Comparing Success In The Great Gatsby, Frost, And Cohen
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Everyone strives to be successful in life, but what does it mean to be successful? That definition varies from person to person, based on their personal goals. While these goals are all different, there are many similar paths to success. The works of Fitzgerald, Morrison, Frost, and Cohen all offer guidance toward achieving success. These works show success extends beyond wealth, requires one to take advantage of every opportunity and to expand their goals.
Success is not based on the amount of wealth you’ve concurred. While money and status can dictate the success in others’ eyes, they does not define success. For instance, money doesn’t lead directly to happiness. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is the epitome of wealth, but was wanting “...to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving daisy”(132). He tried to use money to appeal to Daisy, but in the end money could not fill the hole left by Daisy. In Toni Morrison’s Rutgers commencement speech, she suggests “personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice, [is] more than a barren life, it is a trivial one. It’s looking good instead of doing good”(Morrison). Her words justify that having…show more content… Usually, there is only a small window of opportunity to accomplish a goal. Whether you're going after a new goal or a lifelong dream, it is important to make the most of every opportunity. In Friday Night Lights the Permian team “...got one year, one stinkin’ year to make some memories… it’s gone after that”(Cohen). They only had one season to reach their goal of winning the state championship. In order to reach their goal, they had to make the most out of their one season. According to Robert Frost in Nothing Gold Can Stay, “Natures first green is gold/… But only for an hour/… Nothing gold can stay”(Frost). His words corroborates the idea that the greatest things can’t