The Role of a Setting in The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the setting of New York in the nineteen twenties performs an extensive role in the novel. Although the nineteen twenties are a time of economic prosperity, they appear to be a time of corruption and crime as well. In New York, particularly, the nineteen twenties are a time of corruption and moral scarcity. The setting is during the Jazz Age as well, where popularity, fashion, and commerce are a primary inclination. The setting of The Great Gatsby efficaciously portrays the behavior of the characters in The Great Gatsby, as well as the plot and development. The setting assiduously delineates how themes, motifs, and symbols can fluctuate in relation to the time or location. The setting of The Great Gatsby, therefore, plays its role through moral corruption, the “Jazz Age,” and economic prosperity.

Moral corruption flourishes throughout all of New York, and particularly in the nineteen twenties. While West Egg and East Egg may have their differences, the sense of morality remains the same. Throughout all of New York in the nineteen twenties, many crimes and immoral acts take place. Jay Gatsby, who augments his opulence over a series of years, achieves his wealth by committing corrupt and immoral acts. Jordan, who is a golfer, acquiesces that she cheated during her first golf tournament. And, lastly, the Buchanans, who are amongst the highest of all millionaires, are corrupt and immoral in innumerable amount of ways, and conceive themselves to be impenetrable due to their vast aegis of coinage. An example may be found on page one hundred sixty four. After the death of Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan casually depart from New York and migrate to some other location without any...

... middle of paper ...

...mpelling elements concerning the significance of a setting in The Great Gatsby. Although these elements are most definitely the most dominant, other features of the setting may conduct some significance. The city of New York, for example, is perceived to be a rather capacious and prominent province, and so one may comprehend how the characters within The Great Gatsby may be drawn to the designated location. Divergences between the east and the west may also take part in the setting’s significance, for the west, at the present time of the novel, can be said to be more bucolic and undeveloped than the urban cities of the east. The significance in the role of the setting in The Great Gatsby, therefore, may be accurately analyzed through not only moral corruption, the “Jazz Age,” and economic prosperity, but more so through many other differing elements as well.