To view a time in history as accurately as possible, one must incorporate works created “in period”; things such as books, music and art should be invaluable to the true historian. These things give us a lens through which we can see back into the world of that age. Many critics say that The Great Gatsby read the book as a commentary on American society during the 1920’s; they use the book as a historical reference that tells us what part of society was like. The work The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys a position on the United States in the 1920’s using a myriad of different techniques embedded throughout the novel. The Great Gatsby shows the reader that the 1920’s was a vibrant time, almost too colorful to be real. In chapter one, Fitzgerald shows this when he reveals Tom and Daisy’s house for the first time. Fitzgerald characterizes the scene when he writes “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does the sea”(8). Within the description, F. Fitzgerald employs imagery to help the reader conceptualize his ultimate goal of the bright and extremely “alive” feeling within the room. He proposed that the shadow of the curtains moves as if it was the sea, and that the grass was so green that it felt as if it was in the room rather than outside. Just as The Great Gatsby shows that the 1920’s were a vibrant time, it also shows that they were surreal in nature. In the novel, Fitzgerald conveys a heightened sense... ... middle of paper ... ...unter with Wolfsheim, where it revealed that Wolfsheim rigged the 1919 World Series. Recusant behavior is prevalent throughout the novel, which Fitzgerald does so that the reader will understand that in his view of the 1920’s, noncompliant comportment was widespread throughout the middle and upper social classes. Fitzgerald illustrates with artful tact his view of the United States in the 1920’s. He shows lawlessness, surrealism, and vibrancy throughout his novel, utilizing literary techniques such as imagery, indirect characterization, ambiguity, and the lexicon used. F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves the reader blown away by the events that transpired over the course of the short one-hundred and eighty pages of The Great Gatsby. The 1920’s are embodied by Mr. Scott’s novel; he gives an incredible story while handing over a valuable glimpse into the age through his eyes.
Considered as the defining work of the 1920s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, when America was just coming out of one of the most violent wars in the nation’s history. World War 1 had taken the lives of many young people who fought and sacrificed for our country on another continent. The war left many families without fathers, sons, and husbands. The 1920s is an era filled with rich and dazzling history, where Americans experienced changes in lifestyle from music to rebellion against the United States government. Those that are born into that era grew up in a more carefree, extravagant environment that would affect their interactions with others as well as their attitudes about themselves and societal expectations. In this novel, symbols are used to represent the changing times and create a picture of this era for generations to come. The history, settings, characters, and symbols embedded in The Great Gatsby exemplify life in America during the 1920s.
The Great Gatsby has been around for ages; it is a story of a young man in the 1920’s who is thrown into a new world made up of the new and the old rich. He is confused by the way these people act and in the end cannot stay another minute in this strange, insensitive, materialistic world. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many techniques to help the reader understand how Nick Carraway (the narrator) is feeling throughout the story. In the book The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses effective language to make his writing successful. He uses the techniques of imagery and irony to display this message.
“The Great Gatsby,” a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts life in the 1920’s. “The
F. Scott Fitzgerald presents The Great Gatsby with complex symbolism. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values as evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and the empty pursuit of pleasure. He uses symbolism to illustrate the distorted and unattainable American Dream. In particular, the green light, the Valley of Ashes, and East and West Egg emphasize his theme that a corrupt and materialistic American Dream is unattainable.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
The Great Gatsby is symbolic of America and its people as a whole in the 1920s. During the 1920s America was undergoing a shift from the gilded age to the progressive era. Fitzgerald’s symbolism in the novel thoroughly describes and portrays the disintegration of the American dream during the era of material excess. The characters in the Great Gatsby possess an empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless exultance that led to large, elegant parties, similar to the ostentatious parties Jay Gatsby threw every Saturday night, resulted in the further corruption and disintegration of the American dream because of the limitless desire for money and pleasure took higher precedence over patrician goals.
Consider pages 23-25 of Chapter II of "the Great Gatsby"; examine Fitzgerald's imagery, form and structure and its comment on 1920s American society.
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
The 1920s of United States history is riddled with scandal, post-war morale, and daring excursions in efforts break away from a melancholy time of war. Pearls, cars, and dinner parties are intertwined in a society of flappers and bootleggers and F. Scott Fitzgerald uses this picturesque period to develop a plot convey his themes . In his The Great Gatsby, functioning as an immersive piece into the roaring twenties, Fitzgerald places his characters in a realistic New York setting. Events among them showcase themes concerning love, deceit, class, and the past. Fitzgerald uses the setting of the East and West Eggs, a green dock light, and a valley of ashes to convey his themes and influence the plot.
F. Scott Fitzgerald 's classic tale of the American dream, The Great Gatsby, is a well known and well loved story. Though many people are familiar with the plot, few take the time to study the depth that has been written into the world of the novel. Set in the post-war, celebratory time of the 1920s, the readers are taken through the bustling lives of a handful of well-off characters. Despite the glamourous lives the characters lead, there are a number of negative themes that can be traced throughout the book. These themes include hostility, ignorance and failure. Characters were unable to think rationally, understand situations, or reach their goals. Compared to the fast-paced setting of New York, these less than appealing traits and accomplishments
Trilling, Lionel. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Essays on Scott Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby." Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: Hall, 1984. 13-20.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.
...al 1922. F. Scott Fitzgerald was not biased for or against the rich in writing this book, he was simply trying to chronicle the lives and times of the early part of the 20’s. His lack of a bias is what makes his book such an accurate description of the era that he wrote about. This book should be considered “required reading” because it introduces the reader to what life was like for the rich at that time, as well as the general mood that pervaded the decade. It speaks of concepts such as bootlegging, gambling, and “new money”, ideas that previously were not commonly written of. F. Scott Fitzgerald can be considered an authority on the twenties because he lived in the twenties with the type of people that were described in his book.
Although it can be considered as “the great American novel,” the main theme of the novel covers a much darker and less romantic area. The Great Gatsby is a novel full of symbolism about the United States’ cultural expression in the 1920s, and in particular, on the decay of the American Dream in a time of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the “roaring twenties” as a time of devalued social and moral values, as evidenced by the cynicism, greed and the pursuit of pleasure from the member of the “Lost Generation.” The irresponsible desire that led to those decadent parties and the frenetic jazz music, which are represented by those opulent receptions Gatsby offers every Saturday night; it ultimately led to the corruption of the American Dream, to the extent that this unstoppable desire for money and passion depraved one of the ultimate American
Published in 1925, Scott Fitzgerald released The Great Gatsby. What some critics say “readers have been fascinated by the oppositions in his work and character” (Callahan 1). He has been critiqued and analyzed by people for almost a century, therefore changing the history of American literature. The Great Gatsby was brilliantly written in a way that it represented an era in American history where people had the freedom to do just about anything or at least people thought they did. Fitzgerald was excellent in the way he made his characters come to life. Each one of the characters had their own goals that they wanted to achieve. The center cause of everything within the novel is based on a dream, the dream that has placed upon America’s since the early setters.