Research Paper On The Great Gatsby
Gatsby and the Jazz Age
The aftermath of World War 1 led to a time of growth and prosperity that the United States had not experienced before in its short lifetime. This period of time was one of innovation and celebration. People lived a fast paced and glamourous life with new freedoms and a new culture. Nothing would be the same after these years of excess and extravagance. This time that shaped our nation is known as the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age lasted for about ten years but its effects are still prevalent in modern society. 1920 through 1929 are the years that make up the Jazz Age. One novel that has captured the life of this decade is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The 1920s come to life through Fitzgerald’s characters,
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Gatsby is a prime example of wealth after the war. Gatsby served in the war and returned home and became wealthy. This was a common aspect in the United States during the Jazz Age because the nation’s total wealth almost doubled in this decade. “Between 1921 and 1924 the country’s gross national product jumped from $69 billion to $93 billion while aggregate wages rose from roughly $36.4 billion to $51.5 billion. The United States had entered World War I a debtor nation and emerged as Europe’s largest creditor,” (Zeitz, par. 3). After the war the nation was quite wealthy and with this wealth came a shift in social class. This shift can be seen in the novel, “The Great Gatsby, provides a useful commentary on social class in America during the 1920s. The title character, Jay Gatsby, moves to a higher class from that into which he was born by amassing great wealth.” (Verderame, par. 1). As shown through Gatsby and his new fortune, money was rather important during the jazz age and it was available to many Americans during this time. “Money was a preoccupation of the middle class.” (Donaldson par. 2), this was due partly to, in Gatsby’s case especially, the desire to be a member of the upper
Human Nature Of Satisfaction In The Great Gatsby
1469 Words | 6 PagesThe Jazz Age of America happened in the 1920s, begun by the end of the Great Depression. The richer classes in America lived an American Dream of wealth, freedom, and never-ending entertainment. This sometimes led to corruption from people seeking more money, more fun, more love, and more. The Great Gatsby is a prime example of this phenomenon. F. Scott Fitzergald’s
Jazz Influence On American Culture
1090 Words | 5 PagesIn the time WW1, a wild new popular culture emerged in the United States. In part, it was a hedonistic and extravagant reaction to the hardship and austerity experienced during the war. Some have referred to it as the Roaring Twenties, while others have called it the Jazz Age. When one speaks of the Jazz Age, what comes to mind is a decade of partying, of the Charleston and jazz bands, of female flappers and loose morals, of bathtub gin and speakeasies, all combined and intertwined into a celebration of American technology and ingenuity that, over the course of a decade, provided average U.S. families the materialistic conveniences of automobiles and modern appliances. A truly remarkable chapter of American history, Jazz was the soundtrack to it and came to embody the attitude of the burgeoning counterculture.
Importance Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby
870 Words | 4 PagesPeople were, and still are attracted to a higher class of living and everyone wants to be rich. Gatsby‘s character is defined through his extravagant house, clothing, parties and cars. (QUOTE THE LAST PART) When we look at our current society, this particular aspect having to do with materialism has not changed much since the writing of “The Great
Compare The 1920s And The Great Gatsby
1188 Words | 5 PagesBetween World War I and the Great Depression, the 1920’s were unique and special years in American history. The best way to represent that time would be by historian Frederick Lewis Allen providing the historical account of America in the 20’s in Only Yesterday and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famed novel, The Great Gatsby. Both of them reflect America in the Twenties by showing lifestyles and behaviors of people who lived in that time. We can follow their beliefs, actions, and morality through the works. While Allen was seeking to capture a decade, F. Scott Fitzgerald did a good job by pointing to the main issues during that time.
How Did F Scott Fitzgerald Affect American Culture
1324 Words | 6 PagesThe Impact of F. Scott Fitzgerald on American Culture “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This line, embedded by F. Scott Fitzgerald as the last line of the novel The Great Gatsby, concludes the novel and re-establish the theme of the tragedy. As an American novelist and short-story writer of the Roaring Twenties, Fitzgerald was both a chronicler and a critic of the time period. Fitzgerald’s works portray the realistic life and culture during the 1920s makes him remembered as, also on his epithet, “the spokesman of the Jazz Age.” Being one of the most pre-eminent American writers in the history, F. Scott Fitzgerald, without a doubt, has significant impact on American culture.
Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby
884 Words | 4 PagesThe 1920’s was a very interesting time in United States history. After all World War I had ended and many Americans did not realize that the Great Depression was in the near future, so the 1920’s fell between these two dramatic events. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby teaches many morals, but none more important than the duality of the 1920’s. Duality is evident in Gatsby's dreams, his death, his lover Daisy, his wealth, and his parties, which all reflect the duality of the 1920’s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes the concept of achieving the American dream seem improbable.
Society In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
529 Words | 3 PagesThe Roaring Twenties, known as the decade of the 1920s in the Western World, consists of dramatic changes in social values. The cultural differences between the 1920s and the Victorian era changes people's behavior, where they become more free-will, youthful and carefree, despite of being more conservative before. People are more open-minded and found satisfaction through the “open pursuit of sex, money, and booze” (Berman 53) as they suggest their wealth and status in the society. New York City had become one of the cities where materialistic wealth has become the key of happiness and the standard to judge people's success, further leading Americans to pursue each other in a negative, acquisitive way. Through the different scenes and characters of the famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how the society twisted the original idea of
Theme Of Poverty In The Great Gatsby
619 Words | 3 PagesIn the 1920’s, social classes were divided with a large gap. The poor wanted nothing to do with the rich, and the rich wanted even less to do with the poor. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses the class structure in the 1920’s to redefine poverty. While the rich people in the novel are material rich, they are still “poor” socially and psychologically. Poverty is shown in a differently in this book than other books being written in this time era, and in doing this, it shows the rich what they are, and how they treat others from a different perspective.
Political Issues In The Great Gatsby Essay
862 Words | 4 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby shows little, if any attention to political issues at the time. In the 1920s, also known as the “Jazz Age” the lifestyle is mostly driven by the wants and desire of individuals. Fitzgerald raises the lack of political concern at the time derived from the characters of the novel. The main political conflict is the fissure between the rich and the poor.
Examples Of Corruption In The Great Gatsby
1261 Words | 6 PagesThe novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic 20th century story -that period was also known as the “roaring twenties”- which critiques the vision of the American Dream people in general have. At that time, the idea of a free market, and industrial revolution provided the opportunity for many to seize the market and people were starting to see that they could become rich without having any type of restriction. New York city was the centre of this wealth-creating society. After the war, this movement generated new opportunities and ambitions for people wanting to start a wealthy upper class life. That period of time was all about alcohol, partying, gambling, fashion, and money.
Illusion In The Great Gatsby
1532 Words | 7 PagesArguably one of the most complex works of American Literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a satirical United States taking place in the early twenties in New York. The roaring twenties often portrayed a happy time immediately following World War 1 however, it gave off a false feeling of joy and many people were truly unhappy. Even though Nick Carraway shows a realistic image of himself, The Great Gatsby encompasses an illusion created in this time period and portrays this image through the atmosphere surrounding the actions of its characters; it ultimately shows a conflict against reality, identical to that to the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby shows the upper class and their habits, which involved: carelessness,
How Does American Culture Affect The Great Gatsby
857 Words | 4 PagesThe Great Gatsby Essay Men and women being unfaithful, the greedy getting richer. The 1920’s was a huge time of change in American culture. All the changes and advancements that took place in the 1920´s culture will have forever affected every aspect of our lives to this day. The book The Great Gatsby, written by Scott F. Fitzgerald is one of the most illustrious pieces of classic American literature written in the 1920´s. The Great Gatsby was profoundly affected by the element of infidelity, the economy, and the social class system all of which were elements in US culture in the 1920´s.
Examples Of Social Class In The Great Gatsby
619 Words | 3 PagesThe 1920s were a time of great economic growth after the war, and in The Great Gatsby the author captures the effect of wealth in the society well. Although Fitzgerald could have no idea the stock market crash of 1929. The world he shows in The Great Gatsby seems clear to be headed
Analytical Essay On The Great Gatsby
755 Words | 4 PagesJay Gatsby was someone that went from rags to riches which happens more often in the 21st century. Gatsby was a pioneer of coming from poverty into millions of dollars. This shows the American Dream as advertised. Fitzgerald also shows the dark side of the American Dream as in Money’s power to corrupt people or how the rich escape mighty consequences such as Tom and Daisy destroying people’s lives and then falling back to their money. ―”He‘s a bootlegger…
Lifestyle In The Great Gatsby
536 Words | 3 PagesThe Great Gatsby Showcasing The 1920s. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald represents all sorts of different lifestyles in the roaring twenties. From rags to riches, there is a character for each category. Throughout the 1920s, America went through drastic changes.
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