Theme Of Flappers In The Great Gatsby

As Nancy sneaks toward an undercover bar, called a “speakeasy”, she furtively glances around. She is anxious: this is her first times going to a speakeasy. As she squeezes in, she murmurs the password to the doorman. While searching for her boyfriend, Joey, she starts to doubt her choice of a short dress and elaborate hat. She finds him at the bar, smiling, waiting. Perching herself upon the stool, she relaxes and thinks about how excited she is to become drunk. Nancy accurately represents your average 1920’s “flapper”. These young women called flappers were aiming to break away from traditional women's roles and participate in activities they wished, whether that meant drinking, smoking, or being sexually loose. They desired to distance themselves

This style, though mainly exhibited through Daisy and Jordan, some characters who momentarily appear also characterize flappers. Early in the book, Daisy reveals what she aims to be in life by telling Nick what she wants her daughter to be like. Daisy proclaims, “I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,” (Fitzgerald 17). Three aspects of a flapper can be drawn from this simple passage: Daisy pries beauty, being thin, and being a fool. The beauty aspect indicates the importance of outward appearance to her. The way you appear is more critical to master than achieving excellent character. Her aspiration to be little builds off of the beauty statement; she wants to be thin and appealing in order to attract men, debatably the most integral part of a flapper’s style. However, I believe Daisy highlights her yearning to be foolish through techniques like repetition, as well as having that be the first and last trait she longs to obtain, making it more memorable. This reveals an attribute of flapper behavior: self centeredness. Desiring folly is quite self selfish in that Daisy doesn’t want to deal with the troubles she is generating, but simply wants to “let other people clean up the mess” she generates (Fitzgerald 179). Other typical flapper traits are displayed through the behavior of young women attending the Grdeat Gatsby’s luxurious parties. These girls were “putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups, knowing someone would arrest their falls.” This jovial behavior points to two key aspects of a flapper. The more obvious is their flirtatious behavior around men; flappers were notorious for their sexual looseness and their enjoyment hanging around men. Another sense portrayed