As stated in my last post, both Will Smith(right) and Jay Gatsby had strong father figures who helped them through their late teenage years into their lives as young adults. Will Smith’s father figure was Uncle Phil(left), is a big part of Will’s maturity and also helps him to realize the bigger parts of life just like Dan Cody did for Jay Gatsby when he took him around the world and taught him about the life he would face as well as making him culturally aware for the world ahead.
Uncle Phil helps Will to mature in the high school and understand the world as a young black man. Will is taught all the disadvantages of being a black man and how to combat these disadvantages that he will face. Not only does Uncle Phil teach him this, but he also serves as an example of how to thrive as a black man in the United States. We see this in The Great Gatsby through Gatsby’s relationship with Dan Cody. Dan picks him up from his job of labor on a lake and takes him sailing around the world teaching him life lessons and getting him in contact with people to help him advance quickly in New York society as well as his fortune when he passed away. Both of these mentors set up these young adults to have successful lives once they are on their own in the world.
Without the valuable lessons, advice and gifts these men gave to these young adults, they would not have become the men they grew up to be even though they still made their own mistakes.