Gatsby Rough Draft

The Roaring Twenties was a time of excitement for the American people, with cities bustling with activity and a large community that appreciated Jazz, thus creating the title the “Jazz Age.” The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald takes place in this magnificent age characterized by Jazz and the popular new dance, the “Charleston.” Through the midst of all this new activity, we follow a character named Jay Gatsby through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald’s themes of friendship and The American Dream is seen in The Great Gatsby through Nick and Jay’s companionship and Gatsby’s growth from being a simple farm boy to becoming a wealthy man.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born September 24th, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His first novel's achievement made him well-known and allowed him to marry Zelda, but he later derived into drinking while his wife had developed many mental problems. Right after the “failed” Tender is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood to become a scriptwriter. He died at the age of 44 of a heart attack in 1940, his final novel only half way completed.

Fitzgerald, of course, was an author, so the reason behind the book being written was that he hoped to gain popularity and earn money, which he successfully accomplished. To Fitzgerald, the novel was a "consciously artistic achievement" and allowed him to achieve his goals of status and revenue, even though the fame came slightly after he might have hoped.

The novel is set in the Roaring Twenties, or the “Jazz Age,” which was actually a term coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald himself! He called it the Jazz Age due to the fact that Jazz music was quickly on the rise in their culture. Along with Jazz came some effects that some considered to be “mischievo...

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...isy left him a while back because he wasn't wealthy enough.

Money plays an important role in Gatsby’s life, which is why it is slightly hard to believe that he would even want to be friends with the less-than-rich Nick Carraway. Within the book, there is even a clear understanding that his love for Daisy is exaggerated by money and her luxury.

Gatsby yearns to be part of the high society, but, in reality, he is an outsider to his social class. An important note for this is that he is a very wealthy person and has an expensive mansion, yet he lives on East Egg, while the “real” high society people live on West Egg. Near the end of the novel, Nick showed the reader that he was one of Gatsby’s only real friends; it showed when Nick was one of the only three people that attended his funeral. Nick seems to be more or less the only one who cares about him after his death.