The 1920s and its Depiction in F. Scott Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby

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In the aftermath of World War I, the 1920s twinkled on the horizon with the promise of hope. Bookended by the epidemic of 1920 and the The Wall Street crash of 1929, the decade was a time of decadence, frivolity, and escape. Rich or poor, people lived in the moment, loved anything new and the young partied like there was no tomorrow. A readers look into the decade can be found in the era's greatest memoir: The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald. F. Scott Fitzgerald applied the social and political issues of the 1920's and its innumerable characteristics to enhance the plot of The Great Gatsby.
The 1920's were also known as the "Jazz Age". Rightly named because of the appearance of jazz music. The word "jazz" took the country by storm. Clothing stores advertised "jazz styles," poets wrote "jazz poetry". In the early 1920s, classic jazz was at its height, with either a lone pianist or a band containing banjo, horns, clarinets, and drums backing the female singer. This was music that fit the mood of blacks that had recently come to the cities, who had left the single guitarist or string bands of the South. And by the mid-1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls, roadhouses, and speakeasies around the country. Jazz, which had been the product of wandering black musicians, the poorest of the South, had become a big business, and dancing swept a country that seemed convinced wealth and well-being would never come to an end.
Dancing consumed the country so much so that contests called "dance marathons" were held. The object of these contests was to see which couple could dance the longest. The dancers competed for cash prizes of as much as several thousand dollars. These exhausting contests lasted for days. Dancers would kick, punch, an...

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...olitical issues of the 1920's and its innumerable characteristics to enhance the plot of The Great Gatsby. Jazz became hugely popular in the 1920's. Couples just could not stop dancing. Flappers defied the norms of dress and behavior and their only goal was to please themselves. The women who attended Gatsby's parties were flappers which includes Gatsby's love Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker. Prohibition was in full swing in the 1920's and Al Capone led the way in illegal liquor business. The fictional character of Jay Gatsby was deeply involved in. Readers can take a look through the era's greatest memoir, The Great Gatsby, and other writings by Fitzgerald and find that the 1920's were a time of decadence, frivolity, and escape. No matter rich or poor, people lived in the moment, loved their lives and the young (and sometimes old) partied like there was no tomorrow.

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