The attempt to capture the American dream is a theme in many novels, and that is no exception when it comes to The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome. Jay Gatsby, the central figure in The Great Gatsby, had the American dream that he could acquire happiness through wealth and power. Ethan Frome, the main character in the Edith Wharton novel Ethan Frome, is a man who wants to acquire happiness through his marriage with Zeena. …showed first 75 words of 561 total…

…showed last 75 words of 561 total…world of silence. Both men duplicate their problems by starting lives with Daisy and Mattie. Both men have fates, Gatsby's was to die and to be with Daisy, and Frome's was to be with Mattie. Jay Gatsby and Ethan Frome both live out their American Dream. Everybody has a dream no matter what it is, and everybody strives to fulfill it and that is what Jay Gatsby and Ethan Frome did in these two novels.