An examination of the connection between F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The
Great Gatsby, and T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land,” reveals that
Fitzgerald transposes the meanings and motifs of “The Waste Land” to The
Great Gatsby. For instance, the poem begins with: April is the cruellest month,
breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing. Eliot sees the renewal of life
doomed from the beginning, as in the end it will die anyway. Similarly, in The
Great Gatsby, Gatsby tries to repeat the past and live his fantasy, yet he will
never be able to achieve it. In addition, another example is the physical
description and resemblance of both of the landscapes. In The Great Gatsby, the
valley of ashes, like Eliot'’ is a "waste land.” Eliot enters into the
barren land and describes how the roots “clutch” infertile ground,
desperately seeking to gain something out of nothing. The valley of ashes is
alike with its “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and
hills and grotesque gardens.” These descriptions suggest that no life forms
can ever exist in the harsh environment and that the waste lands offer no
forgiveness. The characters’ adrift nature is yet another example. In “A
Game of Chess,” the woman says despairingly: What shall I do now? What shall I
do? . . . What shall we do to-morrow? What shall we ever do? Likewise, Daisy
says in the first chapter: What’ll we plan? What do people plan? And once
again in chapter seven: What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon, and the
day after that, and the next thirty years? The actions of these women show that
they do not know how to manage their time wisely and they waste it. Finally, the
similarities between Owl-Eyes and Tiresias can be pointed out. Owl-Eyes has
these “enormous owl-eyed spectacles,” is blind, “but perceptive.” In the
same way, Tiresias is also blind, but he foresees all. Both characters represent
the eye of the mind. In conclusion, T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” is
influential to The Great Gatsby. Conversely, both of these fantastic works of
literature share many of the same meanings and motifs.