love for the women in their life. Jay Gatsby’s life was centered upon getting back daisy’s love, although it appeared as though his ambition was fuelled by his craving for a better life and to get a higher social status, and fulfill his greed for money; actually he had been working to make himself lovable by the love of his life who was married to another man (Scott, 1991). He loved her till he died over looking all her faults.
Moreover, the love the narrator has for his wife is seen in his jealousy for the blind man. He does not trust the blind man and he views his visit as an attempt to win his wife’s love, and this would explain his attitude towards the blind man. Another similarity is their desire to keep their lives private. Although it may not be out rightly apparent at first that the narrator desires privacy, it is shown in how he narrates his story leaving out personal details such as his name and that of his wife while giving out the name of the blind man.
Indeed, Jay Gatsby makes a point of not interacting with his visitors to such a level that they would know how exactly he acquired his wealth and he leaves the story to people’s speculation. The two are also similar in that they have engaged in illegal acts. The unnamed narrator and his wife casually introduce Robert to smoking of marijuana which was an illegal drug at the time. Jay Gatsby acquired his wealth by trading in illegal liquors at a time when selling of alcohol was against the law.
The undying love that Jay Gatsby has for Daisy is relatable to a childish obsession, and a love for fantasy that we find ourselves in every now and then. The obsession and desire for approval can be found in most of us either in our desire for wealth success or even as in Jay’s case for a love interest. The ambition that was the driving force for Gatsby acquiring his wealth is relatable, especially for people who have experienced poverty and have a will to better their lives as is the American dream.
The jealousy and trust issues portrayed in the narrator are understandable, especially because he found the blind man’s history with his wife as a threat. He treated the blind man’s visit as a bother because he subconsciously found him as a threat to his marriage since his wife had just died and he was now single. Their character traits are those of everyday ordinary people and their reactions are expected if faced with the same circumstances and situations.
References
Carver, R. (2015). Mmgarcia510. Analysis of the cathedral; above the Ignorance.
Scott M. J. (1991). The Great Gatsby. Cambridge University Press.
