The theme of The Great Gatsby is decadence and the decline of society. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. (1.17). . . This desire of Americans to reach such a high social status and level of attainment was no better displayed through the ability that Gatsby possessed as he faithfully stuck to the conception of himself he desired to be and eventually obtained it. You can read more about the American Dream for details on The Great Gatsby's ultimately skeptical, cynical attitude towards this classic American ideal. 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. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? Historical context: the giant arm propping up the baby that is your argument. Past and Future. Historically speaking, with influential leaders of temperance movements that believed in the dangers of alcohol and its ability to disrupt families, the Volstead Act was put into effect outlawing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors (The Great Gatsby Literature 147). The Buchanans exemplify this stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new house far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsbys funeral. All rights reserved. (1.14). I'd never understood before. In the world of The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is synonymous with money and statusnot so much success, career (does anyone but Nick and George even have a real job? Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished pasthis time in Louisville with Daisybut is incapable of doing so. 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. 2). March 4, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 . 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. Dont have an account? In this context, The Great Gatsby, which is a novel about the 1920s lifestyles, portrays the American culture as one that eroded the traditional morals and social norms such as denouncing the moral responsibility to remain faithful in marriage. What the old aristocracy possesses in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves careless, inconsiderate bullies who are so used to moneys ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others. Such symbols reflect social challenges such as corruption that arose from the emergence of materialist and capitalist cultures. Gatsby's business partner Meyer Wolfshiem is a gangster who is affiliated with organized crime and is based on the real-life crime boss Arnold Rothstein, who was indeed responsible for fixing the World Series in 1919. Curious to see how much Daisy and Myrtle's struggle for more echoes the lives of real women? Obviously there is physical chemistry driving her affair with Tom, but she seems to get as much (if not more) pleasure from the materials that come with the affairthe apartment, the clothes, the dog, the parties. Gatsbys parties have a speakeasy feel in that people from different backgrounds and genders freely mix and mingle. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1925, the setting of The Great Gatsby is an island, which is dominated by prosperous, wealthy, and poor communities of East Egg and West Egg. I wasnt actually in love, Nick recalls, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity. Such tender curiosity may be the closest thing to love in the entire novel. We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of The Great Gatbsy book and movie adaptations. For some time now I have been thinking about the validity or vulnerability of a certain set of assumptions conventionally accepted among literary historians and critics and circulated as "knowledge." This knowledge holds that traditional, canonical American literature is free of, F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, depicts a portion of Nick Carraways life characterized by the time he is influenced by the mysterious Jay Gatsby and his extensive pursuit of his former flame and Nicks cousin, Daisy Buchanan. The second nickname refers to this period'schanging social norms and daring artistic movements. You can also compare Tom and Daisy's actions and outcomes to other characters to help make your pointMyrtle and Gatsby both contribute to the conflict by participating in affairs with Tom and Daisy, but obviously, Myrtle and Gatsby don't get to "retreat into their money," they both end up dead. So money here is more than just statusit's a shield against responsibility, which allows Tom and Daisy to behave recklessly while other characters suffer and die in pursuit of their dreams. At the same time, their prominence gave rise to an anti-Semitic backlash, and the revival of the KKK began with the lynching of a Jewish man in 1915. Materialistic nature of the characters in the novel validates this claim. If George Wilson had had the means, he likely would have already left New York with Myrtle in tow, saving both of their lives. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. Detroit: Gale, 1997. The production and distributionof alcohol became the province ofbootleggers - the original organized crime syndicates. The Great Gatsby. . jazz music is a fixture of Gatsbys parties, and almost every song that Fitzgerald describes is a real life piece of music. The Great Gatsby takes place during a time that's now known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring 20s. ), happiness, or family. Selling alcohol was accomplished in many ways, including throughspeakeasies - basically, underground social clubs. 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. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. 146-152. Interested in the other ways that The Great Gatsbyera matters to the plot of the novel? Overall, the cultures in the East and Midwest are represented clearly through the characters actions, decisions, and values throughout the novel as examples of Fitzgeralds way of highlighting social flaws. Sometimes it can end up there. So she keeps up this affair, despite how morally questionable it is and the risk it opens up for herher materialism, in other words, is her primary motivator. Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance. If you analyze a character through this theme, make sure to explain: #2: How money/materialism drives their choices in the novel. The aftermath of this desire was the American dream that entailed the search for riches, equal opportunity, independence, and devotion. Knowing the hot-button issues of the novel's day gives you a good second way to support arguments about the importance of a particular theme, or your reading of the meaning of a symbol. . Print. However, that was my fault, for he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby's liquor and I should have known better than to call him" (9.69). If you're aware of the newness and attraction of cars, you'll notice that inThe Great Gatsby: Death machine, or no, you have to admit that's a pretty cool-looking car. As Nick continues to realize, although the East appears to glitter with fascinating opportunities and excitement, it lacks the strong moral values encompassed in those like himself from the Midwest. He is a self-made man (in all respects) and as such, is admirable. Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. Gatsby suffers the most from the promise of social mobility inherent to the American Dream. 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. 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. . The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points, How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. Another social development wasthe new flapper style. This speaks to her materialism and how, in her world, a certain amount of wealth is a barrier to entry for a relationship (friendship or more). From new money to consumer culture to lavish parties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel depicted the heyday of the 1920sand foreshadowed the doom that would follow. Anne Marie Hacht. Tom and Daisy's movements are also supported by their money. Unsuccessful upon publication, the book is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been . Before the end of 1930, 12 million homes in the US had already bought radio cassettes while the numbers of those who were connected with telephones increased by 50 percent (10.5 million in 1915 to more than 20 million by the end of 1930) (Scherer and Ross 93). creating and saving your own notes as you read. This is IvyPanda's free database of academic paper samples. We will dig into all things money here in this guide. Materialism led to the increased corruption and breakage of the law at will among the rich in pursuit of money. WWI was a war of trench warfare, chemical weapons, shrapnel artillery, and other gruesome technologies that had never been seen before. The Great Gatsby reflects the trends of the 1920's through the transformation of James Gatz, the differences between the houses in West Egg and East Egg, and the unflattering picture of the era. Jordan is incurably dishonest. You can view our. ensure the integrity of our platform while keeping your private information safe. Set in Jazz Age New York, it tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. Daisy nearly backed out of her marriage to Tom the day before her wedding, and Tom had an affair within a year of the wedding, but the couple is well-suited because of their shared class and desire for fun and material possessions. to reacquaint himself with Daisy through massive parties instead prove to be areas where those yearning for liquor could obtain their desired alcohol with little to no regard toward their host; this is exemplified in the fact that Owl Eyes is the only character other than Nick to attend both Gatsbys lavish parties and his funeral. He further states that people who came to the party in Gatsbys house arrived and left in the fashion of months. Fitzgerald, Scott, and Matthew Bruccoli. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. You need wealth, the more the better, to win over the object of your desire. Everything You Need to Know: The Great Gatsby Era, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, this novel's publication and reception history. The aim was to provide a vivid description of the rebelliousness that is associated with the youths of the time. 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. The database is updated daily, so anyone can easily find a relevant essay example. (7.106). Money (or the lack of it!) IvyPanda. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. As an example, let's look briefly at Myrtle. America at this time experienced a cultural and lifestyle revolution. All these developments illustrated increased consumer spending as noted by Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald, though he didn't actually see any fighting during his time in the army, was a member of this generation. One of the rumors about Gatsby is that he is involved in a bootlegging pipeline of alcohol from Canada - this is a reference to a real-life scandal about one of the places where illegal alcohol was coming from! In this context, Gatsby is a representation of a fallen American dream due to the rising immorality that characterizes the culture of the 1920s America. Jordan does not understand the concerns of the need to work hard and genuinely. This article will guide you through the historical, economic, and social movements of the 1920's as they relate to events, themes, and characters in The Great Gatsby. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. Unfortunately, the depression of 1929 led to a loss of such gains (Romer 598). Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Leader, Zachary. Ask below and we'll reply! 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. (Of course, the primary support for these arguments should come from the text itself!) Daisy Packs Her Bag. London Review of Books 22.18(2000): 13-15. 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. 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 . That was it. No one comes due to close personal friendship with Jay. Artists from that time include W.E.B. Entire Document, Comparison: Great Gatsby and the American Dream, The Great Gatsby and the 'American Dream', The Great Gatsby: The Fall of the American Dream, Contradictions in the culture of the period, Flappers and self-made men as new people of the period, Prohibition of alcohol and Gatsby as a bootlegger, The price for reaching the American Dream, How the novel mirrors the corrupt mindset of the Roaring Twenties. Almost a century after he was written into being, F Scott Fitzgerald's doomed . Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points, How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. "Old money" families have fortunes dating from the 19th century or before, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. (5.117-118). At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Russian allies France and England were pulled in to defend Russia. A Comprehensive Guide. All rights reserved. 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. Mining the text for a character's attitude toward money can be a very helpful way to understand their motivations in the world of 1920s New York. Many of them cannot proactively grasp the concept of working hard to build their material wealth base. The second nickname refers to this period's changing social norms and daring artistic movements. Read more about those symbols for a fuller understanding of how money affects The Great Gatsby. Just as Americans have given America meaning through their dreams for their own lives, Gatsby instills Daisy with a kind of idealized perfection that she neither deserves nor possesses. What does this mean? Ironically, Gatsbys good qualities (loyalty and love) lead to his death, as he takes the blame for killing Myrtle rather than letting Daisy be punished, and the Buchanans bad qualities (fickleness and selfishness) allow them to remove themselves from the tragedy not only physically but psychologically. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracyfamilies with old wealthscorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. However, jumping up beyond her roots, using Tom's money, is ultimately unsustainableher husband finds out and threatens to move out west, and then of course she is killed by Daisy before they can make that move. But there are other themes at play here, too. . In the novel, he later relocates to New York where he gets involved in bond business. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism, as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. 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 maintains her "old money" status by marrying a very rich man, Tom Buchanan, and ultimately sticks with him despite her feelings for Gatsby. Best Analysis: Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, Analyzing characters via money/materialism, Common assignments and analysis of money/materialism in Gatsby, Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now, he opens the book with his father's advice, We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of. The Great Gatsby reflects the emergence of a culture of increased consumerism that is driven by increased economic prosperity. In other words, wealth is presented as the key to lovesuch an important key that the word "gold" is repeated twice. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Wed love to have you back! Unlike Jordan, Mytle possesses little material items. Print. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young" (3.160). The clash between old money and new money manifests itself in the novels symbolic geography: East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich. "There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you "Her voice is full of money," he said suddenly. Politically, the women's rights movement next took up the cause of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal legal rights for women. 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. I couldn't forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. Gatsby makes his fortune through bootlegging and other criminal activities. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. The smaller European powers were forced into the war as well, based on whatever alliances they had made in the past. This situation created opportunities to satisfy the undying appetite for consumption, opulence, and immorality. Readers may end the novel wondering if the American Dream is actually attainable at all. Daisy, for her part, only begins her affair with Gatsby after a very detailed display of his wealth (via the mansion tour). The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsbys parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. The average student has to read dozens of books per year. Learn more about The Crucible, The Cask of Amontillado, and "Do not go gentle into that good night" with our expert analyses. Understanding historical context helps you in all sorts of ways: Having a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. For instance, rumors exist that Gatsby is involved in the importation and ferrying of illegal liquor amid the existing ban. Abrief recap of what happened. It contains thousands of paper examples on a wide variety of topics, all donated by helpful students. Despite the fact that only few women precisely fitted this description of 1920s flapper, such a description was common in the media. Meyer Wolfsheim and Gatsbys fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." Ask questions; get answers. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's ego and self-centered personality . Cars also now created a totally new danger, particularly in combination with alcohol consumption. Although her husband is immensely loyal to her, she possesses a strong desire to have everything else. 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. 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. Despite society's changing nature, the world still hasn't accepted Jordan as an independent person. This term described women who would wear much less restricting clothing and go out drinking and dancing, which at the time was a huge violation of typical social norms. The Great Gatsby portrays three different social classes: "old money" (Tom and Daisy Buchanan); "new money" (Gatsby); and a class that might be called "no money" (George and Myrtle Wilson). . SparkNotes PLUS (7.103-106). On the one hand, it elevatedthe U.S. into a world super power and ushered in a decade-long economic boom. World War I dramatically affected the United States in the 1920s (and, of course, shaped much of the 20th century all over the world as well). 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.
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