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? 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. Together with the examples of deceit under Prohibition, Fitzgeralds novel was inspired by the corruption of certain Americans during the 1920s as reflected in the actions and deceit used by the major characters he created. . 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. 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. Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,I must have you!". The aftermath of this desire was the American dream that entailed the search for riches, equal opportunity, independence, and devotion. Free trial is available to new customers only. 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. 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. In contrast to 19th century writing that tended to reinforce the status quo, modernism rejected old-fashioned ideas like heroism and moral certitude. Few characters in literature or indeed life embody an era quite so tenaciously as Jay Gatsby does the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Age of Excess. In fact, Nick says. Want to write the perfect college application essay? This revelation marks a society that embraces and protects a culture of impunity that is driven by both greed and erosion of social morals in the 1920 American society. Read more about how the American Dream is treated in The Great Gatsby and whether the novel is ultimately optimistic or pessimistic about the dream. A new version of the dream emerged. The aim was to provide a vivid description of the rebelliousness that is associated with the youths of the time. The availability of mass-produced items among majority Americans led to the erosion of the existing mechanisms of differentiating people based on their social economic classes. Learn more about The Crucible, The Cask of Amontillado, and "Do not go gentle into that good night" with our expert analyses. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Print. for a group? Don't leave your college application to chance. We get our best look at Myrtle in Chapter 2, when Tom takes Nick to see her in Queens and they end up going to the New York City apartment Tom keeps for Myrtle and hosting a small gathering (after Tom and Myrtle hook up, with Nick in the next room!). was a self-made man, Gatsby acquired a vast amount of wealth and fortune with perseverance and a fixed purpose in mind. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? 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. Gatsby's early romance with Daisy is heightened by the initial idealism that he was about to go fight in a noble and glorious endeavor. 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. Another post-WWI developmentwas the Harlem Renaissance, acultural, social, and artistic flowering among African Americans that took place in Harlem, NY, during the 1920s. 1. Most suppliers of alcohol during Prohibition were highly esteemed since one who could live on the edge and without restraint was admired (The Great Gatsby Literature 151). Suppose you wanted to analyze the importance of cars in The Great Gatsby. 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. 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. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. The journey to reaching a fulfilling life and the American Dream came with struggles, and many people resorted to crime and dishonest behavior as a way to circumvent their actual problems. America at this time experienced a cultural and lifestyle revolution. Renews March 11, 2023 Myrtle is obsessed with shows of wealth, from her outfits, to insisting on a specific cab, to her apartment's decoration, complete with scenes of Versailles on the overly-large furniture: "The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles" (2.51). See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. After all, "People were not invitedthey went there" (3.7). jazz music is a fixture of Gatsbys parties, and almost every song that Fitzgerald describes is a real life piece of music. (1.4), "My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionairesall for eighty dollars a month. 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. Meanwhile, Tom's mistress Myrtle, a car mechanic's wife, puts on airs and tries to pass as rich through her affair with Tom, but her involvement with the Buchanans gets her killed. If Nick were just a middle-class everyman, the story could not play out in the same way. The smaller European powers were forced into the war as well, based on whatever alliances they had made in the past. How does Nick Carraway first meet Jay Gatsby? After all, if even wealth on the scale of Gatsby's can't buy you entry into America's highest social class, what can? 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. Alongside the juxtaposition of the Midwest and the East, Fitzgerald also reflects the culture of the 1920s with descriptions of Prohibition and the law breaking that came as a result. 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. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. A mentionable character representing the American Dream was Jordan Baker and her representation of womens independence. Then, after returning home and realizing Daisy was married and gone, he set out to earn enough money to win Daisy over, turning to crime via a partnership with Meyer Wolfshiem to quickly amass wealth (9.83-7). Clearly, having old money sets you far apart from everyone else in the world of the novel. Nick began his life in the Midwest and always regards it as his home and the place where he belongs, which is directly reflected in his unhappiness and ability to see the corruption of those who reside in the East; conversely, Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby all have roots in the Midwest, were drawn to the East, and remain there, blind to the horrors occurring in their daily lives. (See our article on this novel's publication and reception history for more.). IvyPanda. Gatsbys parties have a speakeasy feel in that people from different backgrounds and genders freely mix and mingle. Upon renouncing his parents, Gatsby is considered a child of a supernatural being (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 98), with the only thing that he believes in being money. Fitzgerald and Bruccoli write, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together (187-188). So all three women push the boundaries of their expected societal rolesDaisy's affair with Gatsby, Jordan's independent lifestyle, and Myrtle's affair with Tombut ultimately either fall in line (Daisy, Jordan) or are killed for reaching too far (Myrtle). Jordan is incurably dishonest. She is conversant with her possession of the charm that she uses maximally to maintain security for her lifestyles. For this prompt, you can explore earlier examples of Tom's carelessness (breaking Myrtle's nose, his behavior in the hotel scene, letting Daisy and Gatsby drive back to Long Island after the fight in the hotel) as well as Daisy's (throwing a fit just before her wedding but going through with it, kissing Gatsby with her husband in the next room). Nick Caraway, a native of Minnesota and an advocate of Midwestern values, narrates it in the first person. He spends his life believing that if he makes enough money and acquires enough possessions, he can transcend his lower-class birth and become equal to Daisy and Tom. 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. This combination of restlessness and resentment puts them on the path to the tragedy at the end of the book. A+ Student Essay: The Automobile as a Symbol in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby Background. Print. Ace your assignments with our guide to The Great Gatsby! The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points, How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. But there are other themes at play here, too. Understanding historical context helps you in all sorts of ways: Having a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. Unfortunately, with regard to The Great Gatsby, this dream dwindled, as materialism, consumerism, and the culture of loosening social morals became the order of the day in the 1920s America. (See our brief biography of Fitzgerald to learn more.). We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. 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. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Writers are products of their time, so knowing what they would have assumed to be true makes reading their work richer. The work examines the results of the Jazz Age generation's adherence to false material values. The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of 1920s New York City, a period known as the "Roaring Twenties" for the exhilarating pace set by the rapidly evolving culture and technology. Despite society's changing nature, the world still hasn't accepted Jordan as an independent person. 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. Materialistic nature of the characters in the novel validates this claim. The sheer number of the party participants implies that the 1920s American culture was characterized by indiscriminate spending in an increasing number of products that were availed for sale by the rising manufacturing capacity of the nation. 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. Gatsby was born to poor farmer parents in North Dakota, but at 17, determined to become rich, struck out with the wealthy Dan Cody and never looked back (6.5-15). The survivors of the war - both the veterans and those who came of age during the fighting - were called the Lost Generation. They were careless people, Tom and Daisythey smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. 146-152. Fitzgerald conveys a message warning against the perils of materialism during the course of the novel. Gatsby admits this fact (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 127). Set in the year 1922, the novel occurs during the thriving period of prosperity in America where materialism set the tone of society as reflected by the main characters economic successes. Check out our articles onGatsbys title, its opening pages and epigraph, and itsfirst chapter. 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. Many themes of the novel revolve around the mysterious character of Gatsby. Leader, Zachary. Women were granted the right to participate in voting. 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. Imagine spending weeks in this hole in the ground. Daisy, for her part, only begins her affair with Gatsby after a very detailed display of his wealth (via the mansion tour). West Egg residents or new money (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 54) are perceived by East Egg counterparts as upstart outsiders. In other words, wealth is presented as the key to lovesuch an important key that the word "gold" is repeated twice. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! This situation created opportunities to satisfy the undying appetite for consumption, opulence, and immorality. He is guided by a culture of gathering more wealth for individualistic gains than he already has (Zeitz 13). Fitzgeralds illustration of the American Dream within his characters directly echoed the societys high-esteemed qualities of success and delight. As such, theGreat Gatsby era is theperiod in 20th century U.S. history nicknamed both the Roaring 20s and the "Jazz Age." IvyPanda, 12 Aug. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. The book will always be considered a great classic in American literature for its exceptional plot and the themes it conveys. The post-war boom also had a positive effect on minorities in the U.S. One of the effects was thatJewish Americanswere atthe forefront of promoting such issues as workers rights, civil rights, woman's rights, and other progressive causes. In the novel you can see what happened to it during the 1920s. What Makes the great Gatsby by F.S Fitzgerald Great? Journal of Education 1.2(2012): 73-78. (5.117-118). While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted highershirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue. All rights reserved. Almost a century after he was written into being, F Scott Fitzgerald's doomed . American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby". Discount, Discount Code While he can observe the social movements of the wealthy with razor precision, he always comes off as wry, detached, and perhaps even bitter. (In a uniform she had no idea he was poor, especially given his sophisticated manners). 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. The novel includes Nick's anti-Semitic description of a Jewish character - Meyer Wolfshiem. student. Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. This is IvyPanda's free database of academic paper samples. Gatsby's drive and perseverance in obtaining his goal is, in many senses, commendable. Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here: PrepScholar 2013-2018. The 19th Amendment, passed in 1919, officially gave women the right to vote in the United States. First of all, he makes it clear that he has "an unaffected scorn" for the ultra-rich, and eyes both new money and old money critically. In the monied world of The Great Gatsby, class influences all aspects of life, and especially love. Youths challenged the existing social norms since they got jazzed (drunk) with illegal liquor while at the same time engaging in sexual immorality. In Nicks mind, the ability to create meaningful symbols constitutes a central component of the American dream, as early Americans invested their new nation with their own ideals and values. I couldn't forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. Ask below and we'll reply! The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. However, Fitzgerald illustrates the price of prosperity as he portrays its negative effects such as the greed, lies, and deceit the characters possess in order to satirize the selfish way many were choosing to live. August 12, 2022. 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. Increased availability of products for purchasing in the free market led to the widening of the gaps between people of different social economic classes. Vol. 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. (7.103-106). This marked a shift both in how black culture was understood and appreciated by the rest of the country and in how womens rights were progressing, as well discuss in the next sections. Furthermore, by the end of the novel she claims to be engaged, meaning that like Daisy, she's ultimately chosen to live within the lines society has given her. Jordan does not understand the concerns of the need to work hard and genuinely. 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 . Getting a deeper grasp of character. (9.146). IvyPanda. Suffrage had been a huge goal of the womens movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so this victory caused women to continue to push boundaries and fight for more rights during the 1920s. 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. 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 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. He also threw parties now and then, which were equally characterized by high consumptions. Gatsbys failure to attain the American Dream suggests the Dream is both an unattainable and unwise goal. Curious to see how much Daisy and Myrtle's struggle for more echoes the lives of real women? Our introduction to Tom and Daisy immediately describes them as rich, bored, and privileged. Almost 1 in 4 people now had a car! 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. Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance. Many of them cannot proactively grasp the concept of working hard to build their material wealth base. The outcome of these cultures was the decaying American dream. As discussed above, moneyand specifically having inherited moneynot only guarantees a certain social class, it guarantees safety and privilege: Tom and Daisy can literally live by different rules than other, less-wealthy people. Continue to start your free trial. 12 August. 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. Daisy representing money also suggests money is as alluring and desirableor even more sothan Daisy herself. But that knowledge doesn't dampen his pursuit of wealthif anything, it makes it even more desirable. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. "Al Capone Does My Shirts a Novel by Gennifer Choldenko, Hobbes Materialist Nature of Philosophical Principles. Daisy and Tom have similar traits, which support materialist culture that was prevalent in the 1920s American society as portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. She even adopts a different persona among her guests: "The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. "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. Colonizers arrived in the US with similar dreams of a healthier life for all people. Gatsby, on the other hand, whose recent wealth derives from criminal activity, has a sincere and loyal heart, remaining outside Daisys window until four in the morning in Chapter 7 simply to make sure that Tom does not hurt her. One woman is not just adequate. (3.1-3.6). 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 ACT target score should you be aiming for? In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's ego and self-centered personality . We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of The Great Gatbsy book and movie adaptations. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracyfamilies with old wealthscorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators.
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