Journal 21

                                                                                              

Journal 21 - Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby Comparison/Contrast

Although Some Like It Hot is a comedy and The Great Gatsby is a tragedy, both works use popular culture to portray life in 1920s America.  Focusing on the following elements (characterization, conflict, and theme), discuss how the two works are similar and different and what each is saying about American life.

Some Like it Hot and The Great Gatsby both focus on America during the roaring 20s and American culture at the time. There are many similar characters, themes and ideas. For example each character in Gatsby can be matched to similar characters in Some Like it Hot. Joe and his three personas are similar to Gatsby and how Gatsby would do extreme things in order to get his girl. Sugar is similar to Daisy in her innocence and personality. They are both looking for men with money and success and are easily impressed by it. Osgood is kind of like Tom where he relies on his success and money in order to get girls. Finally the character of Spatz is similar to Wolfstein in Gatsby, they both represent the influence of crime in America.

The two stories have very similar themes and conflicts as well. In both stories the characters have very skewed moral values. They are attracted to people due to money and often are unfaithful to their marriages, they will even use trickery in order to attract others. A lot of both stories involve chasing after a “dream girl” and doing ridiculous things in order to achieve success. All in all both stories portray the decadence and skewed morality that could be found in 1920s America along with the beauty and success of the time.