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The nineteen-twenties were characterized by vast changes in every facet of American life like the automobile and prohibition, but most notably the introduction of the modern woman, or flapper. She was independent, wore more revealing skirts, smoked cigarettes and cigars, and even condoned dishonesty in all its forms, symbolizing the massive shift in societal norms. This flapper was the original feminist, advocating for female empowerment from the home to the dance halls of Harlem. These forward-thinking and feminist quality traits are key aspects of Jordan Baker’s persona in The Great Gatsby, ultimately leading to the destruction of her relationship with Nick Carraway.
Jordan, the only female introduced as single, challenges the stereotype
It’s the peak of the nineteen twenties, a time of great modernism and materialism in America. Stockbroker Nick Caraway, a new arrival in Long Island, resides next to a secretive billionaire who goes by the name of Jay Gatsby. Gatsby soon recruits Nick to aid him in rekindling flames with Gatsby’s lost love, Daisy Buchanan, who is actually Nick’s cousin. Although successful at first, the team encounters circumstances that divide Gatsby and Daisy from one another. This story is that of author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s highly acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby. Throughout the tale, the theme that the past is unforgettable is developed through the character Gatsby and his relationship with his long-lost lover, his obsession with material items, and his concealment of the truth.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the "American Dream" will never be a failure if Jordan does not develop Nick into his final character. Nick Carraway's realization of the equality of man altered through his origin sets him up as a morally sound standard, until confronted by Jordan Baker. Men and Women seem to be in constant battle for certain right but in the end, it is obvious that society has a real difficult time dealing with such issues. It is the job of society to understand this, and come to a realization about themselves.
While The Great Gatsby is a highly specific portrait of American society during the Roaring Twenties, its story is also one that has been told hundreds of times, and is perhaps as old as America itself: a man claws his way from rags to riches, only to find that his wealth cannot afford him the privileges enjoyed by those born into the upper class. The central character is Jay Gatsby, a wealthy New Yorker of indeterminate occupation. Gatsby is primarily known for the lavish parties he throws every weekend at his ostentatious Gothic mansion in West Egg. He is suspected of being involved in illegal bootlegging and other underworld activities.
The characterization of Jordan Baker as a bored, shallow woman is introduced through the use of description, word-choice, and sentence structure, and accurately represents the rest of the people Nick meets throughout the novel who fake their lives and use the cover of wealth to distract from their inner turmoil.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1922) involves some important social issues and anxieties, such as race and gender. Throughout the nine chapters, he uses his characters to deliver a message on how the effects of power and inequality coincide with the social norms of the twentieth century. In the text, the characters are involved in a love triangle that has been threaded together by deception and greed; and also, we have the perspective of an outsider, who is eventually entangled into an already unkempt situation. In reading, you would see that wearing a different face is common nature to these characters. However, Fitzgerald channeled both theatrics and facts through Nick Carraway and playfully executes the
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.
The 1920’s was a time of prosperity, woman’s rights, and bootleggers. F. Scott Fitzgerald truly depicts the reality of this era with The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, an enormously wealthy man, is famous for his extravagant parties and striking residence. However, this is all that is known about Gatsby. Even his closest friends continue to wonder what kind of man Gatsby actually is. The mysteriousness of Gatsby is demonstrated by conceivable gossip, his random departures, and the missing parts of his past.
Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.
During the 1920’s, the role women had under men was making a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920’s. The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and the society. Things like this upset people, especially the men. The men were upset because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over the female society.
In the novel The Great Gatsby by American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker portrays a professional golfer who is both Daisy Buchanan’s friend and a woman with whom Nick Carraway, the narrator, becomes romantically involved with. She is poised, blonde, very athletic, and physically appealing. Throughout the story, Baker represents a typical privileged upper class woman of the 1920’s Jazz Age with her cynical, glamorous, and self-centered nature. Despite the fact that she is not the main character, Jordan Baker plays an important role in portraying one of Fitzgerald's themes, the decay of morality, in the novel.
"At first I was flattered to go places with her because she was a golf champion and everyone knew her name," (Fitzgerald 65). Jordan is known to be a professional golf player in the Great Gatsby. Everyone knows her and she a very wealthy woman. Many women in the Great Gatsby doesn 't have a stable career like Jordan and needs support from their husband to do the things that they want. "Women had enjoyed as much freedom as they could get in the 20’s. World War 1 was a way for women to take ownership over what the men left. It served as a liberating event in many ways. Throughout the National League for Women’s service, women took over jobs while men fought in war overseas. With this opportunity women were able to pay for their own things. They were financially stable and could obtain independence that their jobs gave them, " (Moss and Wilson pg.147). "In New York, you would usually found Flappers there. They were young women who wear short skirts, had short hair cuts and wear fancy jewelry and outfits," (Moss and Wilson pg.147). Flappers were a big thing back in the 20’s. They were mostly young women who wear flashy jewelry, short skirts and short hair cuts. Many men has left the U.S. to go fight overseas in world war I, which gave women just enough time to take over their jobs to stabilize themselves
The 1920’s was an unethical period that saw the neglect of numerous social groups. Whilst we often associate 20th century America with the iniquities of segregation imposed by the Jim Crow laws, it is also the case that women were subjected to a second class role. Fitzgerald effectively presents the detrimental patriarchy in The Great Gatsby through the use of various techniques, his crafting of male characters being physically dominant, enables the reader to conclude that the 1920’s was a period of injustice. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye provides further support to this argument by presenting a corresponding rejection of female equality two decades later.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker was bold, deceptive, and needed variety and stimulation. This is what made her to be the Orange character that she was. Those who fit into the orange category of personality fit these criteria and more. She is modern, she is hypocritical, and she is in love with her glamorous life.
Women are seen from a biased point of view in pop culture as they are often criticized and portrayed in degrading ways. The Great Gatsby takes place in the early part of the 20th century which is also known as the Roaring 20's. In regards to feminism, the women in The Great Gatsby are mainly depicted as second class to men. The story gives readers an insight of the roles that gender played in past World War I America. In The Great Gatsby, the author Scott Fitzgerald shines a light on the submissiveness of females toward males during the Roaring Twenties by giving the women in the novel an unfair representation as they are often identified as passive or negative “objects”.
The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.