Celebrities, whether they are musicians, athletes, Tik Tok-ers or even criminals, are famous for a  reason. Depending on which celebrities you follow, you may have seen them fall from great heights to depressing lows. 

No matter what era a celebrity is from, a lavish lifestyle usually comes with success stories, temptations and lust. In the 1925 novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a billionaire who gained his wealth from attempting to save a man in a storm, Jay Gatsby, experiences all three. The lavish lifestyle and tragedies of fictional character Jay Gatsby resemble that of a 21st-century celebrity Kanye West. Besides both men being self-made billionaires, what else do these men have in common? Due to the time periods these two are from, most people would think only the money, however, these two have the same college stories, similar types of people in their lives, and are even viewed the same by society. 

Going to college is a respected route to take for those who want to enhance their learning and become rich. However, both Kanye and Gatsby decided that college was not for them–Kanye decided to drop out of the University of Chicago State after only one year to pursue music, and Gatsby dropped out of Oxford after only two weeks. Both men’s decisions resulted in more success than either would have reached by graduating college. Kanye’s album, “College Dropout,” blew up, and Gatsby met and impressed millionaire Dan Cody on a yacht. Both men’s careers took off from there. With Kanye gaining a taste of the limelight and Gatsby having Dan’s money stolen from him, money and fame became the principal goal in the lives of both men. 

Money and fame were the focus of Kanye and Gatsby until love came into both of their lives. All the parties, cars, houses and fame Gatsby accumulated were not for him, but to gain the attention of Daisy Buchanan who became the light of Gatsby’s life and eventually his obsession. In the life of the Great Kanye West, Kimberly Noel Kardashian entered his life. Seeming to put on the famous shoes of Jay Gatsby, Kanye put music, fame and “clout” to the side to focus on establishing a family with his newfound love. 

Not all stories have a happy ending. Even though Kanye’s is not over, his image in the eyes of society and family life has fallen to shambles. Daisy left Gatsby to stay with her husband, Tom, and Kim divorced Kanye, leading to a 9 month stint with Pete Davidson. Ironically enough, Tom and Pete are both around the same age as Gastby and Kanye, and have both obtained large sums of money. Gatsby is portrayed as being an older gentleman through his use of vocabulary, such as “old sport,” even though he uses the term to make himself sound more sophisticated, something Cody had taught him. As for Kanye, he was recently referred to as a “dinosaur” by Kid Cudi who may be younger than Kanye, but referenced his decline in popularity and not his increasing age.

Both Kanye and Gatsby show that money cannot buy happiness. In the instances of both these men, the things they obtained because of fame and money only lead to the eventual demise of themselves and/ or their relationships with their peers.