How do writer's present the same themes in different ways?

Both 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Grapes of Wrath' explore themes of class division and poverty. The context of 1930's and 1920's America is important to note, the former during The Great Depression where unemployment was rampant, and the latter during the 'Roaring 20s' where new money emerged. In both texts, the working class yearn for money, however in The Great Gatsby, through the character of Myrtle, it is presented as superficial and pathetic, and her death so dismissive that it reflects on the uncaring attitude of the era as a whole. Steinbeck's narration, on the other hand, is wholly empathetic with the working class. They are presented as honest and hard working people who face cruelty unfairly, something that is seen as an attack on the Puritan principles America was founded on. As they suffer, so does the land - 'the smell of rot fills the country'. Here, the text elevates the suffering migrants by correlating their survival with that of America's moral degeneration.