The Great Gatsby

"It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire" (Fitzgerald). This quote perfectly describes the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age was a feature of the 1920s when jazz music and dance became popular. The jazz age was a time of rapid growth and prosperity. During the 1920's a group of writers known as "The Lost Generation" gained popularity. The "Lost Generation" was a group of authors who were disillusioned by World War I. Many good, young men went to war and died, or returned home either physically or mentally wounded. One of the “Lost Generation” authors during the Jazz Age was F. Scott Fitzgerald. F Scott Fitzgerald became an acclaimed American author in the early twentieth century. In his book, The Great Gatsby, the time period of the Jazz Age inspired him on how he would create his characters. He lived a lifestyle of excess and pleasure that was sometimes similar to the characters in his novel. The emotions and events that Fitzgerald went through were similar to the events that characters his novel went through as well. The events and themes that happened during the 1920s inspired Fitzgerald to write a novel that had similar themes. The darkness of the American dream, materialism, economic prosperity, the promiscuity and lack of meaningful relationships in the story of the Great Gatsby reflected on what happened during the Jazz Age and eventually led both of their downfalls.

The darkness of the American dream is a common theme in The Great Gatsby as the fallen American dream is a huge problem during the 1920s in the United States. Fitzgerald uses The Great Gatsby to not only describe an impression of the Jazz Age, but also as a general critique of the American dream during Fitzge...

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...ere obsessed with materialism as well as the main characters in the story. For many in the 1920s, achieving material things such as cars and house, is achieving the American dream. Since materialism was a huge part of the American Dream, it eventually led to its decline resulting in the Great Depression. The promiscuity and the brief economic prosperity eventually led to the downfall to the main characters in The Great Gatsby as well as the people in the 1920s. Although the 1920s was chaotic with materialism and sexual innuendos, the 1920s, however, gave a rise to the arts and dances. New types of music were also introduced and technological innovations such as washing machines and new modes of transportation. The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change and has influenced literature such as The Great Gatsby that people still continue to read today.