All humans have dreams and goals for their future that they wish to one day turn into reality. Dreams are different for every person, and some dreams are bigger and grander than others, but they are all similar in the sense that humans live for dreams because they naturally yearn for a better future. Although many people achieve their ultimate goals during their lifetime, some people have dreams that are unattainable and doomed to failure. Two quintessential American novels, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, tell the stories of two young men full of hope and ambitious plans, Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield. These two utopian young men have impossible and inaccessible dreams; Gatsby desires to rewind his life so that he can enjoy it with his beloved Daisy instead of losing her in the war, and Holden wishes for time to stop completely so that he does not have to face the challenge of growing up and becoming adult in a cruel world. Company. Through the example of their two tragic stories, it is evident that humans often rely too much on their dreams, and when these vital dreams fail due to corrupt societies, they lose touch with reality and fall into despair and defeat. After finally reconnecting with the now married Daisy years after being separated by war, Jay Gatsby is determined to win her back and continue their relationship where they left off years before. Despite the odds clearly against him, as he is of poor blood and lower social status than Tom, Gatsby "threw himself into it with creative passion, adding to it all the time, adorning it with all the bright feathers that drifted.” in his own way. No amount of fire or cool can challenge what a man stores in his ghostly heart” (Fitzgerald 95-6). Ga...... middle of paper......the society around them, which is often corrupt and does not treat everyone fairly. Like their owners, dreams fail because society fails them. Dreams can be powerful and inspiring, but when taken too far, they can be toxic to happiness and even deadly in Gatsby's case. Reality, on the other hand, is always trustworthy, and it is wiser to simply accept and adapt to a society's flaws and imperfections rather than trying to combat them as Holden and Gatsby did. Both men were unwilling to give up their precious dreams, but in the end, that no longer mattered because society still took them and crushed them. The downfall of these two characters demonstrates the importance of keeping one's feet on the ground and never straying too far from the path of reality, because dreams alone cannot provide a sufficient basis on which to build a prosperous and successful life...