Sometimes there are two novels that have the same theme, and sometimes they have the same plot, but in the case of the two novels, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the novel Goodbye Columbus, by Philip Roth they explore the same dynamics of the chase of the American dream. In both novels there are similar themes, they both use the idea of sex and money as a form of power. Both novels can relate to each other because the authors decided to show how the pursuit of the American dream may not always be a good thing, and how sex and money can cause problems in that pursuit. Overall in both of the novels the reoccurring theme of se