There are many similarities and even more differences in the character Jay Gatsby, from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Cottard, from The Plague by Albert Camus.

International Baccalaureate World Literature

Kishan Patel

6th Hour

IB Language Y1

Similarities and differences between Jay Gatsby and Cottard

There are many similarities and even more differences in the character Jay Gatsby, from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Cottard, from The Plague by Albert Camus. Fitzgerald, when he wrote The Great Gatsby, he based it off of much of his own life, but also on how the American Dream had been skewed by the want for money. Albert Camus, in writing The Plague, created Cottard to add a slight twist of existentialism into the novel. Also, when first reading about Cottard, the reader is given some details of his character. “But Cottard was a silent, secretive man, with something about him that made Grand think of a wild boar. His bedroom, meals at a cheap restaurant, some rather mysterious comings and goings—these were the sum of Cottard’s days,” (Camus 53). The similarities between the characters will be discussed first, then the differences, and finally, a cultural viewpoint of American literature versus French literature.

When looking at the similarities between the characters Gatsby and Cottard, there are many, yet each one of those similarities is in a completely different moral viewpoint. The differences will be discussed after the similarities. First and foremost, the most prevalent similarity between the two characters is that both of them are criminals. Gatsby, in order to become wealthy, turns to illegally selling alcohol during the Prohibition. This is kept under a very thick veil in the beginning of the book, and the front side of Gatsby that is given is that he is a wealthy drug store chain owner, and a very generous person. He often throws extravagant parties and invites everyone (Fitzgerald). Now, when we look at Cottard, although his character in The Plague is a minor one, the amount of detail about him is extravagant. Cottard, like Gatsby, is a criminal, though nobody seems to know what he did before he moved to Oran. Perhaps what brings Cottard out into the light is the fact that he attempted suicide, which gets him sympathy, but also people just avoid him altogether, making him alone. He actually doesn’t mind this. “… not to say his mistrust of everyone he met,” (Camus 53), is referring to Cottard, and how he didn’t trust anyone he met. So when people just didn’t talk to him, he actually didn’t mind this at all, although he was always looking for new people to meet, and was very selective as to whom it was he befriended. When the plague hits Oran, Cottard makes a living by smuggling people out of the quarantined town of Oran, similar to Gatsby, who smuggled alcohol to people during the ban of alcohol. While Gatsby already had a huge mysterious, but almost prestigious reputation, Cottard was constantly trying to get ‘friends’ so that they could testify for him in his favor, should a need arise.

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Since these two characters have such vague similarities, they most certainly have much narrower differences. The greatest difference would be each characters’ sets of moral standards. Gatsby chooses a criminal path so that he could possibly woo his love, Daisy, into leaving her current husband and returning to Gatsby. Also, while Gatsby has all this money, he is constantly throwing parties for the benefit of others, as well as providing all of them with food, drinks, and anything else they may need (Fitzgerald). In contrast, Cottard does everything to either gain favors for himself, or to evade getting caught by the authorities. Also, towards the end of both novels, Gatsby, in a sense, dies for the person he loves, while Cottard tries to kill as many people as he can since the plague is gone. As we can see, both Gatsby and Cottard have very different morals, with Gatsby having the traditional ‘good’ morals, and Cottard having the ‘bad’ ones.

Finally, there are quite a few cultural differences in the way the two novels came about. Fitzgerald, when writing his novel, used much of his own life experiences to create the story, and the characters. Also, he really wanted to let the American people know what they had done to the traditional view of the American Dream. He showed, through Gatsby’s character, that once, in the past, the American Dream was to be successful through hard work and truthfulness. Now the American Dream had disintegrated to what Gatsby had become which was to get rich, as fast as you could, so you can basically do whatever you wanted to. We learn of the old James Gatz after Gatsby dies when his father comes and brings Gatsby’s old schedule. He used to be a very hard working and busy man, and from inferences from the book, after he fell in love with Daisy, went off track and his view of the American Dream was then skewed (Fitzgerald). Camus, when he wrote The Plague, made it very obvious that he is in fact an atheist, especially when he mentions on numerous occasions that the plague doesn’t just pick the ‘bad’ people, but that it is completely random. Cottard represented the character who doesn’t pity others. He also represents the type of mentality many people have, which is to look at other people’s misfortune to either find peace within or have everyone else feel the same way as you do (Camus). Now, when we look at both books overall, Fitzgerald was trying to show the American people what they had done, and basically trying to bring awareness to the situation, whereas Camus, in writing The Plague simply meant it to be representative of the French mindset at the time which was very existentialist due to the French surrender during World War II.

So, in conclusion, though there are multiple similarities in the character of Jay Gatsby and Cottard, the differences are far greater, and even the similarities are circumstantial. Jay Gatsby, while being a criminal, tried his best to help people, and even died for his love, while Cottard, also a criminal, lived for himself, and wanted everyone to be at his level in life, not ever succeeding. Finally, both authors wrote their novels in their respective countries, each for a different purpose, yet each were written around the same time period. This just shows how different culture is from country to country, and how much the current circumstances influence culture.

Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Plague. First Vintage International Edition, 1991.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1953.