Gatsby:
Jay Gatsby is best represented as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West because both delve into the tragedy and beauty of chasing illusion. Gatsby’s chasing of wealth in order to acquire Daisy is mirrored in Kanye’s excessive, emotional presentation of the void of fame. Songs like Power and Runaway are tales of alienation and broken dreams, mirroring Gatsby’s loneliness and fated love. Both unveil the emptiness behind the American Dream.
Daisy:
Daisy would be best defined by Lorde’s Pure Heroine because both depict a beautiful outside hiding emotional remoteness and unspoken disillusionment. Daisy lives in beauty and comfort but is trapped and discontented by social conventions similar to how Lorde narrates her album in which she condemns celebrity, money, and fame in hits like Royals and Tennis Court. Both Daisy and Lorde are aware of the illusions surrounding them but continue to be bound by them. Daisy, as much as the album, is a female voice between privilege, powerlessness, beauty, and grief but is simultaneously passive and emotionally detached. Pure Heroine captures her interior sadness and the cost of existence based on the way she presents herself.
Tom:
Tom suits L.A. Woman by The Doors as both embody violent masculinity, entitlement, and resistance to change. The blues tone of the album depicts Tom’s aggressive nature and decayed old-money entitlement. Songs like Crawling King Snake and The Changeling reflect his obsession with control and growing fear of losing it. The title song implies a gaudy but decaying world, much like Tom’s narcissistic lifestyle and moral decay. L.A. Woman photographs his poisonous charisma and clinging grip on power he is losing.
Nick:
Nick fits The Bends by Radiohead since both incorporate the themes of identity, alienation, and moral disillusionment. As both an insider and outsider, Nick is attracted to wealth but is emotionally disconnected from it, much like the tone of the instrumentals of the album. Tracks such as Fake Plastic Trees demonstrate his disillusionment with the empty lives of the upper class, while High and Dry demonstrates his struggle with emotional exhaustion. The novel captures the psychological shift of Nick from the silent onlooker to the one heavily affected by the void surrounding him, ultimately uncovering the cost of a shallow and self obsessed society.
Jordan:
Jordan resonates with Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey because both convey an image of a glamorous, emotionally detached woman navigating a world of wealth and fantasy with sophistication. Jordan’s charm, independence, and moral ambiguity mirror the album’s dark tone and detachment themes. Songs like Shades of Cool encapsulate her aloofness and seductiveness, while others like Brooklyn Baby depict her rebellion against feminine societal constraints. Both Jordan and the album share subtle rebellion, emotional reserve, and a refusal to fully open themselves up which gives off a gracious yet evasive tone.
Myrtle:
Myrtle is represented the best by Lady Gaga’s The Fame since both represent the glamorous yet destructive pursuit of fame and status in an appearance driven society. Myrtle tries to rise above her working class life through glamour, imitating the wealthy and clinging to Tom Buchanan, as the album does with themes of consumerism. consumerism and spectacle themes. Singles like Beautiful, Dirty, Rich tell of her rebellious fantasy, and Paparazzi of her desire to be seen and admired by the rich. Both the album and Myrtle’s tale tell of the other side of chasing illusion where chasing identity and visibility instead leads to disillusion and tragedy.
George:
George embodies American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash, since both George and the album contain emotional men dealing with loss, sadness, and religious despair. George’s isolation and mourning over Myrtle, and eventual moral breakdown resonate the somber and vulnerable tone of the tracks on this album. like Hurt and The Man Comes Around. The simple production of the album and focus on mortality echo George’s emotional breakdown and pursuit of justice. Both George’s personality and Cash’s music are mirrors of eachother as they are gloomy explorations of suffering, spirituality, and the torture of being overlooked in an uncaring world.
