The Great Gatsby as Criticism of American Society
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald is criticizing American society of the 1920s. He uses the characters to demonstrate the power than men had over women during these times, as well as their mindless, self-indulgent actions, where consequence was only an afterthought. The attitude towards and the role of women is shown throughout the novel. Fitzgerald also shows how many people in America during this time were delusional and had meaningless existences.
Fitzgerald has used Tom in The Great Gatsby, to demonstrate the power that men had during the 1920s. In order to understand Tom's purpose in the book, it must be known that he has been purposely set up as a character the reader does not like. Fitzgerald has done this, as he does not like men whose lives mirror Tom's. Tom is a violent man, who is completely in control of the women in his life. He shows how disrespectful some men were to women. For example, he breaks his mistress Myrtle's nose.
Making a short, deft movement, Tom Buchanan
broke her nose with his open hand
Another example showing the disrespect for women is the fact that Tom is cheating on Daisy quite openly. She knows that he is having an affair, but there is nothing that she can do about it. Fitzgerald comments on this power and disrespect that men had for women because he disagrees with it himself. He believes that men should not do these terrible things. Tom never once expresses his guilt for his actions, and never considers Daisy's feelings. His life is full of selfish actions which lead him nowhere.
Fitzgerald comments on the changing role and attitudes of women of the 1920s in America. He shows this through the characters Daisy and Jordan. Daisy and Jordan both drink, smoke and drive, and associate freely with men. Daisy's flirtatiousness is an example of this, along with her drunken state in the first chapter when she says 'I'm p-paralysed with happiness'. Daisy also shows the attitude Fitzgerald felt was common in this society, when talking about her daughter.
'I'm glad it's a girl. I hope she'll be a fool -that's the
best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.'
This demonstrates that during the 1920s, women were not regarded as equals, and had little chance of making something of their lives.
I think that Priestley’s main aim in the play is to get across to the
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby many characters are not as they seem. The one character that intrigues me the most is James Gatsby. In the story Gatsby is always thought of as rich, confident, and very popular. However, when I paint a picture of him in my mind I see someone very different. In fact, I see the opposite of what everyone portrays him to be. I see someone who has very little confidence and who tries to fit in the best he can. There are several scenes in which this observation is very obvious to me. It is clear that Gatsby is not the man that everyone claims he is.
The play is set two years before World War I, in 1912, and in the year
The book has many examples the characters portraying these negative attributes. Daisy looked desperately from one to the other. “you’re causing a row. Please have a little self-control.” (Fitzgerald Chapter 7 Pg. 129) In this quote Daisy just shows a glimpse of toms out of control anger and his carelessness on how to treat other people because of the money he has and how he things of himself vs others. Gatsby also shows his main weakness in this book many times which is love but none more clearly then in this quote. “your wife doesn’t love you,” said Gatsby. “she’s never loved you. She loves me. (Fitzgerald Chapter 7 Pg. 130) Gatsby really thinks that after all that time that he and daisy were apart that she was just going to drop the life she had made after he left an go and be with him. His love for a woman let his mind think of only one thing, to get her back, and let his eyes get fogged up with all this emotion and carelessness and he even took the blame for her fault when she ran over myrtle Wilson. He was deeply in love he was willing to put his life and name out on a limb for her and that ended up being Gatsby’s fall. He was not the only one that had faults Jordan baker as well was a liar and cheat as nick found out through out the book. “She was incurably dishonest” (Fitzgerald Chapter 3 Pg. 58) Nick had lost all hope in Jordan and when he finds out everything about her he drops her like a bad habit unlike Gatsby and needless to say all these characters were very wild and would get drunk unlike Nick who holds himself to a higher standard then most of the characters. “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon” (Fitzgerald Chapter 2 Pg. 29) This quote really just shows the readers
Priestley's Genre in An Inspector Calls 'An Inspector Calls' is a "Whodunit" written by J.D. Priestley in 1945 and was first shown in Britain at the new Theatre on the 1st October 1946.Priestley was a socialist and in 'An Inspector Calls', the main theme explores capitalism versus socialism. This play is a morality play. Priestley communicates his message to the audience by representing capitalism by the upper class and the Birling family and socialism by the lower class and the Inspector and Eva Smith/Daisy Renton as this related to real life during this time. Priestley presents his arguments clearly through interesting characters, with very different views and a powerful story line with major consequences to individual actions. He presents this morality play within the "whodunit genre".
Responsibility for Death in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley The suicide of a working class girl, Eva Smith, under suspicious circumstances, brings to light the involvement of each character and the extent of their influence over the life of Eva Smith. In the play ' An Inspector Calls' the Birling family and Gerald Croft are interrogated by an inspector who reveals that they all abuse their power and position in upper class Edwardian society. At the start of the play the family are having dinner, celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald. The mood is easy and there is much gaiety for the family, until a police inspector arrives.
all life, and his view of man as a small part of the universe. Also
Fitzgerald and Steinbeck’s views conflict on the value and portrayal of women. A woman in this century rarely challenges a man’s superiority, nor thinks or acts independently. Two mothers, Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby and Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath, both follow this unspoken rule yet the authors portray their roles in very different ways. Daisy seems to be skimming the surface of her family life instead of actually interacting with her family. One of the few instances in which Fitzgerald mentions Daisy’s daughter, Daisy wishes for her daughter to be, “the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, 1925). Men want nothing to do with women who posses the ability and intelligence to voice their own opinions and react to the inequality at that time, so in Daisy’s opinion, her daughter should just hope to be beautiful. Contrary to a woman’s job at this time, Fitzgerald never depicts her as a typical housewife: cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children. Daisy is subject to a cheating husband, displaying a lack of respect for her...
In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald many of the characters could not be classified as a truly moral, a person who exhibits goodness or correctness in their character and behavior. Nick Carraway is not moral by any means; he is responsible for an affair between two major characters, Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Jay Gatsby does show some moral qualities when he attempts to go back and rescue Myrtle after she had been hit by Daisy. Overall Gatsby is unquestionably an immoral person. Nick Carraway and Gatsby share many immoral characteristics, but a big choice separates the two. Daisy Buchanan is an extremely immoral person; she even went to the lengths of taking someone's life. Jay and Daisy are similar but Daisy is borderline corrupt. The entire story is told through Nick Carraway's point of view and by his carelessness it is obvious the narrator possesses poor values.
Considered as the defining work of the 1920s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, when America was just coming out of one of the most violent wars in the nation’s history. World War 1 had taken the lives of many young people who fought and sacrificed for our country on another continent. The war left many families without fathers, sons, and husbands. The 1920s is an era filled with rich and dazzling history, where Americans experienced changes in lifestyle from music to rebellion against the United States government. Those that are born into that era grew up in a more carefree, extravagant environment that would affect their interactions with others as well as their attitudes about themselves and societal expectations. In this novel, symbols are used to represent the changing times and create a picture of this era for generations to come. The history, settings, characters, and symbols embedded in The Great Gatsby exemplify life in America during the 1920s.
Throughout Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” the role of women can be examined to demonstrate anti-feminism. Initially, Daisy is viewed as an innocent, loving character, but once her true motives are revealed, it is clear that she is very corrupt, desiring only money and power. This is used to show the stereotypical female who lives under the man for his possessions, and lacks the self-respect to stand against the opposite gender. She is not the only female to act like this, there are many, but her case is the most important because it directly influences all of the main characters. Gatsby is also portrayed as a stereotype: the boy who wants his true love and will do anything and everything to get her, even be accused of murder. Once each character
Richard D. Altick once stated, “a woman was inferior to a man in all ways except the unique one that counted most [to a man]: her femininity. Her place was in the home, on a veritable pedestal if one could be afforded, and emphatically not in the world of affairs”. This Victorian ideal completely changed after World War I. With the passage of the 19th amendment (guaranteeing women’s voting rights) females took on a more powerful, masculine role. This new, dominant place in society enabled women to gain power in their societies and especially over men. Women became newly carefree and because neither males nor females respected their morals, the society of the 1920’s grew to be extremely hedonistic. F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects the moral decline of the 1920’s throughout his novel The Great Gatsby. All of the female characters in The Great Gatsby come from different social classifications, but they still reject the exemplary Victorian etiquette and never hesitate to seize power. Daisy, Myrtle and Jordan are all corrupt women who are able to wield power over the men that they desire by using their positions in society.
An Inspector Calls by John Priestley "An Inspector calls" was set in 1917, a time of contentment prior to World War 1. This smugness is reflected in the Birling family but is soon disturbed by the inspector. We realise this character is far more than an ordinary policeman from the very beginning. The audience recognises this because of his abrupt arrival, his name (Goole) and the way his behaviour changes the mood of the party. At the beginning of the play in the stage directions it says "the lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.
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.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.