Ideals and Illusions: An Exploration of Universal Themes in 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Midnight in Paris' Zitian He 11th Grade

Powerful stories connect audience across cultures and communities by providing context-specific approaches to universal values; the effective use of form, symbols, and techniques allow the audience, in examining the text, to explore the values and experiences of other communities. F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, and Woody Allen’s 2011 film ‘Midnight in Paris’ both portray idealist pursuits and the simultaneous inhabitation of conflicting realities. In exploring these themes, the texts illuminate and convey ideas, values and attitudes of the composers and their communities, revealing and questioning cultural practices while sharing collective and individual experiences. While the composers arrived at similar conclusions, their differing approaches reflect the unique contexts that shaped their works.

Both Fitzgerald and Allen, in their narratives, affirm the pursuit of ideals through industry and abnegation. A member of the Lost Generation, Fitzgerald observed the moral decadence in post-war America as well as the increasing income disparity. In ‘The Great Gatsby’, the Buchanans represent the materialist, hedonist values that dominated the Roaring Twenties, while Gatsby, with his ‘colossal’ desire to...