In the past century in America, one of the decades that has stood out most as a time of change is the 1920s. In a post-war economic boom, the decade was a time of cultural and societal change. Among the parties and the more relaxed way of life, Americans experienced new wealth and luxury. Capturing the essence of the Roaring Twenties is a daunting task, especially because of the many different factors contributing to the decade’s fame. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald managed to capture and define the spirit of the 1920s through his novel. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the characters and events of the novel manifest the trademark qualities of America in the 1920s.
In the 1920s, a new genre emerged at the forefront of American music: jazz. A product of the Harlem Renaissance, according to “The Decade that Roared,” jazz music played a significant role in the changing of American culture and society in the 20’s. This influence would lead to Fitzgerald giving the era its name, “The Jazz Age.” The draw of jazz was its unpredictability due to improvisation; the great jazz musicians were able to play to the mood and the spirit of the crowd. This meant that no two performances were ever the same. Because of this, jazz musicians drew great audiences and inspired new dances. The wildness of the music sparked a new feeling among those who listened and danced to it. Like the music, a new American culture emerged, one of spontaneity and thoughtlessness (“The Decade that Roared” 5). This new, wild phenomenon is mirrored in the seemingly endless parties at Gatsby’s mansion. In The Great Gatsby, Nick, during his first experience at one of these parties, remarks that the behavior at said parties is reminiscent of an amusement park (Fitzgerald 44)....
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...at characters create for themselves and the means by which they solve them serve as a way for Fitzgerald to exemplify the decade’s signature qualities while simultaneously criticizing them. Although it was a time of improvements in the way of life for all Americans, along with that came a certain moral decadence. In a new sense of comfort and thoughtlessness, a contempt for law and order, and a desire for wealth, the Jazz Age marked a crucial turning point in America, captured precisely by Fitzgerald.
Works Cited
"The Decade That Roared." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Batchelor, Bob. Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel. Print.
Zeitz, Joshua. "The Roaring Twenties." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
The 1920's were also known as the "Jazz Age". Rightly named because of the appearance of jazz music. The word "jazz" took the country by storm. Clothing stores advertised "jazz styles," poets wrote "jazz poetry". In the early 1920s, classic jazz was at its height, with either a lone pianist or a band containing banjo, horns, clarinets, and drums backing the female singer. This was music that fit the mood of blacks that had recently come to the cities, who had left the single guitarist or string bands of the South. And by the mid-1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls, roadhouses, and speakeasies around the country. Jazz, which had been the product of wandering black musicians, the poorest of the South, had become a big business, and dancing swept a country that seemed convinced wealth and well-being would never come to an end.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The "Great Gatsby" Barnes & Noble. N.p., 1920 -. Web. The Web.
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.
Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, the American people felt that they deserved to have some fun in order to forget the emotional toll and social scars left from the war. The Jazz Age was appropriately named due to the illegal activities and good times, which included music, parties, and flapper girls. Jazz was a new style of music that originated out of the New Orleans area, where one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time – Louis Armstrong – began his career. The energy of jazz was a very new and almost uncomfortable style for the very traditional, rigid family of the 1920s. Young people in particular seemed to enjoy this new music the most, as it made them feel carefree. The energy of jazz was symbolic of the era’s trans...
The word “jazz” is significant to America, and it has many meanings. Jazz could simply be defined as a genre or style of music that originated in America, but it can also be described as a movement which “bounced into the world somewhere about the year 1911.”. This is important because jazz is constantly changing, evolving, adapting, and improvising. By analyzing the creators, critics, and consumers of jazz in the context of cultural, political, and economic issues, I will illustrate the movement from the 1930’s swing era to the birth of bebop and modern jazz. As the 1930’s began, the effects of the Great Depression still ravaged the United States, which in turn caused a dramatic change in the music industry.
Fitzgerald does not associate the Jazz Age with jazz music, but he does associate it with free going men and women. Fitzgerald believes that the Jazz Age was a was a time of no care and living life to the fullest. He says “wherefore eat, drink, drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die”(16). This is showing that the people of the Jazz Age did not care what happened tomorrow as long as they lived today to its fullest. When he says “that something had to be done with all the nervous energy stored up and unexpended in the War,” (13) he shows why people were so free going. Fitzgerald is saying that people did not know if there was going to be another war or if when they were going to die, so they had to live life today and not wait for tomorrow. He says that people will do whatever they can to make sure that they have the most fun they can while they were still on earth. This was not only a lifestyle but a social trend during the 20’s. Girls changed how they felt about their husbands and their lives. Fitzgerald says that “a world of girls yearned for the young Englishman; the old America...
There were many important events that have occurred during the history of our country. Some have been filled with turmoil, while others have shown prosperity. Examples of turmoil are World War I and World War II. The Jazz Age did not let the bad times affect them. They are many ways that this time period is considered great. The Jazz Age was the greatest era in American history because of the characteristics and the economic prosperity that defined the 1920s as well as the styles and behaviors of the people who lived during this time, as seen through the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby.
The Roaring Twenties a period when a dramatic social and political change happened. Researching about Harlem was learning about how the people contributed more the music to America’s New Urban Culture. The Harlem Renaissance was a significant movement during the 1920s were African American artists were brought together, explored what it means to be an artist, what it is to create art and literature, as well as what it means to be a proud African American in a community, that influence each to stand-up together in a white-dominant culture, furthermore Harlem was a hotbed of political, cultural and social activity. While researching about the 1920’s, I found out so
The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is a novel that eloquently summarizes what the entire American society represents through Fitzgerald’s view. This novel develops its story in New York, at a time when the jazz age was at its peak. The roaring twenties, the era of glamour, infringed prohibition, conflict, growth and prosperity. The main concern in that age was materialism, sex, booze, and entertainment. The American Dream was the idea that anything, especially success, was possible through hard work and determination no matter where the individual comes from. On the other hand, in Fitzgerald’s perspective, he was aware of the falsity of the values in the American society; and also he was aware of the importance of honesty and sincerity. The argument is poetically obvious, through his novel Fitzgerald shows us that reality will always end by demolishing any idealism; because the American dream is untouchable, intangible, a hoax, a fraud, and a lie that only leads to the destruction of those who believe in a single dream for too long.
The “Jazz Age” was a term F. Scott Fitzgerald coined to describe the ostentatious era that began after World War I during the Roaring Twenties. It was a joyous time full of great prosperity. He published many famous books during this time like The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. Fitzgerald claimed to know a great deal about the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties, while he never actually experienced those aspects himself. Although F. Scott Fitzgerald had many struggles with alcoholism and his marriage, he is considered to be one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century.
The Jazz age was a convivial time known for innovation, creativity, and women pushing the limits of their new found freedom, but it was also a time of mourning and loss after the end of World War I. The combination of these emotions is what made the roaring twenties so unique, yet unstable. Before the twenties, the American dream had been to earn a stable income and raise a family in the great country that is America, but during the twenties the American dream became much more diminished as people worked for riches and luxuries that only a few could afford. In The Great Gatsby the main characters are striving for this dream of riches in a turbulent setting, but ironically are blinded by the distractions of the Jazz age and they do not realize until it is too late that they have been walking away from their own dreams. During the Jazz age people partied, drank, and danced to their heart’s content, but little did they know that they were losing sight of the American dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald seemed to have written a novel about the glittering American twenties, but his novel was really about the decay of American society, the tragedy of love, and the decline of the American dream. The Great Gatsby illustrates all of Fitzgerald’s ideas about American society. Despite the perceived notion of the glitz and glamour of 1920’s society, it was all a thin veneer of extravagance covering up a dark and dismal world.
The Roaring Twenties is considered to be a time of excessive celebration and immense corruption. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a criticism of American society and its values during this era of history. This criticism is first apparent in the people who go to Gatsby's parties. They get absurdly drunk, do not know who their host is and are rude by excessively gossiping about him. This commentary is also shown in the corruption of the police. Gatsby is able to pay off the police so that the activities going on at his home will go unnoticed and so that he may behave as he wishes. This criticism is finally shown in the corruption of friendship and love, the simple fact being that there is none. People use Gatsby and then throw him away. Fitzgerald's criticism of American society and its values during this time period is first shown in the behaviour of people at Gatsby's parties.
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.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most compelling twentieth century writers, (Curnutt, 2004). The year 1925 marks the year of the publication of Fitzgerald’s most credited novel, The Great Gatsby (Bruccoli, 1985). With its critiques of materialism, love and the American Dream (Berman, 1996), this dramatic idyllic novel, (Harvey, 1957), although poorly received at first, is now highly regarded as Fitzgerald’s finest work (Rohrkemper, 1985) and is his publisher, Scribner 's most popular title, (Donahue, 2013). The novel achieved it’s status as one of the most influential novels in American history around the nineteen fifties and sixties, over ten years after Fitzgerald 's passing, (Ibid, 1985)