American Zeitgeism: The Great Gatsby And The Second Choice

1920s America is a complex time period being right after World War I and industrialization. This environment fosters great change and expands upon Franklin’s Autobiography and his concepts for success. There are two works that capture this American zeitgeist: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Second Choice by Theodore Dreiser. Describing the confrontation between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald explains, “‘she’s not leaving me!’ Tom’s words suddenly leaned down over Gatsby. ‘Certainly not for a common swindler who’d have to steal the ring he put on her finger’”(Fitzgerald 133). Within this confrontation underlies the concept of The American Dream. Currently, Gatsby is vying for Daisy’s love and trying to wrestle her away

At this time, the roots of Civil Rights Movement is starting to take place as Jim Crow laws are weakening. Right after World War II famous figures like MLK and Malcolm X start to change black rights. For now however, Song of Solomon is located at this critical juncture in American history where the times are a-changin’. While explaining his own background Macon Dead Sr. says, “He knew as a Negro he wasn’t going to get a big slice of the pie. But there were properties nobody wanted yet, or little edges of property somebody didn’t want Jews to have, or Catholics to have, or properties nobody knew were of any value yet. There was quite a bit of pie filling oozing around the edge of the crust in 1945. Filling that could be his” (Morrison 63). This passage goes into great detail about the ambitions of what a “Negro” could do. This also shows the potential in The American Dream have even spread to the lowest Black minorities in America. This accomplishment of gaining wealth in Song of Solomon show the dream is not limited to just white people, but people of any race. Once a “Negro” can become rich, so can immigrants and refugees. Within the passage, Macon Senior mentions that “Jews” and “Catholics” could own “property”. Notice how “Jews” and “Catholics” are ambiguous, not American Jews or European Catholics, but this could apply to immigrants. Moreover, considering Irish, Turkey, Asians all can be catholics it shows that many minorities in America can achieve The American Dream. Here, the values of hard work laid by Benjamin Franklin can be seen. The optimism expressed by the tone of the words “oozing” and the pie metaphor connotes a sense of richness that food metaphors carry. Although Macon is still limited because he “wasn’t going to get a big slice of the pie”, he’s still content with the “filling”. This enables Macon to rise up from his