Nick began his life in the Midwest and always regards it as his home and the place where he belongs, which is directly reflected in his unhappiness and ability to see the corruption of those who reside in the East; conversely, Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby all have roots in the Midwest, were drawn to the East, and remain there, blind to the horrors occurring in their daily lives. August 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. Romer, Christina. "They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. The aftermath of this desire was the American dream that entailed the search for riches, equal opportunity, independence, and devotion. Ask questions; get answers. Understanding what the world was like during the time the novel is sethelps you in all sorts of ways: Figuring out an author's assumptions. As Fitzgerald saw it (and as Nick explains in Chapter 9), the American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. From new money to consumer culture to lavish parties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel depicted the heyday of the 1920sand foreshadowed the doom that would follow. must. Don't leave your college application to chance. How does Nick Carraway first meet Jay Gatsby? Jordan is direct and critical all while being collected and intelligent; she defies the typical standard of the effervescent, submissive women of her time and instead represents a new breed of women, all standardized by the future of American prosperity and affluence. I'd never understood before. What does this mean? Tom and Daisy's movements are also supported by their money. In this phrase, Nick talks about Tom and George upon realizing that their wives are cheating on them and that they had a sort of terminal sickness. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." Unfortunately, the depression of 1929 led to a loss of such gains (Romer 598). So all three women push the boundaries of their expected societal rolesDaisy's affair with Gatsby, Jordan's independent lifestyle, and Myrtle's affair with Tombut ultimately either fall in line (Daisy, Jordan) or are killed for reaching too far (Myrtle). Zeitz, Joshua. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Why does Myrtle run out in front of Gatsbys car? SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. on 50-99 accounts. The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of 1920s New York City, a period known as the "Roaring Twenties" for the exhilarating pace set by the rapidly evolving culture and technology. You can see the effects of these historical development several places in the novel: The 1920s saw huge increases in the production and use of automobiles. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It would help your argument to talk about the sudden skyrocketing prevalence of cars on the road in the 1920s, connecting them to increased danger, status symbol consumerism, and modern life. 22 Apr. Cars are clearly used to display wealth and status - even Tom, normally secure in his superiority, wants to brag to George Wilson aboutthesuper-fancy Rolls Royce heborrows from Gatsby. You can also compare Tom and Daisy's actions and outcomes to other characters to help make your pointMyrtle and Gatsby both contribute to the conflict by participating in affairs with Tom and Daisy, but obviously, Myrtle and Gatsby don't get to "retreat into their money," they both end up dead. Despite the fact that only few women precisely fitted this description of 1920s flapper, such a description was common in the media. The overindulgence is perhaps well reflected in The Great Gatsby in Gatsbys parties that are analogous to those that were thrown by the American youths in the 1920s. The smaller European powers were forced into the war as well, based on whatever alliances they had made in the past. For some time now I have been thinking about the validity or vulnerability of a certain set of assumptions conventionally accepted among literary historians and critics and circulated as "knowledge." This knowledge holds that traditional, canonical American literature is free of, (See our brief biography of Fitzgerald to learn more.). They have an immense belief in the capacity of money to make them look superior to other people who are short of it. In the novel you can see what happened to it during the 1920s. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Both Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby have military backgrounds. Is Nick from The Great Gatsby a Trustworthy Narrator? She fails to comprehend why East Eggs people live materially well while she, together with her husband, still remain engulfed in the valley of ashes (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 76). . This term described women who would wear much less restricting clothing and go out drinking and dancing, which at the time was a huge violation of typical social norms. The availability of mass-produced items among majority Americans led to the erosion of the existing mechanisms of differentiating people based on their social economic classes. Writers are products of their time, so knowing what they would have assumed to be true makes reading their work richer. Mining the text for a character's attitude toward money can be a very helpful way to understand their motivations in the world of 1920s New York. The Great Gatsby. Ask questions; get answers. In Myrtle's eyes, money is an escape from life with her husband in the valley of ashes, something that brings status, and something that buys class. Socially progressive activists in both the Democratic and Republican parties united to pressure the government to ban alcohol, which was blamed for all kinds of other social ills like gambling and drug abuse. All these developments illustrated increased consumer spending as noted by Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Interested in the other ways that The Great Gatsbyera matters to the plot of the novel? March 4, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 Another post-WWI developmentwas the Harlem Renaissance, acultural, social, and artistic flowering among African Americans that took place in Harlem, NY, during the 1920s. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Fitzgerald and Bruccoli write, they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together (187-188). Discount, Discount Code Gatsby 's car, outsized and ostentatious, represents Gatsby's flamboyant gestures, love of the material world, and huge capacity to dream. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker. Every character in The Great Gatsby draws inspiration from the American Dreams promise of wealth and prosperity. "They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together." In this novel, actual mountain climbing is safer than social climbing. When Nick Carraway, narrator of The Great Gatsby, . Luckily, FreeBookSummary offers study guides on over 1000 top books from students curricula! Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? Developing a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. Fitzgerald captured this period of rapid post-war growth and the frenzy surrounding the era with insightful examples of the eleterious effects of superficial behavior. Colonizers arrived in the US with similar dreams of a healthier life for all people. . Although many previous events eventually influenced the 1920s, there are two crucialpieces of background history that you have to know. Why does Gatsby arrange for Nick to have lunch with Jordan Baker? Increased availability of products for purchasing in the free market led to the widening of the gaps between people of different social economic classes. let other people clean up the mess they had made.. Learn more about how The Great Gatsby was received when it first came out, and also read about the life ofits author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? Everyone is there for the spectacle alone. She was incurably dishonest. Gale Virtual Reference Library. True to the spirit of the times . Additionally, places and objects in The Great Gatsby have meaning only because characters instill them with meaning: the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg best exemplify this idea. Fitzgerald and Bruccoli reckon, Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game (10). August 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. One of the rumors about Gatsby is that he is involved in a bootlegging pipeline of alcohol from Canada - this is a reference to a real-life scandal about one of the places where illegal alcohol was coming from! . No people in The Great Gatsby get rich by working hard. Being dishonest makes her (Jordan) incredibly uncomfortable with life. Nick Caraway, a native of Minnesota and an advocate of Midwestern values, narrates it in the first person. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters In The Great Gatsby. This combination of restlessness and resentment puts them on the path to the tragedy at the end of the book. Jordan does not understand the concerns of the need to work hard and genuinely. The production and distributionof alcohol became the province ofbootleggers - the original organized crime syndicates. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Daisy representing money also suggests money is as alluring and desirableor even more sothan Daisy herself. Gatsby's early romance with Daisy is heightened by the initial idealism that he was about to go fight in a noble and glorious endeavor. IvyPanda. Best Analysis: Money and Materialism in The Great Gatsby, Get Free Guides to Boost Your SAT/ACT Score, Analyzing characters via money/materialism, Common assignments and analysis of money/materialism in Gatsby, Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now, he opens the book with his father's advice, We've compiled a list of 15 must-have items for fans of. At the end of the book, class dynamics dictate which marriage survives (Tom and Daisy), which one is destroyed (George and Myrtle), and which one will never come to be (Gatsby and Daisy). Similarly, modernism writers experimented with form and style rather than sticking with traditional forms of prose and poetry. However, the quest for contentment changed with time to become the search for wealth through excessive insatiability. Since speakeasies were already side-stepping the law, they also became places where people of different races and genders could mix and mingle in a way they hadnt previously while enjoying new music like jazz. She even adopts a different persona among her guests: "The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Or, zoom out toa summary of The Great Gatsby, along with links to all ourgreat articles analyzing this novel! You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you . Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. Gatsbys dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its objectmoney and pleasure. Gatsby never stands a chance of succeeding with his attempt to win back Daisy, who is a part of that society and of a different status. Anne Marie Hacht. Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Most of the characters reveal themselves to be highly materialistic, their motivations driven by their desire for money and things: Daisy marries and stays with Tom because of the lifestyle he can provide her, Myrtle has her affair with Tom due to the privileged world it grants her access to, and Gatsby even lusts after Daisy as if she is a prize to be won. Tom's restlessness is likely one motivator for his affairs, while Daisy is weighed down by the knowledge of those affairs. Print. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." As such, theGreat Gatsby era is theperiod in 20th century U.S. history nicknamed both the Roaring 20s and the "Jazz Age." He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. Cars also now created a totally new danger, particularly in combination with alcohol consumption. The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in the novel was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive Daisy and Jordan are both old money socialites, while Myrtle is a working class woman married to a mechanic. In the contemporary phenomenon of "Gatsby parties"festivities intended to capture the air of the titular Jay Gatsby's famously lavish, bacchanalian partiesjazz is de rigueur to evoke the 1920s. A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracyfamilies with old wealthscorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators.
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