Comparing Women In The Great Gatsby And Of Mice And Men

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There’s a trope of women being labeled as property, careless, and destructive as it has been shown and written in many texts of literature- The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men are two culprits of this trope. Women are the downfall of the American Dream in Of Mice and Men as well as The Great Gatsby according to the Marxist Theory, for there is a commodification of women, such as Daisy and Curley’s wife, which add to the failure of the American Dream as both women are seen as property of another, which makes men have a desire to compete after as these women as they give status and value to the men. The women all have inspired and caused the death of the following men: Gatsby, Wilson, and George, and had also killed the American Dream the men …show more content…

Daisy’s dream was to marry Gatsby, but was destroyed as soon as he had left to go overseas to help with The Great War. Gatsby was also from a lower socioeconomic caste and wasn’t financially stable for Daisy, which ultimately left Daisy with no choice but to accept Tom’s marriage arrangement. She was really close to her dream, and in one scene, she almost had gotten away from the marriage with Tom. "Here, deares'." She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. "Take 'em down-stairs and give 'em back to whoever they belong to. Tell 'em all Daisy's change' her mind. Say: 'Daisy's change' her mine!'" (The Great Gatsby 82) She nearly makes it to her dream, but she stayed with Tom, becoming a part of his possessions and has to deal with his disrespect and tendency to cheat. Myrtle had wanted to become rich as well as advance to a higher social status away from the proletariatian lifestyle; only to be fooled into believing that Wilson was her ticket to this life which ended her in an unsatisfying marriage. Then Tom had entered her life and she had resurfaced the thought that she had a chance to get another ticket- which ended in her death as she thought Tom was driving the yellow car she had seen him in earlier that day when really it was Daisy. Curley’s Wife had wanted to become a famous actor. She says, "I tell you I ain't used to livin' like this. I coulda made somethin' of myself." ... "Maybe I will yet."... "Come there when I was a kid. Well, a show come through, an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. ... But the guy says I coulda. If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet." (Of Mice and Men 44) Instead of achieving her dream, she had gotten married to Curley, making her live on a farm for the rest of her life, which is pretty short as we know. They normally

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