Saturday, April 4, 2009
Jay Gatsby vs. Charles Foster Kane
Most of us read The Great Gatsby in our junior English class. Both Gatsby and Citizen Kane, produced about twenty years apart, focus on a man who some might say is the epitome of success. What similarities and differences do you see? Are these works celebrations or critiques of these men, or somewhere in between? Or something else?
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ReplyDeleteI see a lot of similarities in these two stories. Both men are portrayed as rich and powerful but as the reader/viewer is brought into the story, and presented with more information, we learn more about the character that makes us reconsider our original thoughts of the man. I’m not saying that they aren’t rich or powerful, but they seem to lack something in their lives that does not allow them to be fully happy or content with what they have. Money can’t buy happiness and I think these two stories show that quite well. I have to admit that I don’t really remember the specifics of The Great Gatsby but I do know that Gatsby was never fully happy because he loved a woman that he could not have. He threw parties and lived in a huge house, but he was alone. This ties to Kane in Citizen Kane because he is portrayed as a very powerful and rich man, but as we learn about his life, we see that something was always missing from his life. He never actually loved either of his wives and that made him lonely. He tried to fill his life with the newspaper, politics, and the sculptures, just like Gatsby with the house and parties, but he was never truly happy with his material possessions and ended up dying alone.
ReplyDeleteI think that these works are a combination of celebrating the men, as well as criticizing them. I think this because it shows how successful they are, but, as I’ve already said, how they were lacking something important in their lives that prevented them from being truly happy.
I think that both stories are not only critiques of the men, but also the type of men and the lives they are living. On the outside both Gatsby and Kane are highly successful, and charasmatic men, but on the inside lies turmoil caused by the lack of affection, love, and true purpose in life. In Gatsby's case his true prize is Daisy, for Kane it is as simple as finding love, true love in any form to reconnect Kane with his long gone sense of humanity.
ReplyDeleteI think both stories are narratives on the dangers of success. The poor may not live easy, but the rich may not live at all. When money and power enter the mix it is often easy to forsake true values and the real wonders of life; love, compassion, true interpersonal connection. But when one is on their deathbed there is no amount of money which can save them or even comfort them. What really counts are the memories, both good and bad, which one has accumulated and it is those memories which I feel make up ones worth in life, not the money. And I think in both characters cases it can be argued that in the end neither was worth very much at all, becuase without loved ones to carry on a memory all of your money and power just gets taken away and scattered with time.
Both Gatsby and Kane are wealthy, powerful men with a great deal of influence on society. Furthermore they both lack similar qualities. Neither man has truly experienced happiness that is up to par with their expectations. They each have a void in their lives that they attempt to fill with expensive and unneccessary objects. Gatsby throws huge overpriced parties while Kane purchases unimaginable numbers of statues attempting to achieve some form of happiness.
ReplyDeleteKane and Gatsby also have everything except for the one thing that they want in life. It seems frustrating for them to not be able to purchase this missing piece to their life's puzzle, but they learn to cope with the frustration and continue to get drunk off of their own power.
Both Gatsby and Kane lived their life searching for something to fill the void left inside themselves. Gatsby and Kane were always trying to become more successful and powerful and were always trying to get more of what they already had--nothing ever seemed good enough for them. Their image was of utmost importance to them because they wanted society and the public to view them a certain way. But, even though they eventually become very well-known, successful, and talked about business men, what did that really do for them? At the end of the day it really doesn't matter what others think or feel about you, but it matters how you feel and think about yourself--and both Gatsby and Kane felt empty.
ReplyDeleteThe moral theme, I guess you could call it, or moral of the story, in both instances, is money cannot buy happiness. Both men surrounded themselves and kept busy by doing their own things. Gatsby, if i remember correctly, would constantly be throwing parties at his mansion. He was trying to surround himself by people all the time, probably in an attempt to not feel lonely. But all the people who came to his parties didn't mean anything to him, and therefore made him feel even lonelier.
Kane would surround himself with his newspaper, politics, and materialistic objects, such as the hundreds of sculptures he acquired over time. He married twice but never loved either of the women. He always kept busy in an attempt to make himself feel worthwhile and happy, but, in the end he died even more unhappier, more unfulfilled, and more lonley than when he started his quest for success.
Although Kane and Gatsby appeared to be the epitome of success, they were actually the epitome of failure because of their inner emptiness and unhappiness.
I’m sorry but I have to disagree with everyone’s post about the comparison between Gatsby and Kane. In my opinion there are few similarities and many differences. The only similarity is they are both highly successful and wealthy men, but are searching to fill the void in their lives. However, there are multiple differences. Gatsby spent his life chasing after the green light, but his downfall is because of his inability to move past Daisy and realize how shallow she is. Kane achieved his green light twice, but his downfall is because he was too egotistical and selfish to compromise his own needs, in order to make others happy. The hollowness of Kane and his lifestyle is evident because he believes money is the fundamental key to happiness. However, this belief is false, because as he gains more money, the more his humanity and emotions deteriorate. On the other hand, Gatsby is truly sincere and loyal to his intentions and the wealth he gains does not corrupt his heart. He remains faithful and affectionate towards Daisy for the entire story, even to the point where he remains outside Daisy’s window until morning to make sure Tom does not hurt her. Therefore, the money that Kane gains ultimately corrupts and changes him while the money Gatsby gains does not affect his loyalty and love for Daisy.
ReplyDeleteInstead, the character I would draw a comparison to is Tom Buchanan. Tom and Kane have similar characteristics, because they are both selfish, egotistical and whenever something does not go their way, they use force in order to coerce people to do what they want. They both have an extremely dominating role in their relationships and expect their female partner to always be loyal and obedient to them. Finally, Tom and Kane epitomize the decline of social, ethical and moral values of American society, because of their overt cynicism, hypocrisy, greed and empty pursuit of pleasure.
The relationship between Gatsby and Kane have are similar. Both these men are strong powerful wealthy men that are unable to find that one thing that will give them happiness. Both these films suggest that no amount of money that one may have can buy happiness. I think that both these movies show what the men dealt with an that they were very far from perfect. Gatsby is searching for the missing link to his happiness and Kane is remembering what made him happy. This is when he is an innocent child, before he was so wealthy. Kane realizes that the money and the wealth has changed him drastically.
ReplyDeleteThe story of both Gatsby and Kane share many commonalities. Both of these rich and powerful men spend their lives gain wealth and respect and once achieved or not they are still alone. Gatsby spent his time chasing the "green light" , essentially Daisy. Gatsby was hooked and just couldn't find a way around his obsession with her and realize she wasn't that great of a person. Gatsby's story shows how even with money etc. you need more as in love to be happy. He doesnt achieve this so he never finds happiness.
ReplyDeleteThe difference in Kane's story is alone the same principles but presented in a different way. Kane, like Gatsby has power and money. Kane, unlike Gatsby achieves what he wants in life; money, power, statues, a wife (twice), a son etc. His problem is all this isnt enough he is under the impression that he needs more material things to be happy. He doesnt realize the quality of the things and the people he has around him.
In a way their problems are both to greed. Gatsby wants this women that he thinks will make him happy but he doesn't realize that without her love it doesn't matter what you do it'll all be for not. He stubbornly continues to purse her anyway. Kane could and should be happy with what he has but his obsession with material and appearance makes happiness an impossibility for him.
There are many similarities in The Great Gatsby and Citizen Kane. In both films, there is each a man who is disgustingly wealthy. They are so rich that they it causes them so be unhappy and ruined. The movies also share a very powerful theme, which is that you don’t need money to be happy and have a good life.
ReplyDeleteBoth men have the same problem, which is that they want something so bad but cannot have it. Gatsby wants to be with the love of his life, Daisy, but cannot have her because the fame and fortune has corrupted him so much. Although it is inanimate, Gatsby desires to go back to his regular life (which is symbolized through his sled Rosebud), but this isn’t at all possible because he too has been destructed by riches.
The difference between the two stories is that in Gatsby, he is physically very reserved and modest. He is hardly ever around, and nobody sees him. Where he does make himself known is through the massive parties that he hosts at his mansion. He invites people from all over to attend, and yet he himself stays completely out of sight. In Citizen Kane, Charles is pretty different. During his years of fame, he constantly shows off his wealth and power in many different and eccentric ways. He even runs for president, although it ultimately leads to the downfall of his “era”.