“The Great Gatsby” vs. “To Kill A Mockingbird” Comparison Essay Sample

“The Great Gatsby” vs. “To Kill A Mockingbird” several pieces of literature have left an impression on many about how people view the world and the way they want to make a difference in it. While the books differ in their content, they have similar themes. Two great books of literature that were found to be inspiring were “The Great Gatsby" and “To Kill A Mockingbird.” These two books were popular when they were first published, and they are still popular in today's world. Both of the authors are American novelists. The tone and mood of “The Great Gatsby '' are selflessness, empathy, and compassion, whereas “To Kill A Mockingbird” was different in the mood and tone because it was more emotional, sentimental, dark, and heartfelt. The book represents this mood because it talks about African American slavery and a man being accused of a crime he did not. 

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald explores what happened to the American dream in the 1920s, a time when the old values that gave substance to the dream had been corrupted by greed and an unregulated pursuit of wealth. Jay Gatsby's ultimate goal in the story and movie was to win Daisy Buchanan's heart, and he showed selflessness by sacrificing his American dream and career to be with a girl that left him in the end for her husband Tom Buchanan (WarnerBros.com, 2013.) The Great Gatsby was written in the 1920s, which was an era of growth and wealth. Jay Gatsby was a millionaire who had a goal to become as wealthy as he could to win over his lover Daisy. In the end, the stock market crashed, which led to The Great Depression. On the other hand, the novel To Kill A Mockingbird was written in the 1960s. Which was the era of The Great Depression which is a comparison between the two books. The Great Depression caused the residents of Maycomb to live in poverty. The people in the town are usually better off than many of the other citizens in the area, but instead are poor and living an impoverished lifestyle, including the Finches who also live on the outskirts of the town. The difference between the two is although they both live during The Great Depression, Jay Gatsby was a very wealthy man and lived a wealthy lifestyle before the stock market crashed. 

One of the themes within The Great Gatsby was The American dream. Originally, discovery, individualism, and pursuing happiness were behind the American dream. During the 1920s depicted in the novel, easy money and relaxed social values corrupted this dream, which was ruined through the difference in social statuses. The American dream was Jay Gatsby's desire for wealth evolved from Gatsby's wish to be with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby, despite his money, was never able to win Daisy's heart in the end. His longing for Daisy was the cause of his destruction. In him resorting to a life of crime, the attempt was made to make enough cash to impress her and the rampant materialism that characterizes her lifestyle. In this novel, Fitzgerald shows how the American Dream can never be fully achieved because those who believe in it are always looking for something greater than themselves. He explains that searching for more than what is attainable is bad, and he emphasizes that people who become more absorbed in materialistic pleasures will not be guaranteed happiness. One of the themes in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird was prejudice and racism which is a huge contrast from The Great Gatsby. The racism which was common in many small American cities in the 1930s was illustrated with profound imagery in To Kill a Mockingbird. Although there are various characters in the book, the major personality is the younger narrator's father, Atticus Finch, a man of first-rate integrity and intelligence. In more ways than one, he is more courageous and determined. It was stated “When Tom Robinson, one of the town’s Black residents, is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman, Atticus agrees to defend him despite threats from the community. At one point he faces a mob intent on lynching his client but refuses to abandon him” (Foca, 2021). This novel's theme of prejudice comes in when the townspeople start to dislike Atticus for defending an African American man for being wrongfully accused of raping a white woman, the townspeople did not agree with this and therefore tried to harm Atticus. Another instance when this occurred in the book is when his kids get teased because their dad was defending an African American and used a racial slur in the book toward the children's father for defending people of color. These are some ways that both of the novel's themes were different from each other. 

There were many kinds of conflicts in The Great Gatsby one was how Jay Gatsby had this fantasy of what he called the American Dream, and he did everything he could to win Daisy Buchanan's heart but because of his secretive past, she doesn’t want a future with him. He is determined to gain her love and when Daisy hits Myrtle with her car he takes the blame for her because he wants her to love him. His American dream that he worked so hard for resulted in his death. Instead, he ends up getting shot by Myrtle's husband because of a crime he didn’t commit. This is a similarity between the two books because in the book To Kill a Mockingbird Tom Robinson is killed for a crime he also didn’t commit. Both books ended with someone dying for crimes they didn’t commit. The big conflicts that occur in this To Kill a Mockingbird would be the racism and acts toward prejudice because of the way the Atticus family is being harassed and being discriminated against because their father and husband are defending an African American man who is a citizen and was wrongfully accused of a crime that wasn’t committed by him. The difference between the two books would be that The Great Gatsby conflict is more around something he could have avoided but chose to live that lifestyle and make those choices. On the other hand, in To Kill a Mockingbird conflict was between a white man who is intelligent, kind, and wants to do what is right and defend, and a man of color who didn’t commit the crime and is judged for doing a positive thing. 

The purpose of The Great Gatsby was to show how the American Dream is unattainable. Although Jay Gatsby lived a life full of riches, in a mansion, and threw very extravagant parties he was never happy. The purpose of his lifestyle was never to make him happy but to make his one love Daisy happy. He had such a huge obsession over her that he threw huge expensive parties to lure her in, and she never cared and never showed up to the parties that were meant for her. Daisy never loved Gatsby she just loved the riches and everything her husband Tom could buy her. This story shows how no matter how rich you are you can never be happy with materialistic things.