Free-ToPICS Gulag Free

ELENA MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ
Lit. Norteamericana s.XX
SEMINAR
PAPERS
INDEX
Robert Frost ..........................................................................................................................................3
The Road Not Taken..........................................................................................................................3
The Mending Wall .............................................................................................................................5
T. S. Eliot The Waste Land.....................................................................................................................6
The sense of loss and decay..............................................................................................................6
Religious elements ............................................................................................................................7
Dos Passos ............................................................................................................................................8
The Big Money – Vision of America...................................................................................................8
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (1925) .......................................................................................9
• Love affair between Gatsby and Daisy ............................................................................ 9
• The narrator (1925) ...................................................................................................... 10
• Dreams and reality (1925) ............................................................................................ 11
• Colour symbolism (1925) .............................................................................................. 13
• Women (1925) ............................................................................................................. 14
• The Great Gatsby and the film (1925) ........................................................................... 15
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying ....................................................................................................... 16
• The role of the mother ................................................................................................. 16
• The role of the father ................................................................................................... 17
• Darl .....................................................................................................................18
• As I Lay Dying and the film ........................................................................................... 19
Ernest Hemingway - The Snows of Kilimanjaro.................................................................................. 20
• Images of war and violence .......................................................................................... 20
• The writer and his work................................................................................................ 21
• Treatment of death ...................................................................................................... 22
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men .................................................................................................... 23
• Dreams and reality ....................................................................................................... 23
• Loneliness.................................................................................................................... 24
• Black and white relations ............................................................................................. 25
• Curley’s wife ................................................................................................................ 26
Tennessee Williams - A Streetcar Named Desire ............................................................................... 27

• The poker games.......................................................................................................... 27
• The relationship of Blanche and Mitch .......................................................................... 28
• A Streetcar Named Desire and the film ......................................................................... 29
Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman 1949 ......................................................................................... 30
• Social morality and capitalism ...................................................................................... 30
• The role of the mother ................................................................................................. 31
• The death of Willy Loman ............................................................................................. 31
• The American Dream.................................................................................................... 32

Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken is a poem written by Robert Frost (1874-1963) that was firstly published in 1916,
in his collection Mountain Interval. It describes one of the main essences of human beings: doubts.
The expression of uncertainty about choices (which road should we take) and our natural tendency
to surmise about future consequences marks the central aura of the poem. It also embraces the main
motto of American literature of the 20th century: truth does not exist. The poem is the product of a
personal interaction with reality, so there is not a unique interpretation: the experiences of each
reader will construct one conclusion or another.
In terms of content, The Road Not Taken begins with a dilemma. Out walking, the speaker comes to
a fork in the road and has to decide which path to follow. From the first lines, the reader is exposed
to the main topic of the poem: the idea that choice is inevitable in life. Moreover, the use of colours
launches this dichotomy: the yellow leaves suggest that the poem is set in autumn, and as inveterate
New England farmer, Robert Frost would have known these woods were new – full of trees that had
replaced older ones. That is, one forest has replaced another: just as in the poem, where one choice
will supplant another.
Following Frost’s style, the poem is characterised by the clarity of diction, which offers a
transcendental permanence to the poem. His rural vocabulary facilitates its understanding. While
reading it, the reader is able to feel the landscape and its colours. In terms of rhythm, it follows the
traditional (not modern) pattern of poetry: ABAAB. It could be highlighted its particular musicality
that enables the reader to follow it easily. The poem presents a circular structure: the first idea is
also mentioned in the conclusion, “Two roads diverged”.
The speaker briefly imagines staving off choice, whishing he could “travel both / And be one
traveler.” The syntax of the first stanza also mirrors this desire for simultaneity.
During the 2nd and 3rd stanzas, the speaker doubts whether to choose one road or another. After
peering down one road as far as he can see, he chooses to take the other one, which describes as
“grassy”: by the choice of this word, it could be assumed that less people walked on this path.
However, doubts return erasing the distinction even as he makes it: “Though as for that the passing
there / Had worn them really about the same.” There is no real evidence to choose one option. He
is trying to make a choice based on rational thought, considering both pros and cons of each road;
but there are no real rational justifications to support his decision.
It should be highlighted that when the atmosphere is getting into darkness, “black” colour is used:
he is not very sure about his decisions. However, as the tone becomes increasingly dramatic, it also
turns playful: “Oh, I kept the first for another day!”, there is no way back. If you go for one option,
you go for that until the very end. He is lying to himself probably to feel better.
In the last stanza, there is a negative vibration with the use of “sigh”. Different from the rest, which
uses the past tense, this stanza uses the future. It is a sort of flashforward: his today decision will
have an effect in the future. It ends with the idea that he will be telling the story “somewhere ages
and ages hence” to someone (maybe his relatives).
The poem clearly praises the idea of American individuality. The speaker is all the time in 1st person:
a way of assuming the good or the bad choice he made at the moment. It was HIS decision. Reason
not always give us the correct answer: not always we can have evidence to support our decisions.
The responsible are just us. In fact, Frost concludes with the reaffirmation of the “I” pronoun: he
decided to go for the less expected road, as a sign of bravery. What is clear is that the act of choosing
creates division and thwarts dreams of simultaneity. “All the difference” that has arisen—the loss of
unity—has come from the simple fact that choice is always and inescapably inevitable. He is
accepting the reality as it is.
In terms of literary devices, there is an important number of anaphors (“And …. And … And”) as well
as alliterations: “wanted wear”/w/ to try to imitate the sound of the howling wind.
There is an extended metaphor that conveys the main symbol of the whole poem: the road and its
two parts. Maybe the landscape was real because of his rural life, but the idea is metaphorical: he is
talking about decisions.
Dealing with punctuation, in the first three stanzas, the last line finishes with a semicolon, a coma,
and a point. There is a continuity of his thoughts: the complex process of thinking about a difficult
decision. Also, the word “Then” introduces the beginning of his thoughts.
The poem as a whole can be related with the principles of the theory of Deconstruction. There is no
one particular meaning for the text. Texts supply new meanings at different readings. This is the
main issue of Deconstruction, which makes of this theory a postmodern critical discipline. Modern
theories, like Structuralism, insisted on locating a unique meaning for the text built on one specific
structure. Deconstruction demolished all the structural thinking and insisted that there is no
particular structure. Moreover, different signs are used in the text in order to suggest rich meanings.
The road itself is a main sign. Roads are used in life and culture to stand for lifeline, its crises, and
decisions. The road in the text suggests a shift in the way of life for the speaker and shows his decision
to make a new turn in it: one must discover truth by himself.
Other principles that can be related to the deconstructive approach are the use of the “I” pronoun:
such repetition suggests the subjective experience of the speaker. It is associated with the road not
taken while “the other” symbolizes the road taken by other people.
The poet also uses colour signs of yellow and black in the poem. According to the theory of
deconstruction, reality is known by opposition.
The impact of nature is also interesting in the poem. The poet envelops his deep ideas on the
meaning of life and its experiences with a natural frame. Even the natural elements deconstruct each
other. The first spot in the poem is pictured in autumn: when the yellow leaves begin to fall. Then
comes winter which makes black of them all. Spring will then follow when green will replace both
black and yellow. That is the nature of existence, things keep on replacing one another: the normal
cycle of life.
All in all, the reading deconstructs the text to prove that there is no one particular meaning of the
poem. The deconstructive theory encourages critics to take roads not taken before.
The Mending Wall
The Mending Wall is a poem written by Robert Frost (1874-1963) in 1914. It is focused on historical
and social implications of walls as creating boundaries among cultures and people.
In terms of content, the poem tells the story of two neighbours who meet each spring to mend the
wall that separates their farms, as there is something (probably the work of hunters and nature itself)
that creates gaps in the wall. It describes the moment when they walk along the wall, each one his
side, and fix the broken gaps. Nonetheless, the poetic persona realizes that there is no reason to
build a wall between them, since there was no risk for any of them: then, what is the need for that?
His neighbour does not seem to understand it, and he continues saying that “good fences make good
neighbours”. The speaker is asking the neighbour to think with respect: he is not forcing the
neighbour to change his position; however, at the end, the latter continues thinking that the best
option was to follow tradition in the same way as his father did without even questioning it. He insists
on staying in darkness. Frost is depicting the neighbour as a sort of chromanone man, the tradition
of an American farmer who tries to defend his property to the maximum. The poet is enhancing the
question about the need to build a wall.
Although it seems like a simple poem, it goes beyond the anecdote between two farmers: it expands
to nations (similarly to the Berlin Wall in our contemporary era). In fact, there are some researchers
that interpret The Mending Wall as a symbol of justice: it could be a sort of constitution since society
needs to put laws to defend their individualities and properties.
Regarding the language, the poem is characterised by the clarity of diction, where words related to
nature reinforces the essential aim of the poem. The poetic persona is trying to convince the
neighbour peacefully, with no violence: ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, / That wants it
down’. Words are combined reaching a sense of collectiveness: the use of “we” enhances this idea.
Moreover, the lexicon employed suggests that the neighbour is not really intelligent: ‘and I wonder
/ If I could put a notion in his head’. In terms of rhyme, it is written in blank verse.
There is an extended paradox that conveys the main symbol of the whole poem: the wall, since in
order to build it, they have to be in contact.
All in all, with this poem, Frost is touching the essence of human beings: they need both individuality
and sociability to subsist. He persecuted the permanence of topics and reflections: his messages are
absolutely contemporary, even today.
T. S. Eliot The Waste Land
The sense of loss and decay

The Waste Land (1922) is the strongest literary image of the first half of the 20 th century: the image
of a waste land which would appear in different texts of the century. It depicts an apocalyptic land,
which corresponds to one of the most surviving images of the half of the century. This lengthy poem
was written by T. S. Eliot, one of the pivotal figures of American Modernism.
In terms of content, the poem is made up of five discontinuous segments where the quest for
regeneration in a desolate landscape is constantly visible: it was a clear attempt to regenerate.
Despite its incoherent structure, which lets the reader to enter a mood characterised by chaos and
mess, the stanzas normally stand for a particular idea or setting.
In the labyrinth of images trying to grasp the complexity of human mind, T. S. Eliot’s poem depicts
an essence of loss and decay. The title itself offers an accurate portrayal of the main theme of the
poem: there is a land which is no longer fertile and no hope is left.
In the first section, The Burial of the Dead, states from the very beginning this sense of nothingness:
“April is the cruellest month”. By doing so, T. S. Eliot is deconstructing Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
and trying to launch the message that even April, which is the best moment for blooming and
flourishing, is no longer fertile: it has lost its regenerative force. This section also provides the
definition of the poem itself, which is “a heap of broken images” that coincides with the reality of
the time.
In the second section, A Game of Chess, depicts the loss of the essence of the human being through
the idea that love and sexuality illustrate sterility. It portrays the myth of Philomela (from Ovid) to
show how terrible sexuality could be. Moreover, it shows a continuous urgency since it seems that
time is finishing (“Hurry up please it’s time”), referring to the idea that an apocalypse is coming,
symbolising the end and loss of civilization. There is an intrinsic carpe diem message. This section
mirrors how regeneration is impossible, there are no options left, and ends with a literal goodbye:
“Good night, good night, good night”.
In the third section, The Fire Sermon, the decay in the city of London (as a metaphor for the world as
a whole) is illustrated. London is not only a city full of dust, but also there is an absence of
imagination: there is no place for fantasy, even “the nymphs are departed”. In order to make this
sense of decay more explicit, the poet uses symbolic references: “the river bears no empty bottles,
sandwich papers…”, “bones”, “chuckle spread from ear to ear”, symbolising the music of corpses, as
well as the repetition of the word “nothing”.
The fourth section, Death by Water, deals with the physical reality of death, and the loss and decay
of beauty. Mortality is portrayed as the only truth that humanity cannot avoid since we all are
mortals. It does not matter physical appearances or richness (“Gentile or Jew”): the end is the same
to all of us, death. This part mirrors the title of the previous one: it really works as a sermon.
The last section, What the Thunder Said, portrays a conclusion to the previous ones. The sense of
loss and decay will persist, and there is an urgent lament for water: “a spring”, “a pool”. The tone is
desperate. Although there is a quest for regeneration through the importance of water (“bringing
rain”), it shows an apocalyptic end: “London bridge is falling down”.
Religious elements
The Waste Land is the strongest literary image of the first half of the 20 th century: the image of a
waste land which would appear in different texts of the century. It depicts an apocalyptic land, which
corresponds to one of the most surviving images of the half of the century. This lengthy poem was
written by T. S. Eliot, one of the pivotal figures of American Modernism.
In terms of content, the poem is made up of five discontinuous segments where the quest for
regeneration in a desolate landscape is constantly visible: it was a clear attempt to regenerate.
Despite its incoherent structure, which lets the reader to enter a mood characterised by chaos and
mess, the stanzas normally stand for a particular idea or setting.
In the labyrinth of images trying to grasp the complexity of human mind, T. S. Eliot uses religion as
one of the key figures within the poem. The title itself could be appreciated as a deconstruction of
the paradise that religion offers us.
Religion as a central topic could be more accurately seen from the third section onwards. Indeed, in
The Fire Sermon, Buddhism is introduced as an alternative to Christianity. The title of the section is
itself explanatory: Buddha’s Fire Sermon encourages his followers to give up passion and seek
freedom from earthly things. Moreover, at the end of this section, there is a reference to St.
Augustin’s Confessions, where he is narrating how passions are also part of religious faith. The poet
asks to erase these passions from himself: “pluckest me out”, since they are futile. The symbol of fire
dominates the whole section. Here, Christian faith is presented with opposition to eastern and
western asceticism. It also launches the possibility that Buddhism can be another option.
In the fourth section, Death by Water, mortality is presented as the only truth: we all are going to
die, no matter our appearances or richness. Therefore, religion is not going to help: there is no room
for resurrection, since it is a lie. A different path to salvation is needed.
In What the Thunder Said, the poet reinforces the idea that Jesus Christ is dead (“he who was living
is now dead”), so everyone will be dead. In this section, religion is also connected with philosophy:
T. S. Eliot abandoned Anglicanism and entered into the world of philosophical possibilities from
different cultures. He was very much attracted to the Buddhist philosophy. His main obsession was
giving hope to himself. In fact, several references to Hindu culture and Buddhism are found: “DA”,
the river Ganga. Finally, the idea that Buddhism is not a religion per se is portrayed: it is a way of
living by assuming that mortality is the only truth. It could be a possible solution to achieve peace.
The end of the poem is quite open: that Buddhist philosophy could offer an inner salvation to the
poet, but not a salvation for all the civilization. Therefore, The Waste Land is a sort of cathartic tool,
not addressed to readers, but to the poet himself.
Dos Passos
The Big Money – Vision of America

Dos Passos’ The Big Money (1936) deals with a savagely satirical portrayal of 20th century America.
After joining a communist journal in order to know what those new political ideas emerging in the
American scenario were about, he experienced an event that persuaded him to be against this party.
In fact, The Big Money’s main aim was to criticize the failure of the capitalist system in general: how
the millionaires were just focused on luxury life and power, while the sufferings were relegated to
the working-class people. It shows a moment of social agitation in which mine strikers were killed
and wounded while demonstration.
In order to portray this, he tries to exemplify the image of the two nations in America by the use of
symbols. For instance, the opposition between the reality of the people worried about Wall Street
and the worries of the people that do not have money to buy a vegetable. Also, the portrayal of the
trains juxtaposes modernity elements and examples of poverty (working class suffering). He also
criticises in an ironic way the permanent mood of investment without mind: “I find your column
interesting and need advice (…) Do you think I might buy stocks?”.
In terms of structure and techniques, Dos Passos includes cultural references such as the protest
song from the Socialist party. By the use of the newspaper headlines’ format, he depicts the police
pression and the conditions of the working classes.
In a very experimental way through the use of the stream of consciousness technique, Dos Passos
reflects upon the failure occasioned by the American dream. The representation of the false promise
of new opportunities is very much criticised by the author. Democracy is not a liberation: working-
class people had to accept persecution. It has promoted the wrong idea that the USA was a free
country: it was a scenario for oppression instead.
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (1925)
• Love affair between Gatsby and Daisy
The ideals of love and marriage are profoundly strained in The Great Gatsby, a book that centres on
two loveless marriages: the union between Tom and Daisy Buchanan and between George and
Myrtle Wilson.
In both cases, the marriages seem to be unions of convenience or advantage rather than actual love.
Myrtle explains that she married George because she thought he was “a gentleman,” suggesting she
hoped he would raise her class status. Daisy nearly backed out of her marriage to Tom the day before
her wedding, and Tom had an affair within a year of the wedding, but the couple is well-suited
because of their shared class and desire for fun and material possessions. In fact, Tom convinced
her to marry him with money and a three-months trip.
Even Gatsby’s all-consuming passion for Daisy seems more of a desire to possess something
unattainable than actual love.
The idea of innocent love is maintained throughout all the chapter when the past is being tried to be
recovered, and when Gatsby and Daisy had their date. Gatsby is very innocent in his approach to
Daisy all the time.
Gatsby shows off himself. It is a very tender meeting. Daisy is being childish and amazed at the
richness he is showing to her. She is giving too much importance to shirts, materialism.
PAST: ROMANTIC AND PURE LOVE
PRESENT: THE CHANCE OF THE DREAM , THEIR DATE
FUTURE: CORRUPTION OF THE DREAM, IT WAS A POSSIBILITY, BUT IT HAS ENDED
In fact, when danger (in the sense of maintaining their social status) approaches, there is unity
between them (DAISY – TOM).
• The narrator (1925)
On the one hand, the novel is written in first and third person from the limited perspective of Nick,
who describes events as he experienced them. For the most part of the novel, he is just an observer
and narrator of the events around him. He even disappears to describe important or relevant
conversations between Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy. Moreover, he seems to present thoughts and
feelings of other characters. The best example is found when Gatsby tells Nick about his past and
Nick narrates directly from Gatsby’s point of view.
On the other hand, the question of how reliable Nick is as a narrator is always present. It is true that
he is not the typical unreliable narrator, but there are several reasons to distrust Nick, or at least not
to believe everything he writes. The first reason is that a first-person narrator will always leave some
details out, as he does not know everything that is happening around him. For instance, the story of
Gatsby and Daisy is presented mainly through Gatsby’s eyes, as he is Nick’s friend. However, we do
not know Daisy’s true thoughts or feelings until the last chapters, in which she actually speaks for
herself. The second reason, and probably the most important, is that Nick is unreliable because of
his friendship with Gatsby. He sees him as a symbol of hope and dreams, which may distort our vision
of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom at times. The fact that Gatsby is involved in adultery or drug trafficking is
justified by Nick, even if they are not fair.
In conclusion, Nick offers his subjective point of view and the description of events may not be as
accurate or reliable as the reader may expect, but this subjectivity let us delve into the story as if we
were part of it.
THE STORY THROUGH NICK’S EYES’
HE ELABORATES HIS OWN THOUGHTS CONCERNING THAT CORRUPTED SOCIETY
NICK, AT THE END OF THE STORY, IS TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM AS A
HOPEFUL ONE.
HE CHANGES INTO “WE” IN ORDER TO ADDRESS AMERICAN CITIZENS.
IT IS CHANGING COMPLETELY THE VISION OF THE STORY: THE NARRATOR IS EXTENDING THE
OBJECTIVE, NOT JUST GATSBY’S PERSONAL DREAM BUT BEYOND: AS A COLLECTIVE DREAM
HE FINALLY DESCRIBES THE SITUATION AS BOATS AGAINST THE CURRENT: NICK IS IN THAT BOAT,
WHILST THE CURRENT REFERS TO THAT PEOPLE DREAMING ABOUT UNATTAINABLE DREAMS
NICK IS THE INTELLIGENT MIND ABLE TO SHOW THE READER THAT THE AMERICAN DREAM IS JUST A
LIE AND THAT NEW PURPOSES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED INSTEAD.
HE IS THE ONLY EVOLVING CHARACTER OF THE STORY (CONTRARY TO WHAT IS NORMALLY

EXPECTED: THE MAIN CHARACTER BEING THE EVOLVING ONE)
• Dreams and reality (1925)
The American Dream is a national ethos of the USA. The American Dream is the hope that anyone
can earn success if they work hard enough. Gatsby is a clear embodiment of the American Dream:
he was born poor and rose to achieve a higher wealth and social status. Although Gatsby started his
life off poor, he was able to earn his way up to being rich by working with Dan Cody. His strong work
ethic and ambition to achieve Daisy’s love served him well in attempting to banish his poverty
stricken past.
Gatsby’s love for Daisy led him to achieve extravagant wealth. In the sense of rising up social rank
and obtaining financial success, since he becomes part of the so-called New Rich people, Gatsby
achieved the American Dream.
Despite this, Fitzgerald conveys that materialism of the American Dream does not guarantee
happiness. In fact, every week, Gatsby hosted grand parties for hundreds of people. Gatsby’s parties
were filled with glamor, and exemplified the carelessness of America during The Roaring Twenties.
Guests who were not invited still came to indulge in the food, drinks, and luxury of the party without
ever meeting Gatsby. Most of them only used Gatsby to enjoy his wealth and the luxury of the
American Dream.
Fitzgerald conveys that being too focused on the American Dream can distract one from living in
the moment. He wants the reader to be aware that it is more important to focus on things that
matter more than money, such as relationships. Gatsby’s life became fuller and happier once he
became friends with Nick and Daisy, and not because of his wealth.
Fitzgerald attempts to make readers see that because the American Dream is the constant desire for
something better, to fully achieve it is actually impossible. Even after Daisy proclaims his love for
him, Gatsby demands her to go even further to say that she never loved Tom: “Just tell him the truth
- that you never loved him – and it’s all wiped out forever” (141). This demonstrates Gatsby’s
continuous desire for something better.
After Gatsby’s death, his generosity to the party guests was ignored and forgotten, illustrating the
insensitive and selfish society that the American Dream has produced. Fitzgerald exhibits a decline
in society’s moral and is critical of the careless lifestyles of Americans. This is clearly portrayed in the
following quote, once Gatsby had dead and Nick imagines what he is telling him:
“Look here, old sport, you’ve got to get somebody for me. You’ve got to try hard. I can’t go through
this alone.” (Fitzgerald, 1925: 176)
Gatsby’s continuous hope for better is similar to society’s desire for infinite growth in the economy.
The destruction of Gatsby’s dream for Daisy and the Wall Street Crash demonstrate that the
American Dream is unattainable.
Fitzgerald illustrates that society in the 1920s was becoming more insensitive and corrupt,
foreshadowing a halt to America’s prosperity. The Great Depression that hit America in the late 1920s
clearly demonstrates that constantly reaching for more than what is given will eventually lead to
destruction, as shown by the fall of Gatsby and the Great Depression that followed the Wall Street
Crash of 1929. Fitzgerald suggests that rather than reaching for materialism, one should focus on
more important things such as relationships, that will bring true happiness.
Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instil
them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. In Nick’s mind, the
ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as
early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values.
Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisy’s
dock. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby
instils Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. Gatsby’s
dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined
by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly
seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished past—
his time in Louisville with Daisy—but is incapable of doing so. When his dream crumbles, all that is
left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move back to Minnesota, where American values have
not decayed.
• Colour symbolism (1925)
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. S. Fitzgerald and the most successful work of the author.
This novel depicts Nick Carraway's relationship with the mysterious Jay Gatsby, and his dream of
reuniting with his former love, Daisy Buchanan. Colour symbolism is used in the novel to reinforce
the idea of the American Dream, the difference between old and new rich people, and feelings.
Traditionally, green is associated with wealth, growth, spring etc. It is also used to convey envy.
Gatsby is thus shown to be an envious character as he is jealous of the fact that Daisy belongs to
another man (Tom). Green is also used to represents the power of money which Gatsby has plenty
of. Until the end Gatsby is hopeful that he can win Daisy with this power. Another area
depicting green colour symbolism in The Great Gatsby is the green car which is called the “death
car”. Michaelis describes the car that kills Myrtle as light green, though it is yellow.
Perhaps the greatest and most important representation of green colour in The Great Gatsby is the
green light mentioned at the end of the novel which is used to depict that Gatsby remains a dreamer
throughout. This colour thus represents an orgiastic future or romantic reunion which Gatsby
continues to believe in.
The golden colour is also used in the novel. Traditionally, these colours symbolize wealth and riches
and particularly old wealth. Gold and green used in the book thus contrastingly symbolize old wealth
and new riches. Jordan, another character is also represented with Gold (‘I rested my arm on Jordan’s
Golden shoulder’ or ‘with Jordan’s golden arm’). This is again used for representing old money. In
chapter 7, golden tea is served at the grey tea hour which indicates the turning light. Gold turning to
yellow is used often through use of sentences like Yellow press, or yellow cocktail music etc to
symbolize beauty, old money and even sometimes, negativity.
Daisy is of course the golden girl but the author has also used white and brightness to show fairness
and innocence of her character. In fact, Fitzgerald has used white colour symbolism very effectively
to portray Daisy’s figure. She seems pure and innocent outside but inside she is yellow and corrupt-
just like an egg, or a daisy flower. White is also vital to the novel as it has been used for portraying
beauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, purity and also laziness and virginity.
Red is associated with blood, violence, and danger. It is usually mentioned along with gold, meaning
that money can lead to violence or even death. Moreover, red and heat are used to anticipate the
car accident in which Myrtle dies (“HOT HOT HOT”).
• Women (1925)
3 different depictions of women through Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan.
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. S. Fitzgerald and the most successful work of the author.
This novel depicts Nick Carraway's relationship with the mysterious Jay Gatbsy, and his dream of
reuniting with his former love, Daisy Buchanan. It depicts characters who appear to be living the
American Dream in the Jazz Age of the 1920s, a period of increasing freedom for women. Women
were granted the right to vote and divorce, and young women distanced themselves from more
traditional values; they began smoking, drinking in public, and dancing at jazz clubs. The so-called
“flappers” introduced several physical and fashion changes.
In the novel, however, the female characters seem to not have a voice, and we learn about them
from how they are described by Gatsby and Nick. The main female characters are Daisy Buchanan,
Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson.
Daisy, Nick’s cousin, is a high-class woman, wife and mother. She is described as beautiful but not so
smart and superficial. She lives with her husband Tom, and their young daughter. She was previously
in a relationship with Gatsby, whose actions have been designed to take her back. Her most
remarkable feature is her charming voice. Gatsby even describes her voice as being full of money,
clearly associating her with a luxurious life. Although she can be associated with the flappers, she is
best associated with the ideal of “the angel of the house”. Her only purpose is to enjoy life and the
luxuries of the high class; however, she has an empty life due to her lack of freedom and control over
her life, as Tom dominates her and their marriage.
SHE DOES NOT HAVE A MATERNAL FEELING TOWARDS HER DAUGHTER (PORTRAYED IN THE
MOMENT OF BIRTH) – MODERN VERSION OF A WOMAN
SHE IS SUBMISSIVE TO TOM – ANTI-FEMINIST VERSION OF A WOMAN
Baker, Daisy’s friend, is a well-recognized golf player who is financially independent. She is arrogant,
unemotional, and not interested in men. She is the new woman of the 20th century and a symbol
of the flappers: her physical appearance is tomboyish and enjoys her right to work and vote, and her
sexual freedom. Nick is attracted to Baker and heavily criticizes the figure of Daisy as an object of
desire in men. IN FACT, NICK SAYS THAT SHE IS NOT THE NORMAL KIND OF WOMAN
Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, is married to George Wilson. She is a quite complex character, as she feels
imprisoned in her marriage, but she acknowledges that she must be dependent on others to live
comfortably. She is well aware that women are not able to succeed on their own. However, she
attempts to escape her social position by becoming the mistress of Tom, a wealthy businessman who
buys her gifts and rents her an apartment. She play-acts an upper-class lifestyle, a dream destroyed
by her actual life and marriage with George. SHE WAS IMPORTANT FOR NOBODY, WHEN SHE DIES,
HER CORPSE IS AT THE FLOOR “MOTIONLESS” , NOBODY CARES
In conclusion, the novel depicts the lack of influence of women in the 1920s, even when they began
to enjoy some freedom. Women in the novel are presented through a man’s limited perspective,
often ignoring the voices of the female characters, and reflecting their inferior status.
• The Great Gatsby and the film (1925)
The first film adaptation (1974) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece involved a lot of big Hollywood
names, including Robert Redford, who starred as the title character, and Francis Ford Coppola, who
wrote the screenplay soon after completing work on the first of The Godfather movies. Director
Clayton’s approach in adopting Fitzgerald’s novel involved staying true to the original story as well
as depicting the Jazz Age culture of the 1920s with historical accuracy. It remains useful to students
of the novel for the way it brings to life an accurate vision of Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age world.
Compared to Clayton’s historically precise adaptation, Baz Luhrmann’s version of Fitzgerald’s novel
in 2013 seems wildly flamboyant. This is particularly the case with Luhrmann’s vibrant use of more
contemporary music, which gives the film’s Jazz Age atmosphere a twenty-first century edge.
Although Luhrmann mostly remained faithful to the source material, he introduced a couple of
changes to Nick Carraway’s frame story. The film opens with Nick receiving treatment for alcoholism
at a psychiatric hospital, where a doctor encourages him to commit his memoirs to paper. The film
then concludes with Nick completing his book and titling it The Great Gatsby. This hidden detail
provides the spectator with a sort of narration, since during the film we see Nick several times in
front of a typewriter. As with Clayton’s adaptation, Luhrmann’s received mixed reviews from critics,
who in large part felt that the film lacked substance despite its high production value and strong
performances.
Nonetheless, both films fail to show the romantic relationship between Nick and Jordan. It is
possible that the director of the film wanted to avoid distracting the audience from the relationship
between Daisy and Gatsby. Myrtle’s death does not appear to be as gruesome as explained in the
book. The director probably had to be careful about how her death was portrayed to ensure that it
was appropriate for the rating of the movie. Another big difference between both films is the use of
different shots and camera movements. While in the 1974 film we find some basic shots, close-ups,
general shots, in the 2013 film is based on more complex shots that change with the movement of
the film.
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying
• The role of the mother
Addie is the most important character in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930), even if she is dead
from the beginning. This fact emphasizes the importance of Addie as the main voice of the novel
even though she is not the narrator. All the events will revolve around her coffin; the other narrators
talk about her. She is the main focus of the plot.
Although she is given only one section, it is so huge in details about her personality, that readers are
totally appalled about her uncommon naturality as a mother: contrary to what is expected from a
mother at the moment of giving birth, Addie provides a cruel description of it. The latter could be
compared with The Great Gatsby’s Daisy, who, describes motherhood in a similar way to Addie.
Addie is a really revolutionary and brave woman, even much more reinforced by the rural setting in
which she is living. It is a male-dominated world mainly boosted by the patriarchy (Anse). For this
setting of patriarchy, Cora clearly shows how old-fashioned is the mentality of the construction of
family in this particular moment of time. Addie, therefore, is discriminated in two layers: by gender
and by social class. She is the one committing extra-marital affair: the woman is the one being
dishonest to her husband (contrary to Gatsby, where Tom is the one being disloyal to Daisy). She had
that bastard son, Jewel, in a rural environment and she is brave enough to go on with the baby: she
is intelligent enough not to abandon the nucleus, and inserting that baby into the family. Addie
acknowledges that the only way to survive is being with Anse, although she really hates him and her
children.
The figure of Addie as the mother is absolutely feminist. She is completely responsible of her own
actions. In contrast to her daughter, she decided to have the children maintaining that family. Dewey
Dell, by contrast, is trapped in her own constrains of gender and class and her responsibilities in her
family; in contrast to Addie, that seems to be open in showing her emotions, even if this openness is
only in her mind. Dewey Dwell wants to abort: she is much vulnerable than Addie. Addie faces death
and motherhood without fear.
The figure of the mother representing the new woman in assured in the way she thinks, acts, and
behaves. She wishes death to come as a way of liberation. She wants to be alone: she enjoys
loneliness. Only Jewel, the symbol of freedom and passionate moments, is a little closer to her
heart. The rest of the children are, according to her, “Anse’s children”, which shows the fascinating
complexity of this mother.
Addie is able to rationalise very philosophical and profound topics: she criticises how language is not
enough to express feelings and emotions “words are just words”. She is a woman of action.
Her idea of religion is also very straightforward: knowing Addie, the reader can easily guess that she
does not care about the place being buried: she just wants to die. She is not concerned with having
a religious burial: actually, she considers her sin as something positive. She feels much freer and
more assured in her position. She is proud of that sin: it has been her only moment of passion that
she has enjoyed in her all life.
In that revolutionary role of women, she is undergoing a spiritual crisis: even if she seems very
convinced of her unreligious focus in life, she is undergoing a process of change. The historical and
social moment outside her world is a very secluded space in which she cannot really develop her own
dilemmas and doubts. It is peculiar that Faulkner presents her lover as a religious man: this is the one
chosen to perpetrate the scene.
The main symbol associated to Addie is the coffin. From the very beginning of the story, Addie is
associated with it as a symbolic understanding of death: Faulkner depicts how an inanimate object
can be so much interiorised with the character.
• The role of the father
Anse is the male dominant figure representing the patriarchal system of the time in William
Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930). Regarding his role as a father, he develops an unnatural fatherhood:
he is always taking advantage of his children, using them with no love nor respect. It is not really
clear if physical violence is present in the story, but considering the historical and rural setting, it
could be predicted that it is also part of their lives.
At the end, he is the one getting the teeth. He is an effective manipulator and quite intelligent
character: he is perfectly adapted to his habitat using a practical mind. Anse is the real survivor of
that setting, and he is aware of his position in the world. If there is a winner in the story, it would be
Anse.
The main symbol attributed to Anse are the teeth. Those teeth represent how this figure is totally
decrepit and rotten, not only in the outside, but in the inside as well: this immorality in his objectives
and obsessions to get to Jefferson shows how this character is completely deteriorated. This is
represented by his teeth, which are so terrible in appearance. The importance of appearance in
order to enjoy life in some sense is also conveyed. Apart from being restored in the inside, he needs
to be restored in the outside to live a new life.
At the end, he achieves his objectives: he has his teeth and he has no problem in substituting Addie
with another woman.
He uses religion in a very hypocritical way: he is always mentioning God and those destinies
orchestrated by divinity. That combination of religious lines and un-education is also part of the
experimental technique employed by Faulkner: he is the main example of the employment of a
sociolect.
• Darl
Darl, one of the children in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930), is the main voice of the story.
Darl is the one that offers the most elaborated language: it is clearly perceived that Darl offers the
most educated way of speaking in contrast with the others. In terms of sociolects, Darl is the weird
one since he does not really fit in that social dialect. The social distinction between Darl and his family
seems quite wide.
The main symbol attributed to Darl is the fire as a regenerating force, which was Darl’s main
purpose. The climax of the story corresponds with the moment of setting fire to a barn: it is very
similar to a setting that could be related to Dante’s Inferno.
It is presented as a hellish atmosphere: Darl wanted to finish the trip, to regenerate in a cathartic
way as a person but also as a family, and to restore sanity and logic to that absurd situation.
Although at the end he is considered the mad one, he is also the perfect example of a rational mind:
he rises a lot of questions about identity and existence through the use of italics, Faulkner’s way of
expressing the most profound level of subconsciousness.
Insanity is presented through Darl as an attempt to rationalize death and as a way of showing
rationality through madness: it could be his only way to maintain sanity. At the end, Darl is shown
as a very complex character to dive in.
It could be said that Darl is the only evolving character of the story: he is the one out of the family
nucleus, but also the one who learns something. He personified a different way of understanding.
He provides some clairvoyant features: thanks to his intelligence and particular mind, he is able to
predict the future and jump in time. He can see what is happening in different parts of the village.
This is a way of praising the character and increasing his importance within the story.
• As I Lay Dying and the film
William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying tells the story of the Bundren family who travels to Jefferson to
bury Addie, the mother of the family. The story is told in individual sections, so the narration of the
story shifts from one character to another. This last feature is difficult to transpose when a novel is
adapted to a film. However, James Franco’s film adaptation in 2013 is a very accurate depiction of
Faulkner’s work.
Nonetheless, some differences can be established among both the narration and the film. For
instance, the moments before Addie’s death are represented through different sections and
characters in the novel, whereas in the film the tension is mainly focused on a shocking conversation
between Jewel and his father. Another difference which is worth mentioning is the narration of
Addie’s section; in the novel she recalls her days working as a teacher, how she met Anse, her affair
with the preacher, and her five births, while in the film she narrates her story briefly and focuses on
the idea of sin and her infidelity, praising Jewel as being her only favourite child. There are some
other changes such as the addition of a sex scene between Dewey Dell and Jefferson’s pharmacist or
the scene in which the doctor cuts off Cash’s leg.
All in all, the use of the split screen and double shots was a good attempt to preserve the essence of
the multiple narrators in the novel, although it could be confusing at times due to the overlapping of
dialogues. However, the film stays loyal to Faulkner’s work in the dropping of thoughts, which is one
of its main outstanding features. The river scene is the only active moment in the film, which
coincides with one of the climaxes of the written version (the other one corresponds to the fire of
the barn).
Ernest Hemingway - The Snows of Kilimanjaro
• Images of war and violence
Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936) portrays images of war and violence through
flashbacks, set in italics: there are different war settings that haunted Harry’s memories, especially
from WWI. There are references to Germany, Paris, and Constantinople (e.g. how the Turkish area
was also one of the main focuses of war). The flashbacks concentrate the most violent aspects of the
story. Hemingway is taking distance from the atmosphere of war, which was very present at that
time. Only the flashbacks are the vehicle of the war.
Williamson’s flashback tells the story of a soldier that was a mate of Harry in WWI. In this story, Harry
is the only witness of the suffering of this soldier. It portrays the only sign of Harry’s humanity in the
whole story. In this flashback, readers are provided with the only empathetic moment with Harry
since, in the whole story, Harry is presented as a very cruel personage: in this episode or flashback,
he is the opposite. Through Williamson’s eyes, Harry is presented as not so evil as he seems to be.
Violence is also present in the streets, in the way the police acts with people, prostitutes: the
atmosphere of the war in which soldiers tried to alleviate the pain of the moment, and how sex was
also part of that terrible violence, that is mainly portrayed through the flashbacks.
Italics are the main way to highlight the subconscious part of the story: this is why the flashbacks are
written in this way. They project Harry’s real self, fears, and desires: form and content go together
in the story.
Psychological and emotional violence towards Helen can be also perceived through the dialogues
(verbal violence), where it can be identified how language is completely punishing to her. Language
is the connector between Harry’s violence and Helen’s position as a victim. She does not really
represent the typical example of a passive woman: it is complex to identify her as a mistreated
woman, she is not that naïve or innocent. Harry, however, is perfectly embodying the figure of the
abuser. Also, she is depicted in the story as having sexual affairs: in that topic of sexuality, both Harry
and Helen are in the same way.
Harry blames her for being the guilty one of his lack of talent and the impossibility of him becoming
immortal.
The female role is presented as a negative figure in contrast to the male character. Hemingway is
suggesting that women are not positive for the growing movement of a writer and men in general.
Helen is presented as the one who decreases that talent: that obsession of Harry with becoming
immortal is also unprovided by the presence of Helen. If Helen did not exist, Harry would have been
able to achieve his objective.
Violence towards women in general can be also perceived. They are objects to be used for sex and
money (“love is a dunghill”, representing in a very visual way how Harry interprets love). Helen is the
wife because she is rich.
Hemingway also provides the reader with a psychological reassurance of masculinity: Harry feels so
weak in the inside. The author is launching the existential reinterpretation of masculinity, and what
a man should be.
• The writer and his work
Ernest Hemingway’s short story The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936) is considered as an autobiographical
story. Harry, the main character, is a clear alter ego of Hemingway. It is a cathartic way to unveil his
own insecurities as a writer. The author was completely obsessed with the idea of being an
exceptional writer, but also, to reach immortality.
In order to launch these ideas, the metaphor of the mountain is given from the beginning: mountains
are made up of plains and summit, where the immortal writers are. The Kilimanjaro is offering that
iceberg strategy, in which the visuality of the high and down parts are very clear. The summit is
obviously just dedicated to immortal writers: the ones that will be always remembered. The plains,
the land, is a vast piece of land with no altitude. The symbolic idea of the planes refers to the idea
that Harry and Helen live in the plains: the writer wanted to emphasize that he located himself as a
writer in the plains, although his dream was to achieve the peak. What Harry is dreaming about is
getting into the summit.
The dichotomy between laziness and security (the real Harry) versus creative impulse is also
perceived: Harry had the inspiration and the seeds to be a good writer but he preferred to go for
laziness and to live a secure life. The author had a lot of wives only as financial support for his
writings. However, Hemingway really became a legend in contrast to Harry. Maybe the writer at that
time was also completely unsatisfied with his own life and career.
The objectification of Helen as the guilty one changes along the story: there is a lot of evolution in
Harry’s mind. Harry considers himself as the guilty one, and in the next line he blames Helen,
portraying an ambivalence of blame. He does not want to accept the whole responsibility for this.
There are moments of anger and frustration, but at the very end he is accepting and desiring death.
A very regretful tone is used. He also laments about having wasted his good stories.
The flashbacks were the ways for him to suffer: he tried to eliminate all this suffering through
enjoying sexuality, Africa and its culture. These reveries are the reality that he does not want to look
at: they depicted the repressed subconscious.
• Treatment of death
The treatment of death in Ernest Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1936) is presented through
a circular structure: the first line of the text presents death. There is an immediate death from the
beginning of the story. In order to achieve this, the author employs the in-media res technique: from
the beginning of the story we are sure that the death is imminent and that there is no scape for that
eventuality. In media res demands a lot more of the reader: through the flashbacks the reader is able
to grasp the plot.
The story presents different but connected four types of death: the death of a body (physical death),
of a soul (existential death with reflective approaches), of a writer (professional death, which was
the most relevant one for Harry), and of a love (emotional death). The latter, nonetheless, is not
clearly depicted as a suffering: the reader does not feel that Harry is suffering from losing Helen
(contrary to her, who suffers because of his loss).
The treatment of death in this short story is developed through symbols (senses, animals, natural
elements) that foreshadow Harry’s death. Firstly, the odour of the gangrene is used to depict Harry’s
approaching death. Moreover, references to cold atmospheric conditions such as the snow, winter,
glaciers or ice, used in the firth flashbacks, are also clear representations of death.
Animal imagery is also used to depict Harry’s death: the leopard is used from the beginning as a
lonely animal, symbolising power, courage, bravery, rebirth, and immortality, something which could
mirror a legendary writer in a magnificent position reaching the summit. The death of the leopard in
the summit of the Kilimanjaro will be never forgotten. However, these are not the qualities
associated to Harry. He is associated with a hyena, an animal that feeds on the dead bodies and
leftovers of others (Helen), similar to Harry’s attitude towards women and the world. The hyena is
giving that meaning of predator of death: its way in the natural world is to have profit from the dead.
We can easily associate the human and animal world: how humans behave as animals when
approaching death, and how humanity gets closer to nature when the final moment comes. As
Hemingway tries to instil, reasoning is not that relevant.
The understanding of death in different cultures (African vs American and European traditional) is
expressed in a subtle way. Hemingway was trying to express that death is not the same in all cultures:
in Africa, death is a much more normal process, it is part of the life circle. In western tradition, on
the contrary, it is difficult to assimilate. The normalisation of death is much more understandable in
Africa. All in all, Hemingway was trying to deconstruct the drama of death through this short story.
John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
• Dreams and reality
The topic of dreams and reality in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1937) launches a contrast with
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and more specifically, with Gatsby’s dream. The dream of Gatsby was
connected with love: an obsession to obtain Daisy’s love. It was also connected with the idea of
having the enough money in the quickest time to maintain the appearance in a superficial society.
In the case of Of Mice and Men, the dream is not totally different but its features are not the same.
In both books, the American Dream is presented as a lie. Another coincidence is that both dreamers
(Gatsby and Lennie) find death (by being shoot) at the end of the story: the American Dream is so
fake that it could bring to death. They also believe in the dream until the very end: they are idealist
characters. In the case of Lennie, it is much more significant since George is repeatedly telling the
dream to Lennie trying to avoid the suffering.
Of Mice and Men portrays a rural American dream connected with land: the promised land of
freedom is connected to owning something. The discrimination between the different classes in the
novella is pointing out the importance of possessing something: that feature of possession is another
remarkable part of the American Dream. The American Dream could be versioned into different ways
of perceiving it due to the country’s enormous size and variety.
The structure of the line plot is presented in a coherent presentation of the events. The dream is
dominating the story from the very beginning. At the beginning, it is only shared by George and
Lennie: it means a tremendous nexus between them.
However, as the story progresses, it turns into a collective dream that would establish a free life, a
paradise for men protected from the cruelties of the world that could develop a sense of belonging,
since they were isolated souls. This definition of being collective gives much more power to the
dream itself. It is in chapter III, where there is room for other people to join George and Lennie’s
dream: Candy, Slim, and Crooks are firstly quite reluctant to the entrance of both characters, but
finally got attracted by their dream. Indeed, they prepared together a future, trying to build a sort of
bubble for themselves. At the same time, it seems that the dream could be attainable. The idea is so
basic that it is thought that it could be achieved. It was a socialist idea, like a commune. This is not
very common to find in the American dream since it is normally focused on the individual. For this
reason, it is presented as a way of salvation for the humanity.
However, as in most stories, the American Dream starts to be threatened by reality. One of the main
climaxes, the scene between Crooks and Curley’s wife, is an awakening moment for Crook but also
for the others: the one being the boss is the one having the power. Although she is also a frustrated
character, Curley’s wife imitates Curley in a very cruel way. She needs to reassure herself by using
her potential with another character that is in an inferior position. The second climax, where the
dream starts to disappear, is the moment when Lennie and Curley’s wife met in the barn and she is
accidentally killed by him.
Apart from the behaviours of the two bosses, reality is conveyed in the story through animal imagery
(snake, puppies, mice). This is evinced through the title itself. All the animal imagery is directed to
show the reality of the world: what Steinbeck wanted to contrast is that there is an animal world of
no compassion, no humanity; and a human world. The presence of puppies and mice suggest how
weak and vulnerable the human being is: not just Lennie. This contrast defined the real elements of
the story.
Finally, the animal world is the one who wins: there is no compassion for Lennie even if he is
handicapped. George has to assume the extreme decision of killing his best friend.
It could be inferred that the main conclusion of the novella is that only the fittest survive (connected
with Darwin’s theory): the ones that are strong will continue in life, whereas the weakest are
excluded. Regarding this, the exclusion of the outcasts should be mentioned: migrants, old people,
Lennie giving voice to the handicapped ones, black people, women (Curley’s wife, a person with no
name: as if she does not exist), or workers are the way in which Steinbeck wanted to give voice to
these excluded mistreated ones. The main characters are embodying the excluded part of society.
(Although they could be related in some way, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men only share the context, even though they are set in different places. The rural environment is
almost past through in Faulkner’s, since the psychological essence of the character is what is most
enhanced. In Steinbeck’s novella, we can acknowledge how rural live was in a detailed way. However,
the mind is not the focus.)
• Loneliness
Loneliness in John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men (1937) is directly conveyed by the name of
the village closed to the farm where the plot is mainly set: “Soledad”. The setting of the action is
placed in this village and is presented in Spanish since there is a quite-closed relation between
Mexico and California.
Moreover, the sense of loneliness is something that all characters in the story want to escape from:
George and Lennie construct their collective dream (loneliness does not exist when they are
together), and the minor characters use books (such as Crooks), prostitutes (the female depiction in
the novella is presented as temptations that deviate the life of the men), Candy’s dog, or flirting (in
the case of Curley’s wife) as ways of escaping from isolation.
It should be highlighted that George can choose to be alone but he does not want to: he consciously
decides to stay with Lennie. The other characters are alone because they have no choice.
Loneliness is one of main the reasons for the destruction of the dream. There is a misunderstanding
in personal relationships since they are not used to understand each other; there is no
communication or real dialogues among the people; and there is no expression of emotions or
feelings. Even George, who loves Lennie profoundly, is not able to express his emotions.
The end of the novella portrays that dreams are only possible in the imagination of innocent people
but friendship survives in its maximum and radical expression.
• Black and white relations
John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men (1937) covers in a very accurate way the historical context
of his time, particularly with his depiction of the discrimination between black and white people in
the USA. In fact, a whole section dedicated to giving voice to the black people, personified by Crooks,
is offered. This episode reveals the importance of black and white relations in the novella.
For a moment, Crooks thinks he could be part of something. Indeed, the only person that can talk to
Crooks in an innocent way is Lennie since he is the only one not following the rule of society. A sense
of team starts to emerge among the workers.
However, one of the main climactic scenes in the story is Crooks’ confrontation with Curley’s wife: it
shows how the real world of the weakest classes is not easy to be changed. Although she was also
an outcast due to her gender, the only person to which she could show her power off with was
Crooks. From this encounter, it could be perceived how small Crooks turns. At some point, he feels
he is part of the dream and he confronts Curley’s wife. It is a very brief moment of self-respect.
However, once he is mistreated by Curley’s wife, he went small. She is using the only power that she
has (the power of her class) to destroy Crooks: he is left with no ego, completely destroyed as a
person. Crooks accepts reality as it is (“Yes, ma’am.”). Curley’s wife is the winner in this dialectical
struggle.
However, both of them are victims of the system: the human thing would be to feel some empathy
between the two since they belong to the outcast. Crooks is so institutionalised in his role in the
world, that he accepts the way he is called (‘Negro’, ‘nigger’).
Albeit, Steinbeck is not showing a clear open criticism to the situation of these people at the time. It
is an example of literary realism in the description of the events. Nonetheless, the importance of
books is associated to Crooks: it shows his intelligence, although his sociolect shows his social
condition. With this association, the author may want to emphasize that Crooks is the one that reads
reality in the most honest way. Also, the fact that the main characters are embodying the excluded
part of society is something relevant to the way the author perceived this exclusion.
This scene is one of the moments that foreshadows the destruction of the dream: Steinbeck allows
the reader to predict that the dream is not going to be successful. From this moment of humiliation
on, Crooks abandons the dream since he has been faced with reality, learning the lesson of
acceptance.
It could be inferred that the main conclusion of the novella is that only the fittest survive (connected
with Darwin’s theory): the ones that are strong will continue in life, whereas the weakest are
excluded.
• Curley’s wife
In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men (1937), women are presented as a destruction to the
pursuing of a dream: Curley’s wife is indeed the reason of the destruction of the dream. In the first
place, she has no name: it is one of the reinforcements of her condition as an outcast in the story.
Moreover, there is no balance for femininity: it is a complete male world, and she is appointed as
the guilty one for the destruction of the dream. The environment depicted in the novella is terrible
for a woman, since it is a rural place in which women are forced to stay as a potential mother and
housewife, as an object and not a subject.
A duality of Curley’s wife as a character is presented: she is both a femme fatale and a victim. Firstly,
she is described as a sexy and attractive woman associated with the red colour that has the intention
of flirting. Steinbeck uses animal imagery, in this case, the serpent, in relation to Curley’s wife as an
allusion to the serpent imposing the sin, i.e. a temptation. Prostitutes are also depicted as negative
figures: they are a way to lose money. They are a sort of barrier for achieving the dream.
On the other hand, she is completely outcasted by gender, feeling the condition of victim for the
terrible husband that she has; she is frustrated for not achieving her own superficial American Dream
(to become a Hollywood star).
Curley’s wife’s death provokes nothing on the characters. When she dies, nobody cares for her. This
could be compared to the death of Myrtle in Fitzgerald’s Gatsby. However, the dream of Gatsby did
not directly finish with Myrtle’s death, whereas Curley’s wife’s death established the escape of
Lennie and therefore, the end of the dream.
Tennessee Williams - A Streetcar Named Desire
• The poker games
The poker games own a symbolic and pivotal function in Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named
Desire (1947): they depict how opposition between reality and illusion can be mirrored through a
table. Life is a game, and depending on the strategies and weapons employed, winners and losers
will be defined.
The play contains two main games. In the first one, Stanley is losing, while in the second one, he is
the winner.
The first game depicts the climax of the play, i.e. the violent outburst, pictured Stella as the prize to
be won. Stanley feels attacked in his own territory: he is the king of the game, but Blanche DuBois
appears now as the new queen. She has the possibility to win, since she is fresh air to a very closed
circle.
All the characters belong to that aggressive world in which control over women is totally normal:
Stella is adapted to the medium. She is obsessed with Stanley’s sexual figure. She is a submissive
character, totally involved in that toxic relationship with Stanley, and completely controlled by
desire. All is based on sexual domination.
Animal imagery (sounds of animals coming from the street) is also employed, symbolising how the
human world is turning much into the animal one. The behaviour of the humans shares common
similarities to the animal one: there is cruelty, male domination, and no compassion. The cruelty of
Stanley is too high that he needs to show off his power, although there is no real purpose when
behaving like that.
The second game portrays Stanley’s victory through different symbols and strategies: firstly, the
baby, meaning the future and as a motive for Stella to be with Stanley (Stanley and Stella, as a couple,
are going to have descendants: it means that this love is fruitful); secondly, Mitch as a manipulated
card for Stanley’s benefit (Mitch is Stanley’s best strategy); thirdly, by Stella’s submissiveness, which
is depicted in two clear images: Stella’s cry and at the end, how Blanche is abandoning the stage and
she just finished the play with a sexual image. The images of Stella being submissive are crucial to
understand the whole development of the story. Lastly, in order to make this victory explicit, an
expression used in poker game is used: ‘Seven card stud’, as a reinforcement of Stanley’s victory. It
is presenting a sexual air with the use of “stud”, meaning “horse”. The “seven card” can also be
understood as the seven characters of the story.
• The relationship of Blanche and Mitch.
Tennessee Williams’ Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) can be perceived as a dual
character: she is not a purely one-side personage. She is portraying the image of a femme fatal, but
also of a victim of that repressive system, finally being considered as a mad woman.
Blanche’s lifetime depicts her obscure past characterised by her husband’s suicide, the loss of the
family’s property (Belle Reve), the loss of her job as a teacher, and the affairs with young men. These
flashbacks into the past are introduced by music in the play (e.g. the Varsuvianna, the Blue piano).
The present-future lifetime does not differentiate with the previous one regarding the dark sides of
it. The rape portrayed the major consumption of Blanche: she is not only psychologically but also
physically destroyed. Stella’s rejection (she rejects Blanche since she does not want to believe in a
possibility of a relationship between Blanche and Stanley) and her final way to the sanatorium (the
last future for Blanche: she is out of the toxic circle of Stanley) together with her past, deliberately
mark Blanche as a traumatized character, something which leads to her insanity. She is completely
traumatized: she cannot establish a boundary between reality and illusion. Therefore, she is not able
to be adapted to the medium.
Blanche is also mirroring the vulnerability of female roles, as well as Stella. They are not only
emotionally but also economically dependent on men.
However, even though she could be regarded as a victim, there are moments in which Blanche is
presented as a femme fatale: she is not an innocent woman. Morally speaking, probably Blanche
finds lying as the only way of reaching her dream.
The play shows two antagonist concepts of love: Stanley and Stella representing brutal desire whilst
Blanche and Mitch represent the possibility of company and care. The main nexus between Blanche
and Mitch is the fact that both have loneliness as a central element in their lives. In fact, scene 6
portrays the possibility of love between Blanche and Mitch which depicts a distinct version of love,
not based on desire nor romance clichés. She pretends to belief in a second opportunity in life, in
‘purification’ (in considering the road not taken). Mitch represents this sort of purification for her.
She is emotionally dependent on men, which explains her destroy at the end.
However, in scene 9, Blanche’s dream with Mitch is shattered by Stanley. He is the one forcing the
change in Mitch. The consequences of Stanley’s intervention are Mitch’s absence in Blanche’s
birthday party, and his passivity at the end. Mitch is a weak character easy to manipulate. All the
innocent love that he feels for Blanche is broken down because of Stanley’s impertinence. Stanley is
a manipulative and controlling figure in all characters’ life, since he needs to win the play of his life:
he is not going to admit that Mitch would be better on Branche’s side.
• A Streetcar Named Desire and the film
Elia Kazan’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Names Desire (1947) in 1951 is very
theatrical oriented. It is considered one of the classics in Hollywood and a very influential movie.
Marlon Brandon, the actor playing Stanley, was the one that also participated in the performances
in the stage. He was also an actor on Broadway theatres.
Both the film and the play are able to transmit the spectator how desire could be violent, and how
these different representations of love are still important to tackle with due to its closeness to
today’s reality. Also, both represent how the consequences by traumatic experiences can be really
tremendous, especially through Blanche’s figure, in a very accurately way. In fact, the past really
controls the present of a person, and even the future. The tragic nature of the play is important to
maintain.
However, there could be established some differences regarding the setting, censorship, and the end
of the story. Firstly, Tennessee Williams set his play only at Stella and Stanley’s house, whereas the
film adaptation presents other scenarios such as the train station, or the casino. Moreover, Blanche’s
husband committed suicide in the play after having discovered her having an affair with another
man; in the film, on the contrary, Blanche explains that his suicide was due to his sensitive nature.
The end of the play is also a bit distorted by the filmic adaptation: the rape scene is omitted in the
film. Also, in the text, the final part clearly states that Stanley and Stella are together, reinforcing
their sexual attraction. However, in the movie, it is not clear if they stay together or not.
Music as a fundamental element in the story is respected in the film adaptation: in the same way as
in the play, it sets the atmosphere and illustrates the thoughts or feelings of the characters. For
instance, Blanche’s flashbacks are introduced by the Blue Piano or the Varsuvianna.
Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman 1949
• Social morality and capitalism
Social immorality and capitalism are one of the main themes regarding Arthur Miller’s play Death of
a Salesman (1949). Compassion is not important in this play. There are no really human values in the
business world, nor friends. The emotional parts are not present in a world where people are just
figures who have to deal with mortgages. The morality behind the play is that people cannot control
the development of their life: they are trapped by the capitalist system.
Loman, the surname, comes from “low man”, which could be represented as a possible antihero:
Willy is a normal person but at the same time, he is able to assume the role of the antihero when
committing suicide for obtaining the money for his son Biff.
The capitalist side of the play is represented by Willy’s philosophy of life, i.e. his false values as a
husband as well as a father. He is obsessed with getting rich and being respected. Willy seeks to get
rid of Charley, who depicts the world of reality, and to escape to the world of illusions, depicted by
his brother Ben. The system in which he is included as a salesman trapes him so much that he is not
able to accept the reality as it is.
The big metaphor of capitalism in the play is portrayed by Howard, especially depicted in the scene
he shares with Willy: ‘business is business’. He reinforces the inhumanity of the capitalist system,
which is just focused on figures and acts. In the whole way, people are the real victims of the system.
The vulnerability of workers is also depicted.
The greatest metaphor of capitalism and its immorality in the play is uttered by Willy, ‘A man is not
a piece of fruit’: the system will just use people to the maximum, and when they are not useful, they
will be rejected. The economic pressures (mortgages, debts, insurance) are also discussed as
potential reasons for insanity: they are presented as motives for committing suicide.
At the very end, a dramatic irony is found: Willy dies and the mortgage is paid (“We are free”), which
enhances the idea that by paying the house one person was at last free. The supremacy of the
material could be also highlighted: the interior side of the characters are hidden.
Death of a Salesman is not an attack on American values. It is, however, an exploration of the betrayal
of those values and the cost of this in human terms. The play questions the freedom of citizens in a
capitalist system. Willy Loman’s American dream is drained of transcendence. It is a faith in the
supremacy of the material over the spiritual.
• The role of the mother
Linda depicts the feminist interpretation of the ‘angel of the house’ in Arthur Miller’s play Death of
a Salesman (1949). The opposition between angels (Linda) and whores (The Woman, the girls in the
restaurant) is also present. The latter concerns a type of woman totally opposite to Linda’s behaviour.
There is a big contrast between her devotion for Willy and the one for her sons. Her love for Willy is
harder than her love for the children, depicting an unnatural motherhood. Linda defines herself
through Willy since she inhabits a world which offers her little but a supporting role; she is a
committed observer incapable, finally, of arresting his march toward oblivion, but determined to
grant him the dignity which he has conspired in surrendering.
Despite her practical common sense, she is persuaded that life begins when all debts are paid (‘We
are free’). It is she who uses the word “free” at the end of the play in which most of the central
characters have surrendered their freedom.
She is also a victim of Willy’s desperate egotism and of a society which sees his restless search as
fully justified and her tensile devotion and love as an irrelevance in the grand scheme of national
enterprise.
Linda is not an easy character to characterise: as stated before, she could personify a surrendered
observer, an active, or also a victim. Her main line is, however, ‘Attention must be paid’, where there
is an urgent cry for humanity that is, at the same time, conveying Arthur Miller’s voice.
• The death of Willy Loman
From the very beginning of Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman (1949), Willy had been
attempting to commit suicide. The focus of the death is the suicide: it could be interpreted both as
a victory or as a failure. The former due to his success in escaping from the capitalist system (once
the mortgage has been paid), and the latter being a victim of that system. In fact, at the end of the
play, most readers can emphasize with his figure.
The fact that no people attended to Willy’s funeral, shares some similarities with Fitzgerald’s Gatsby:
some of the features of both dreams are the same, since both pursue the American Dream and die
alone in the attempt.
Willy understood at the end that Biff loved him. This is the moment in which Willy acknowledges that
Biff deserves an opportunity, and the only one is to give Biff the money of the insurance. He wanted
to compensate Biff for the Boston episode and also as a sort of recognition for his failure as a father.
With his suicide, the idea that Willy has more value as a person when he is dead than when he is
alive is enhanced.
All in all, Willy can thus be considered a tragic hero who could not avoid his downfall and tragic end.
• The American Dream
Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman (1949) depicts two types of the American Dream personified
by its characters.
On the one hand, a dream that could be achieved by effort and hard work is personified by Uncle
Charley and Bernard (portraying the realistic depiction). They are honest characters, and they show
moral values: they are friends of the Loman family (in fact, they are the only attendants to Willy’s
funeral). They also offer help to Willy, although it is rejected. The Lomans, on the contrary, do not
show morality in the play.
On the other hand, a dream based on success, competition, and quick money is depicted by Willy
and Ben. They mimic the idealistic depiction of the dream. Ben is Willy’s alter ego; he represents all
the things that Willy could not achieve. He is the personification of adventure represented by the
trips to Alaska and Africa. The diamonds represent symbolically the importance of materialistic
issues. Ben contemplates the world as a jungle: a place to be explored. He is depicted as a fantasy
character and daydreamer. Ben is also perceived as the representation of the negative paths in life:
he conducts Willy to commit suicide. Thus, believing in success, competition, and quick money leads
the character to death: the reality of capitalism overcomes the dream.
During most of the play, Biff is also together with Willy in that dream based on success. Nonetheless,
Biff is the only evolving character at the end of the play: he is going to start a new life. Happy remains
as the flat character: he is indeed happy, believing in the false of the system. Linda also remains
trapped in the system, although she thinks she is at last free once they have paid the mortgage. Willy
dies believing in the American dream.
The Requiem offers a moral lesson: Arthur Miller wanted to be didactic, providing the story of Willy
Loman as an earthly issue that could happen to any person.

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ELENA MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ

Lit. Norteamericana s.XX

The Road Not Taken..........................................................................................................................3

The Mending Wall .............................................................................................................................5

T. S. Eliot The Waste Land.....................................................................................................................6

The sense of loss and decay..............................................................................................................6

Religious elements ............................................................................................................................7

Dos Passos ............................................................................................................................................8

The Big Money – Vision of America...................................................................................................8

F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (1925) .......................................................................................9

• Love affair between Gatsby and Daisy ............................................................................ 9

• The narrator (1925) ...................................................................................................... 10

• Dreams and reality (1925) ............................................................................................ 11

• Colour symbolism (1925) .............................................................................................. 13

• Women (1925) ............................................................................................................. 14

• The Great Gatsby and the film (1925) ........................................................................... 15

William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying ....................................................................................................... 16

• The role of the mother ................................................................................................. 16

• The role of the father ................................................................................................... 17

• As I Lay Dying and the film ........................................................................................... 19

Ernest Hemingway - The Snows of Kilimanjaro.................................................................................. 20

• Images of war and violence .......................................................................................... 20

• The writer and his work................................................................................................ 21

• Treatment of death ...................................................................................................... 22

John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men .................................................................................................... 23

• Dreams and reality ....................................................................................................... 23

• Black and white relations ............................................................................................. 25

• Curley’s wife ................................................................................................................ 26

Tennessee Williams - A Streetcar Named Desire ............................................................................... 27

• The relationship of Blanche and Mitch .......................................................................... 28

• A Streetcar Named Desire and the film ......................................................................... 29

Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman 1949 ......................................................................................... 30

• Social morality and capitalism ...................................................................................... 30

• The role of the mother ................................................................................................. 31

• The death of Willy Loman ............................................................................................. 31

• The American Dream.................................................................................................... 32

The Road Not Taken

The sense of loss and decay

The Big Money – Vision of America

PAST: ROMANTIC AND PURE LOVE

PRESENT: THE CHANCE OF THE DREAM , THEIR DATE

FUTURE: CORRUPTION OF THE DREAM, IT WAS A POSSIBILITY, BUT IT HAS ENDED

THE STORY THROUGH NICK’S EYES’

HE ELABORATES HIS OWN THOUGHTS CONCERNING THAT CORRUPTED SOCIETY

HE CHANGES INTO “WE” IN ORDER TO ADDRESS AMERICAN CITIZENS.

HE IS THE ONLY EVOLVING CHARACTER OF THE STORY (CONTRARY TO WHAT IS NORMALLY

3 different depictions of women through Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan.

SHE IS SUBMISSIVE TO TOM – ANTI-FEMINIST VERSION OF A WOMAN

• The role of the father

• The death of Willy Loman

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