Comparing ?The Rich Boy,? ?The Bidal Party,? And The Essay, Research Paper
The 1920?s market a booming America economy, making
evident transition between social classes. People
become very optimistic, and sometimes began living
their lives as if they had already obtained the
American dream. Dreamers usually create illusions to
avoid the cruel realities of life. F. Scott Fitzgerald
exemplifies three overly enthusiastic believers in
?The Rich Boy? with Anson Hunter, ?The Bridal Party?
with Michael Curly, and The Great Gatsby with Jay
Gatsby. Fitzgerald easily builds these characters into
?the man of imagination? and the ?the man of action.?
They live an illusion by dwelling on the past, feeling
that money can buy what they want, yet reality
shatters their fantasy world; thus Fitzgerald depicts
how each character evolves in romanticism and realism.
All three characters experience a sense of living
illusions in which Fitzgerald includes romanticism in
them. In ?Rich boy,? Paula Legendre is Anson Hunter?s
unattainable love due to his behaviour. As he grows
older and finally wants to commit, he discovers that
she is to marry another man. When Anson hears the
news, he relive the past wanting Paula more only
because now he understand tah he cannot have her. From
that moment he continues to have hopes and drams of
being with her, ?still hoped that they would some day
marry? No matter who he dated, Paula remained in his
head.
Michael Curly in ?The Birdal Party? has a strong love
for Caroline Dandy, where she too, is to marry another
man. In addition, she grows even stronger in Michael?s
heart. Michael tries hard to conquer Caroline?s heart,
explaining that he loves here and believes he feels
more right to marry her. He shows his hope when he
says ?Well I won?t give up till the last moment?one
takes what one can get, up to the limit of one?s
strength, and if I can?t have her, at least she?ll go
into the marriage with some of me in her hart.?
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby has a vision by believing
he can relive the past with Daisy. Gatsby?s dream
leads him to commit only to Daisy for the rest of his
life, assuming that Daisy will wait for him, too.
Although Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, he
continues to live an illusion, thinking he still has a
chance. Gatsby also disregards Tom and Daisy?s having
a child together and keep this denial in his head
until he actually sees the little girl. His face shows
this surprised, ?Afterward he kept looking at the
child with great surprise. I [Nick Carraway] don?t
think he had ever really believed in its existence
before.? Althuugh seeing the child should bring
Gatsby to face the reality, he chooses to remain in an
illusion.
Fitzgerald also depicts each character as believing
that their favorable financial status can help them in
achieving what they want, their loves. Anson Hunter, a
self-confident, well-off, prominent young man believes
that he can attain anyone and anything in life. He
feels certain that his position in life could keep
Paula hanging on throughout the years because she is
attracted to his lifestyle, ??Paula and her mother
accompanied him [Anson] North, she was impressed with
the standing of his family in New York and with the
scale on which they lived in.? Even so Paula could
tolerate only so much of waiting for Anson which gave
her no choice but to move on even if Anson was sure
she would not, ?Anson was too acute to wonder. When he
saw a man?s name in her letter he felt more sure of
her and little disdainful-he was always superior to
such things.?
Bibliography
F. Scott Fitzgerald, ?The Rich Boy,? Jazz Age Tales
(Naples: Loffredo, 1996) 126.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, ?The Bridal Party,? Jazz Age
Tales (Naples: Loffredo, 1996) 168.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1992) 123.
F. Scott Fitzgerald ?The Rich Boy,? Jazz Age Tales
(Naples: Loffredo, 1996) 121.
F. Scott Fitzgerald ?The Rich Boy,? Jazz Age Tales
(Naples: Loffredo, 1996) 126.