The Great Gatsby and the Destruction of a Generation
The beauty and splendor of Gatsby's parties masks the decay and corruption that lay at the heart of the Roaring Twenties. The society of the Jazz Age, as observed by Fitzgerald, is morally bankrupt, and thus continually plagued by a crisis of character. Jay Gatsby, though he struggles to be a part of this world, remains unalterably an outsider. His life is a grand irony, in that it is a caricature of Twenties-style ostentation: his closet overflows with custom-made shirts; his lawn teems with "the right people," all engaged in the serious work of absolute triviality; his mannerisms (his false British accent, his old-boy friendliness) are laughably affected. Despite all this, he can never be truly a part of the corruption that surrounds him: he remains intrinsically "great." Nick Carrway reflects that Gatsby's determination, his lofty goals, and most importantly the grand character of his dreams sets him above his vulgar contemporaries. F. Scott Fitzgerald constructs Gatsby as a true American dreamer, set against the decay of American society during the 1920s.
By eulogizing the tragic fate of dreamers, Fitzgerald thereby denounces 1920s America as an age of blindness and greed an age hostile to the work of dreaming. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald heralds the ruin of his own generation.
Since America has always held its entrepreneurs in the highest regard, one might expect Fitzgerald to glorify this heroic version of the American Dreamer in the pages of his novel. Instead, Fitzgerald suggests that the societal corruption which prevailed in the 1920s was uniquely inhospitable to dreamers; in fact, it was these men who led the most unfortunate lives of all...
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The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts the degradation of the American dream through the loss of humility and rectitude.
The character of Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s commentary on the logical fallacies of the American Dream are closely intertwined, which is why Fitzgerald goes to such great lengths to separate the two. By distinguishing Gatsby from the flaws he possesses allows the reader to care for Gatsby, and the impact of his death all the more powerful when it finally occurs. By making Gatsby a victim of the American Dream rather than just the embodiment of it, Fitzgerald is able to convince his audience of the iniquity of the American Dream by making them mourn the life of the poor son-of-a-bitch
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Donaldson, Scott, ed., Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984. Print.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life. The occasional insights into character stand out as very green oases on an arid desert of waste paper. Throughout the first half of the book the author shadows his leading character in mystery, but when in the latter part he unfolds his life story it is difficult to find the brains, the cleverness, and the glamour that one might expect of a main character.
This can be seen when Jamal changes from the public school to the private school. Jamal is finally able to express himself and let his talents show at the new school. Without the pressure of fitting into the “bubble” everyone expected out of him, Jamal shows the teachers at the school that he truly deserves to be there; thus, creating new found confidence from his change of setting is what shapes him into the individual he is at the end of the book, a strong, independent, and truly talented young man. According to Levy (2000), “the true point at which everything changes in the movie is when the prep school recruits Jamal for his talents in basketball and academic achievements. Once he seeks help from Mr. Forrester to adjust in his new environment, he is able to realize what this transformation can do for him” (p. 2). This demonstrates that the turning point is when Jamal is introduced to a new atmosphere. The school is much different than his old school and he uses his relationship with Forrester to aid him through the transition. In addition, when writing in Mr. Forrester’s apartment, Jamal has all the power in the world with only a pen and paper, yet in Crawford's office he finds himself blocked. The apartment is not only where Jamal realizes his passion but is also gives him opportunities as well as how he channels it to express his true self. This change is highly evident when he is then
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Way, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 87-108.
care about the men she kills and knows she will do it again sooner or