nihilism

He uses profanity to express his dislikes, rejecting more socially acceptable modes of expression such as when he says " I had to keep getting up to look at a Goddamn map on the wall "(Salinger 20). His critical attitude towards people as well as the norms and mores of the society suggests that he has little or no use for either society or its norms and mores. He sees them as being " phony ", a characteristic that he detests. What he fails to realize however is that he himself is everything he hates.
             In The Great Gatsby the main character Jay Gatsby is bent on erasing his past in order to win back the girl of his dreams. He is desperately chasing after a false dream and his failure to realize this ends up causing his demise. His failure to accept the fact that he can't he cannot change the past causes him to deceive himself into thinking that he can attain the unattainable. He takes this obsession to the point that he declares to himself " I"m going to fix everything just the way it was before"(Fitzgerald 117). Gatsby is so caught up in his disguise that he completely loses himself in the lie. When describing his past experiences he tells them with such conviction no one is aware of the falsehood in his story. He tells of his life saying " I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe- Paris, Venice, Rome- he creates his character so well that James Gatz actually believes himself to be Jay Gatsby. This scenario is another key illustration of nihilism. It is the human's own capability of self-deception and failure to accept the reality of their lives that leads to the ultimate demise of the person. .
             Steinback's Of Mice and Men is the story of two friends that spend their life wandering in hope of finding a place of their own, A place where the two main characters, Lennie and George can call home. Although they try very hard to attain this goal, it seems as if it keeps on slipping through their fingers.