Narrators Role in Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and Kerouacs On The R

Narrators Role in Fitzgeralds The bulky Gatsby and Kerouacs On The RoadOver the last fifty years, since the release of On The Road in 1957,it has not been uncommon for critics to draw parallels betweenKerouacs semi-autobiographical novel and Fitzgeralds The GreatGatsby, released thirty-two years previously. It is for certain thatboth the novels parcel out many similar traits, both examine concepts ofAmerican ideals and The American Dream, both are heavily influenced bythe jazz age of the time, but nothing binds the novels finisher to oneanother than the authors use of the first person narrative and thatnarrators relationship with their leading character.It is perhaps the most common reading to see both Jay Gatsby and doyenMoriarty awarded iconic status by their corresponding narrators. Theconnotations concerning the epithet found in the very centre ofFitzgeralds title alone can bring an ikon to the readers mind ofone of historys great leaders, putting Gatsby in league withcharacte rs such as Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great, Peter theGreat and Frederick the Great. It would seem obvious from the titlethat Gatsby is one beheld with admiration and respect by the narrator.The relationship between Kerouacs Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty isoften viewed in a good deal the same light. The importance of Dean to Sal isvisible from his very first paragraph, where he states that, thecoming of Dean Moriarty began the part of my life you could call mylife on the passageway. Within a short time period, Sal allows his life tobe turned in a completely different direction by someone who isfundamentally a stranger. This willingness to uproot and follow somebodyelses lifestyle pays a great complim... ... with the door flapping, and roar off to the next availablespot, arc, pop in, brake, out, run.It would be easy to substitute the car in this instance with a womanto come up with a justifiable description of Deans military position towardswomen. Just in the way Sal adm ires and enthuses about his car-parkingabilities, describing him as, the most fantastic parking-lotattendant in the world Sal admirers and enthuses about his sex life.In 1991, Eagleton published an essay with a Marxist sentimentdeclaring that, much like Nick, Sal is suffering from ideology afalse consciousness that is imposed on them by the hegemonic socialorder. This adds to the consort between the two narrators concerningtheir feelings towards their leading characters in particular themanner in which they both admire the achievements made by Gatsby orDean in their adore lives.