The Great Gatsby

1034 Words3 Pages

The twenties was an extravagant decade filled with Prohibition, parties, and a burst of great artistic creation. One of the great works of the time, The Great Gatsby, depicts the lavish and problematic lifestyles of the wealthy from the view of Nick Carraway, a regular guy. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald was a world renowned author during the 1920s with a problematic lifestyle of his own. Throughout The Great Gatsby, the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald is evident through the books themes of the American Dream, partying, and longing for a love you can not have.

Wild parties and alcohol were common occurrences in both Fitzgerald’s life and the lives of the characters in The Great Gatsby. During the first two years of Fitzgerald’s marriage, he and his wife very frequently attended wild parties, these parties being cited as inspiration for The Great Gatsby (Mangum). These parties took place during Prohibition, a time when alcohol was illegal, so when Fitzgerald and his wife drank they were probably drinking alcohol from bootleggers. Fitzgerald’s also developed problems with alcohol during his adulthood due to the difficulties he experienced. Gatsby also has intense connections with alcohol and wild parties, despite being only a light drinker himself. Nick learns this distinguishing characteristic from Gatsby saying , “It was indirectly due to Cody that Gatsby drank so little. Sometimes in the course of gay parties women used to rub champagne into his hair; for himself he formed the habit of letting liquor alone,” (Fitzgerald 100). This shows that despite only drinking lightly, he enjoyed the glamour of parties and spending time with people who were not light drinkers. Although Gatsby wasn’t a heavy drinker himself, he was the host o...

... middle of paper ...

...orce behind both Fitzgerald and Gatsby throughout their lives. These themes show how intertwined Fitzgerald’s life was with his writing, especially The Great Gatsby.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.

Hickey, Angela D. "The Great Gatsby." Masterplots. 4th ed. Ipswich: Salem Press, 2010. 1-3.

Literary Reference Center. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Mangum, Bryant. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Critical Survey of Long Fiction. 4th ed. Ipswich: Salem

Press, n.d. 1-11. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Morton-Mollo, Sherry. "The Great Gatsby." Cyclopedia of Literary Places. Ipswich: Salem

Press, 2003. 1-2. Literary Reference Center. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Witkoski, Michael. "F. Scott Fitzgerald." Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Rev. ed.
Ipswich: Salem Press, 2006. 1-11. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

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