Theme Of Modernism In The Great Gatsby

“We are becoming like cats, slyly parasitic, enjoying an indifferent domesticity. Nice and snug in the social, our historic passions have withdrawn into the glow of an artificial coziness, and our half-closed eyes now seek little other than the peaceful parade of television pictures.” (Baudrillard) In this quote by Jean Baudrillard, she reflects on the emergence of the new upcoming modernist era. In the 1920s, the development of industrialization and the terrors left behind from World War Ⅰ led to a new set of norms and way of living. In addition, this new realistic view of the world changed various forms of literature. While some scholars say The Great Gatsby does not represents a Modernist novel, there is an abundance of evidence depicting

Three aspects of Modernism portrayed throughout the novel are wealth, fakery, and meaninglessness.
First of all, the meaning and representation of money altered greatly during the modernist era. After the end of World War Ⅰ, America experienced a vast economic boost. This raise in financial standing began changing a multitude of customs in society. Morals and ethics were soon forgotten and overpowered by the introduction of wealth. (Silloto)
This extensive adherence to wealth is conveyed in numerous parts of the novel, The Great Gatsby. For example, Tom and Myrtle’s apartment contained a Palace of Versailles patterned couch. “The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles.” (Fitzgerald 33) The Palace of Versailles is a royal château containing all gold. (Wikipedia) Thus, the couch symbolizes

For example, Nick goes to the East Egg to see Daisy and Tom. “And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.” (Fitzgerald 10) In this quote, Nick refers to Tom and Daisy as “Two old friends” who he barely knew. However, Daisy is Nick’s cousin and Tom went to school with Nick. Therefore, this suggests their relationship was meaningless since they very seldom saw each other. Another example can be seen when Nick, Tom, Daisy, Jordan and Gatsby go into town. “And we all took the less explicable step of engaging the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel...Open the whiskey, Tom.” (Fitzgerald 132) During this passage, they spend their afternoon sitting in Tom’s suite drinking whiskey. These characters have a substantial amount of money, yet they decide to spend their time sitting in a room drinking alcohol. Moreover, this shows their meaningless lives because they have nothing better to do. Lastly, there were numerous rumors about Gatsby. “I heard that from a man who knew all about him, grew up with him in Germany.” (Fitzgerald 48) Jordan and two girls contemplate over Gatsby’s true background. Furthermore, rather than talking about facts, they argue over hearsay of Gatsby’s background. Thus, this shows they lead meaningless lives since they have nothing better to do than argue over false