This period of women's liberation saw young women with short hair and increased freedoms. What Makes the great Gatsby by F.S Fitzgerald Great? Journal of Education 1.2(2012): 73-78. Understanding what the world was like during the time the novel is sethelps you in all sorts of ways: Figuring out an author's assumptions. Since speakeasies were already side-stepping the law, they also became places where people of different races and genders could mix and mingle in a way they hadnt previously while enjoying new music like jazz. The aim was to provide a vivid description of the rebelliousness that is associated with the youths of the time. Why is Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby a Satire? Cars are tools of recklessness, danger, and violence - there are several car accidents in the novel, the most notable of which is when Daisy runs Myrtle over and kills her in. Fitzgerald incorporates the topics surrounding his era into this classic of the American Dream, the contrasting cultures of the Midwest and East, the struggles under Prohibition, and the immoral behaviors exemplified throughout the nation. "They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together." In both cases, the marriages seem to be unions of convenience or advantage than actual love. You need wealth, the more the better, to win over the object of your desire. "She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Daisy's decision illustrates how few choices many women had during that timespecifically, that marrying and having children was seen as the main role any woman, but especially a wealthy woman, should fulfill. He is a self-made man (in all respects) and as such, is admirable. The concept of the American dream as developed in chapter nine of The Great Gatsby revolves around the concepts of moral values that have been used to pursue happiness. Myrtle's character reveals how precarious social climbing is, how materialism is not actually a path to happiness/virtue. The Great Gatsby. In addition, Gatsby himself also perfectly personifies one who represents all things pertaining to the American Dream: wealth, happiness, and prosperity; he is able to attain his success while chasing after his perfect girl, Daisy. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." The Great Gatsby takes place during a time that's now known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring 20s. Gatsbys dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its objectmoney and pleasure. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols sufficiently to give the novel a more vivid description of the American culture. Luckily, FreeBookSummary offers study guides on over 1000 top books from students curricula! (See our article on this novel's publication and reception history for more.). This provision made them perceive themselves as equal to men. This began during WWI as more women began to work to make up for the men fighting abroad, and as more professions opened up to them in the men's absence. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the culture of materialism and greed amongst people in the higher social classes. This is encapsulated in a phone call Nick describes, to a man who used to come to Gatsby's parties: "one gentleman to whom I telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Although many previous events eventually influenced the 1920s, there are two crucialpieces of background history that you have to know. He further states that people who came to the party in Gatsbys house arrived and left in the fashion of months. The aftermath of this desire was the American dream that entailed the search for riches, equal opportunity, independence, and devotion. But even Gatsby, who makes an incredible amount of money in a short time, is not allowed access into the upper echelon of society, and loses everything in trying to climb that final, precarious rung of the ladder, as represented by Daisy. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. (Of course, the primary support for these arguments should come from the text itself!) His desire entails acquiring all that is available at disposal. Published in 1925, the book is not only an important work of English-language literature, it is an excellent period piece that displays the social, cultural, and political tensions of the 1920s . One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the countrys richest families. No one comes due to close personal friendship with Jay. (2022, August 12). Myrtle explains that she married George because she thought he was a gentleman, suggesting she hoped hed raise her class status. He tells Tom Buchanan after finding out about Myrtle's affair that he plans to move her West, but he "[needs] money pretty bad" in order to make the move (7.146). They even went to the extent of assimilating masculine ways and fashions into their lifestyles. . Gatsby 's car, outsized and ostentatious, represents Gatsby's flamboyant gestures, love of the material world, and huge capacity to dream. George Wilson, in contrast, is constrained by his lack of wealth. No one has time to read them all, but its important to go over them at least briefly. Only the most affluent couple pulls through the events that conclude the book. In fact, Nick says. The values totally changed instead of striving for equality, people - just wanted to get as rich as they could. Myrtles affair with Tom is her approach of taking advantage of him to reach an extravagant lifestyle, Daisy allows Gatsby to take the blame for Myrtles death without regret, and Gatsby changes his whole name and way of life in order to feel personally accomplished; all eventually realize that the happiness they expected to receive in the end resulted in misery, especially with the deaths of Myrtle and Gatsby. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. Excited to dive in? No people in The Great Gatsby get rich by working hard. Myrtleboth working class and a womanis thus trapped between a rock (her gender) and a hard place (her lack of money), and perhaps for this reason receives the cruelest treatment of all. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. We will write a custom Term Paper on American Culture in the Novel The Great Gatsby specifically for you for only $11.00 $9.35/page. Want the complete lowdown on Jay Gatsby's rags-to-riches story? Women were granted the right to participate in voting. Nick Caraway, a native of Minnesota and an advocate of Midwestern values, narrates it in the first person. When you combine this level of mass destruction with the fact that most of the war was a territorial stalemate (no army advanced, no army withdrew - they were just locked in a horrible tie), it's easy to see how unaccountable the 40 million deaths the war caused were. Learn more about how The Great Gatsby was received when it first came out, and also read about the life ofits author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. (7.103-106). ), happiness, or family. Being dishonest makes her (Jordan) incredibly uncomfortable with life. Perhaps this attitude was tempered at Yale, where he would have been surrounded by other ultra-wealthy peers, but in any case, Nick's cynical, sarcastic attitude seems to be a cover for jealousy and resentment for those even more wealthy than him. IvyPanda. The American Dream refers to a shared set of ideals that guide the spirit of the United States. "They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. Of course, this did little to actually stem the desire for alcoholic beverages, so a vast underground criminal empire was born to supply this demand. Nick, meanwhile, dates Jordan Baker throughout the book, and though their relationship has its moments of warmth and kindness, both parties generally seem lukewarm and emotionally distant. Despite the fact that only few women precisely fitted this description of 1920s flapper, such a description was common in the media. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? . WWI was a war of trench warfare, chemical weapons, shrapnel artillery, and other gruesome technologies that had never been seen before. Scherer, Frederick, and David Ross. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Another post-WWI developmentwas the Harlem Renaissance, acultural, social, and artistic flowering among African Americans that took place in Harlem, NY, during the 1920s. As Caraway describes the nature of Gatsbys parties, it is clear that even though Americans enjoyed prosperity that was associated with the jazz age, they also feared its social implications. Wealth, Class, and Society Print. A new version of the dream emerged. The rising immorality also explains the cultures of loosening morals in The Great Gatsby. You can thus compare three very different women's experiences to explore how moneyor a lack thereofseems to change the possibilities in a woman's life in early 1920s America. In contrast to 19th century writing that tended to reinforce the status quo, modernism rejected old-fashioned ideas like heroism and moral certitude. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Scott Fitzgerald mentions in her novel an incident of prohibition of sale and the production of liquor to tame youths who had become overindulged in alcoholism. As such, theGreat Gatsby era is theperiod in 20th century U.S. history nicknamed both the Roaring 20s and the "Jazz Age." It took him about two and a half years to write and edit it, in between a failed play production, financial struggles, and a move to France. According to Zeitz, 1920s marked an era in which Americans began to reap from the benefits of increased consumerism (21). However, despite her airs, she matters very little to the "old money" crowd, as cruelly evidenced first when Tom breaks her nose with a "short deft movement" (2.126), and later, when Daisy chooses to run her over rather than get into a car accident. creating and saving your own notes as you read. They have an immense belief in the capacity of money to make them look superior to other people who are short of it. Jordan is direct and critical all while being collected and intelligent; she defies the typical standard of the effervescent, submissive women of her time and instead represents a new breed of women, all standardized by the future of American prosperity and affluence. To Nick, the way that Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby line up morally correlates with their geographical choice of lifestyle (The Great Gatsby Novels 73); in other words, Nicks unsophistication and simplicity reflect his admiration for the Midwest just as Toms, Daisys and Gatsbys materialistic and immoral behaviors mirror their affinity for the fast-paced life of New York. This implied that people had substituted responsibilities that were done by hand such as maintenance with technology such as vacuum cleaners and washing gadgets. By such suggestions that Gatsby was a product of his culture, Nick is able to praise Gatsby for the integrity of his belief . board with our, See We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of The Great Gatbsy book and movie adaptations. The son of deprived farmers, Gatsby had built himself up from practically nothing, and he sprang from his Platonic conception of himself into a man who truly represented the American Dream (Fitzgerald 98). | In The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald documents these changes through an in-depth exploration of cultural changes such as the rise in consumerism, materialism, greed for wealth, and the culture of loosening morals in the 1920s American society. The overindulgence is perhaps well reflected in The Great Gatsby in Gatsbys parties that are analogous to those that were thrown by the American youths in the 1920s. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. Nevertheless, it was still very much frowned on, and being a housewife and having fewer rights than man was still the norm in the 1920s. Subscribe now. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? . This paper discusses these aspects as essential constituents of 1920s American culture as revealed in The Great Gatsby. . LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Great Gatsby, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Selling alcohol was accomplished in many ways, including throughspeakeasies - basically, underground social clubs. Gatsby never stands a chance of succeeding with his attempt to win back Daisy, who is a part of that society and of a different status. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike. Summary. We touched on this a bit with the quotes, but all of the characters can be analyzed from the point of view of their wealth and/or how materialistic they are. Nick's love of Manhattan as a diverse melting pot is illustrated by the appearance in. She has it exceptionally clear in her mind that her success is not honestly acquired, and that it can depart from her any time. But, in 1917, the U.S. was pulled into the fighting, fearing an alliance between Germany and Mexico. Get professional help from PrepScholar. F. Scott Fitzgerald, though he didn't actually see any fighting during his time in the army, was a member of this generation. This situation resulted in corruption of the ideal American dream. 1. Similarly, modernism writers experimented with form and style rather than sticking with traditional forms of prose and poetry. Gatsby was Fitzgerald's third novel, and in writing it, he consciously set out to write something more artistic and creative than his previous two books. The amendment came close to eventually being ratifiedin the 1970s, but was defeated by conservatives. Nick and Gatsby live in this community. Developing a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. She was not able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness, supposedly she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was unusually young in order to keep that fresh insolent smile turned to the world, and yet satisfy the demands of her hard jaunty body (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 63). SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. In addition to the perception of the American Dream, the opposing cultures of the Midwest and Eastern regions of the United States are depicted by Fitzgerald and embody the characters morals. Dont have an account? True to the spirit of the times . Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Money and materialism in the plotKey quotes about money/materialismAnalyzing characters via money/materialismCommon assignments and analysis of money/materialism in Gatsby. Characters such as George and Toms wives exemplify the rebellion that is characterized by dwindling moral standards. Check out our articles onGatsbys title, its opening pages and epigraph, and itsfirst chapter. Suppose you wanted to analyze the importance of cars in The Great Gatsby. Detroit: Gale, 1997. As such, the Great Gatsby era is the period in 20th century U.S. history nicknamed both the "Roaring 20s" and the "Jazz Age." The first nickname points to America's post-WWI economic prosperity and the country's greater influence abroad. (In a uniform she had no idea he was poor, especially given his sophisticated manners). Development Arrested. Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby in the Roaring Twenties, an era largely influenced by gaudiness, independence, and corruptness, which is immediately reflected in the central characters. But since Daisy is flighty and inconsistent, Gatsby's comment also suggests that wealth is similarly unstable. On the other hand, its horrific death toll and seeming meaninglessness forever dispelled the idea of war as noble and glorious. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. At the time when the novel takes place, the U.S. was in the middle of a tremendous economic boom and a soaring stock market that seemed to be on a permanent upward swing. Daisy, for her part, only begins her affair with Gatsby after a very detailed display of his wealth (via the mansion tour). Want to write the perfect college application essay? Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. Interested in the other ways that The Great Gatsbyera matters to the plot of the novel? After all, if even wealth on the scale of Gatsby's can't buy you entry into America's highest social class, what can? Daisy is coercive and manipulative. Daisy maintains her "old money" status by marrying a very rich man, Tom Buchanan, and ultimately sticks with him despite her feelings for Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Age of Excess. Ask questions; get answers. For example, it's all well and good to assume that Daisy should leave the boorish Tom, but divorce would have been way more complicated for a woman in the 1920s than it is today. Daisy and Jordan are both old money socialites, while Myrtle is a working class woman married to a mechanic. In the era of writing The Great Gatsby (1920s), America had experienced an immense economic growth. The Great Gatsby reflects the emergence of a culture of increased consumerism that is driven by increased economic prosperity. Gatsby and his associates such as Wolfsheim engage in illegal dealings (Silver Para. Cars are clearly used to display wealth and status - even Tom, normally secure in his superiority, wants to brag to George Wilson aboutthesuper-fancy Rolls Royce heborrows from Gatsby. This pessimism is also reflected in the fates of Myrtle and George, who are both trying to increase their wealth and status in America, but end up dead by the end of the novel. On the one hand, it elevatedthe U.S. into a world super power and ushered in a decade-long economic boom. Show how each instance reveals Tom or Daisy's carelessness, and how those instances thus foreshadow the bigger tragedyMyrtle's death at Daisy's hands, followed by Tom's manipulation of George to kill Gatsby. The book will always be considered a great classic in American literature for its exceptional plot and the themes it conveys. This claim suggests that 1920s were marked by the coming out of an impatient society that was led by the adolescents who opposed honorable margins that were constant in the previous age group. And furthermore, Daisy's willingness to stay with Tom despite his affairs underscores another aspect of women's roles during the 1920s: that divorce was still very uncommon and controversial. In this sense, better economic fortunes in America, together with the rising mass production in the 1920s normalized the culture of consumption so that products that were consumed by the wealthy members of the society became now affordable to persons in the lower social economic classes. The first nickname points toAmerica's post-WWIeconomic prosperity and the country's greater influence abroad. If you understand this combination of progress and traditionalism for women's roles, you'll find it on display in The GreatGatsby: Women's suffrage parade in New York City. For the first three years, the U.S. remained neutral, instead profiteering from the war by selling supplies toboth sides of the conflict. Nick laments, I stared at (Wilson) and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before-and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 158). Economically, there was an increase in working women. Many of them cannot proactively grasp the concept of working hard to build their material wealth base. Even though he wasn't able to inherit any part of Cody's fortune, he used what he learned of wealthy society to first charm Daisy before shipping out to WWI. While Gatsby, Myrtle, and George all end up dead, Tom and Daisy get to skip town and avoid any consequences, despite their direct involvement. Cars also now created a totally new danger, particularly in combination with alcohol consumption. Gatsby admits this fact (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 127). Don't leave your college application to chance. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. So while Daisy is materialistic and is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth, we see Gatsby is drawn to her as well due to the money and status she represents. In 1920, the U.S. passed the 18th Amendment, outlawing the production and sale of alcohol. Modeled after his closest friend and mentor, Dan Cody, who also. The description of Gatsby's parties at the beginning of Chapter 3 is long and incredibly detailed, and thus it highlights the extraordinary extent of Gatsby's wealth and materialism. Daisy herself is explicitly connected with money here, which allows the reader to see Gatsby's desire for her as desire for wealth, money, and status more generally. 4.2 'Aspiration' in The Great Gatsby and 'American Dreams' 4.3 Comparing representations of 'aspiration' in the texts Chapter 5 Comparative study option 2: Human progress 5.1epresenting the concept of 'human progress' R 5.2 'Human progress' in Hidden Figures and poetry by Kathy Jetil-Kijiner Colonizers arrived in the US with similar dreams of a healthier life for all people. This analysis can enrich an essay about old money versus new money, the American dream, or even a more straightforward character analysis, or a comparison of two different characters. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, presents a critical portrait of the American dream through its portrayal of the 1920s New York elite. Read more about those symbols for a fuller understanding of how money affects The Great Gatsby. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? In the era of writing The Great Gatsby, cultural conventions, which were perceived as out of date died to usher new ones from1920 to 1930s. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." He is guided by a culture of gathering more wealth for individualistic gains than he already has (Zeitz 13). If George Wilson had had the means, he likely would have already left New York with Myrtle in tow, saving both of their lives. After all, Tom's money secures her fancy apartment and allows her to lord it over her guests and play at sophistication, even while Nick looks down his nose at her. Gatsby makes his fortune through bootlegging and other criminal activities. How about getting full access immediately? Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. In the final chapter, Nick calls Tom and Daisy careless people who smashed up things and . Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book.
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