student. (3.1-3.6). 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. You'll also receive an email with the link. Web. The Buchanans exemplify this stereotype when, at the end of the novel, they simply move to a new house far away rather than condescend to attend Gatsbys funeral. So while Daisy is materialistic and is drawn to Gatsby again due to his newly-acquired wealth, we see Gatsby is drawn to her as well due to the money and status she represents. Nick Caraway, a native of Minnesota and an advocate of Midwestern values, narrates it in the first person. Imagine spending weeks in this hole in the ground. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. . Print. As further proof of Nicks morals, he declines Gatsbys reward for reuniting him with Daisy, a risky business deal that would provide Nick with a surplus of money, as he realizes its faults, and he retains his dignity. We learn that the car is very large and both green on the . . 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. When Nick Carraway, narrator of 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." In 1920, the U.S. passed the 18th Amendment, outlawing the production and sale of alcohol. Some of the rumors swirling around Gatsby point to how fresh the war was in everyone's mind (that he was a German spy during the war, or that he is related to Kaiser Wilhelm, who ruled Germany during the war). Any time someone isdrinking alcohol in the novel, they are doing something illegal, and are clearly in the know about how to get this banned substance. Flappers emerged in 1920s. Historically speaking, with influential leaders of temperance movements that believed in the dangers of alcohol and its ability to disrupt families, the Volstead Act was put into effect outlawing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors (The Great Gatsby Literature 147). If you understand this combination of progress and traditionalism for women's roles, you'll find it on display in The GreatGatsby: Women's suffrage parade in New York City. In 1920s, this figure rose to more than 75 percent. Daisy and Tom have similar traits, which support materialist culture that was prevalent in the 1920s American society as portrayed in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgeralds illustration of the American Dream within his characters directly echoed the societys high-esteemed qualities of success and delight. In the novel you can see what happened to it during the 1920s. Copyright 2023 - IvyPanda is operated by, American Culture in the Novel The Great Gatsby. The theme of The Great Gatsby is decadence and the decline of society. "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." 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. No one has time to read them all, but its important to go over them at least briefly. This analysis can enrich an essay about old money versus new money, the American dream, or even a more straightforward character analysis, or a comparison of two different characters. F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, depicts a portion of Nick Carraways life characterized by the time he is influenced by the mysterious Jay Gatsby and his extensive pursuit of his former flame and Nicks cousin, Daisy Buchanan. 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. Contact us IvyPanda. Download it for free now: hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(360031, '688715d6-bf92-47d7-8526-4c53d1f5fe7d', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(360031, '03a85984-6dfd-4a19-93c8-5f46091f5e2b', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. Another post-WWI developmentwas the Harlem Renaissance, acultural, social, and artistic flowering among African Americans that took place in Harlem, NY, during the 1920s. ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score, How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League, Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Although her husband is immensely loyal to her, she possesses a strong desire to have everything else. The Great Gatsby was published in 1925. Print. The Great Gatsby. IvyPanda. Romer, Christina. You can thus compare three very different women's experiences to explore how moneyor a lack thereofseems to change the possibilities in a woman's life in early 1920s America. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Renews March 11, 2023 Similarly, modernism writers experimented with form and style rather than sticking with traditional forms of prose and poetry. By Matthew Walther Mr. Walther is the editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a . Knowing the hot-button issues of the novel's day gives you a good second way to support arguments about the importance of a particular theme, or your reading of the meaning of a symbol. . Like his fellow modernists, Fitzgerald was deeply critical of the wealth and capitalist success ushered in by the post-war boom, considering the new obsession with money and status shallow. The post-war boom also had a positive effect on minorities in the U.S. One of the effects was thatJewish Americanswere atthe forefront of promoting such issues as workers rights, civil rights, woman's rights, and other progressive causes. This makes Daisy sound like the princess that the hero gets to marry at the end of a fairy talein other words, she's a high-value prize. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Overall, the cultures in the East and Midwest are represented clearly through the characters actions, decisions, and values throughout the novel as examples of Fitzgeralds way of highlighting social flaws. But even Gatsby, who makes an incredible amount of money in a short time, is not allowed access into the upper echelon of society, and loses everything in trying to climb that final, precarious rung of the ladder, as represented by Daisy. Gatsby was Fitzgerald's third novel, and in writing it, he consciously set out to write something more artistic and creative than his previous two books. Many themes of the novel revolve around the mysterious character of Gatsby. August 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. Many of them cannot proactively grasp the concept of working hard to build their material wealth base. Myrtle is obsessed with shows of wealth, from her outfits, to insisting on a specific cab, to her apartment's decoration, complete with scenes of Versailles on the overly-large furniture: "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" (2.51). In fact, during Chapter 8 when we finally get a fuller recap of Daisy and Gatsby's early relationship, Nick notes that "It excited [Gatsby] too that many men had already loved Daisyit increased her value in his eyes" (8.10). 22 Apr. These comments might seem a bit odd, given that Nick admits to coming from money himself: "My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations" (1.5). "It makes me sad because I've never seen suchsuch beautiful shirts before." On the other hand, its horrific death toll and seeming meaninglessness forever dispelled the idea of war as noble and glorious. If Nick were just a middle-class everyman, the story could not play out in the same way. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Together with the examples of deceit under Prohibition, Fitzgeralds novel was inspired by the corruption of certain Americans during the 1920s as reflected in the actions and deceit used by the major characters he created. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. March 4, 2023, SNPLUSROCKS20 Nick's love of Manhattan as a diverse melting pot is illustrated by the appearance in. It's not enough to "bounce high" for someone, to win them over with your charm. Excited to dive in? Entire Document, Comparison: Great Gatsby and the American Dream, The Great Gatsby and the 'American Dream', The Great Gatsby: The Fall of the American Dream, Contradictions in the culture of the period, Flappers and self-made men as new people of the period, Prohibition of alcohol and Gatsby as a bootlegger, The price for reaching the American Dream, How the novel mirrors the corrupt mindset of the Roaring Twenties. The novels narrator illustrates well the increased consumerist culture. But since Daisy is flighty and inconsistent, Gatsby's comment also suggests that wealth is similarly unstable. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols sufficiently to give the novel a more vivid description of the American culture. Additionally, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, which banned the sale of alcohol, created a thriving underworld designed to satisfy the massive demand for bootleg liquor among rich and poor alike. The outcome of these cultures was the decaying American dream. In real life, this represents aristocracy, which took a long time to establish. Fitzgerald himself waspart of a circle of modernists who regularly met inParis (others included Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Sinclair Lewis, and the painters Picasso and Matisse). DuBois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday. When you combine this level of mass destruction with the fact that most of the war was a territorial stalemate (no army advanced, no army withdrew - they were just locked in a horrible tie), it's easy to see how unaccountable the 40 million deaths the war caused were. Almost 1 in 4 people now had a car! . Wealth, Class, and Society Tom's restlessness is likely one motivator for his affairs, while Daisy is weighed down by the knowledge of those affairs. IvyPanda. 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. 2013. But there are other themes at play here, too. When describing Gatsbys parties, Caraways says that there was frequent musical noise emanating for his neighbors house throughout all nights in summer (Zeitz 22). The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsbys parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. SparkNotes PLUS Why does Gatsby arrange for Nick to have lunch with Jordan Baker? American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby". Gatsby is accurately accused of being a bootlegger by those who attend his parties as he displays no signs of difficulty acquiring liquor and breaking the law (Fitzgerald 17). Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. Gatsby was born to poor farmer parents in North Dakota, but at 17, determined to become rich, struck out with the wealthy Dan Cody and never looked back (6.5-15). How about getting full access immediately? See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Fitzgerald, Scott, and Matthew Bruccoli. You can use them for inspiration, an insight into a particular topic, a handy source of reference, or even just as a template of a certain type of paper. Women who were never contented with pleasure wore knee-length skirts, overly long draping necklaces, and rolled stockings (Leader 14). The aftermath of this desire was the American dream that entailed the search for riches, equal opportunity, independence, and devotion. Jordan is incurably dishonest. To get you started, here is a sample of some of Nick's comments on money and the wealthy, though there are certainly more to be found: "Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reactionGatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn." Thinking about indulging in a little materialism yourself al Gatsby? Gatsby, in the summer months, was known far and wide for the extravagant parties he threw in which "men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars." During the weekend, people flocked to his house for his parties, as well as to use his . In contrast to 19th century writing that tended to reinforce the status quo, modernism rejected old-fashioned ideas like heroism and moral certitude. Myrtles affair with Tom is her approach of taking advantage of him to reach an extravagant lifestyle, Daisy allows Gatsby to take the blame for Myrtles death without regret, and Gatsby changes his whole name and way of life in order to feel personally accomplished; all eventually realize that the happiness they expected to receive in the end resulted in misery, especially with the deaths of Myrtle and Gatsby. And furthermore, Daisy's willingness to stay with Tom despite his affairs underscores another aspect of women's roles during the 1920s: that divorce was still very uncommon and controversial. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young" (3.160). Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that resulted from the war. West Egg residents or new money (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 54) are perceived by East Egg counterparts as upstart outsiders. Everyone is there for the spectacle alone. Fitzgerald illustrates the era of Prohibition by displaying Gatsbys flagrant misuse of the law, which only results in his own demise and failure as he perishes the same way he entered the city of New York with himself being his only true friend. They are highly materialistic in nature. Jews also served in the American military during World War I in very high numbers. What trench warfare looked like. ensure the integrity of our platform while keeping your private information safe. It was full of moneythat was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. In other words, wealth is presented as the key to lovesuch an important key that the word "gold" is repeated twice. This happened because of advances in mass production due to the assembly line, and because of rising incomes due to the economic boom. This article will guide you through the historical, economic, and social movements of the 1920's as they relate to events, themes, and characters in The Great Gatsby. IvyPanda. board with our, See on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% Published in 1925, the book is not only an important work of English-language literature, it is an excellent period piece that displays the social, cultural, and political tensions of the 1920s . ), happiness, or family. She is conversant with her possession of the charm that she uses maximally to maintain security for her lifestyles. You can read more about the American Dream for details on The Great Gatsby's ultimately skeptical, cynical attitude towards this classic American ideal. What is the importance of the character Owl Eyes? In the era of writing The Great Gatsby (1920s), America had experienced an immense economic growth. creating and saving your own notes as you read. They Were Careless People, Tom and Daisy. Explain the Quote. In the 1920s depicted in the novel, however, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream, especially on the East Coast. He tells Tom Buchanan after finding out about Myrtle's affair that he plans to move her West, but he "[needs] money pretty bad" in order to make the move (7.146). Jordan Baker is the best example of this kind of woman. (1.14). She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Obviously there is physical chemistry driving her affair with Tom, but she seems to get as much (if not more) pleasure from the materials that come with the affairthe apartment, the clothes, the dog, the parties. to reacquaint himself with Daisy through massive parties instead prove to be areas where those yearning for liquor could obtain their desired alcohol with little to no regard toward their host; this is exemplified in the fact that Owl Eyes is the only character other than Nick to attend both Gatsbys lavish parties and his funeral. The 1920s marked a key time of change in the social status of women as so called flappers defied the traditional norms for conduct and dress, and women finally received the right to vote (The Great Gatsby Novels 74). (2022, August 12). Tragically, Myrtle is hit and killed that evening by Daisy. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. He also threw parties now and then, which were equally characterized by high consumptions. Sometimes it can end up there. My personal culture tree possesses a diverse cultural background as the 'roots', that formed the core and branch values, the values seemed to point towards unity between first nations people and Anglo-Saxon people in Australia since I . I also shared the assumptions of the stimulus materials that were common because of my cultural background. The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in the novel was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive Upon renouncing his parents, Gatsby is considered a child of a supernatural being (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 98), with the only thing that he believes in being money. Print. By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Literary Themes for Students. He spends his life believing that if he makes enough money and acquires enough possessions, he can transcend his lower-class birth and become equal to Daisy and Tom. The aim was to provide a vivid description of the rebelliousness that is associated with the youths of the time. . It was a decade of tremendous wealth in the United States following the deprivations of the First World War. 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. Tom and Daisy's movements are also supported by their money. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? Gatsbys house that was located in the seashore was characterized by immense lavishness and luxury. World War I dramatically affected the United States in the 1920s (and, of course, shaped much of the 20th century all over the world as well). One woman is not just adequate. Both Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby have military backgrounds. If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." All these developments illustrated increased consumer spending as noted by Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? This marked a shift both in how black culture was understood and appreciated by the rest of the country and in how womens rights were progressing, as well discuss in the next sections. Read More. Understanding historical context helps you in all sorts of ways: Having a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. Print. 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. The characters Fitzgerald portrays represent distinct social groups who ultimately face their own struggles, demonstrating how uncertain the culture of the 1920s really was. Abrief recap of what happened. What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For? Writers are products of their time, so knowing what they would have assumed to be true makes reading their work richer. Nick's attentions again turn to Gatsby in Chapter 3. Scott Fitzgerald mentions in her novel an incident of prohibition of sale and the production of liquor to tame youths who had become overindulged in alcoholism. | For instance, East Egg depicts places where Buchanans live. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points, How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer, Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests. $24.99 Even Gatsbys all-consuming passion for Daisy seems more of a desire to possess something unattainable than actual love. on 50-99 accounts. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Age of Excess. No people in The Great Gatsby get rich by working hard. So she keeps up this affair, despite how morally questionable it is and the risk it opens up for herher materialism, in other words, is her primary motivator.
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