Fitzgerald draws on the lack of morality evident in the 1920s, allowing it to influence the way he chooses to depict his characters as innately flawed in nature and characterized as immoral humans. The lack of morality in the 1920s influenced the way Fitzgerald portrayed characters and relationships in The Great Gatsby. Flappers emphasized a desire for freedom and experimentation which created an environment of immorality. In general, flappers tended to view older generations as “...old-fashioned puritans who now offered the country only hypocrisy and outmoded sentiments” (Streissguth). It was their belief that generations prior to their own were stiff and judgemental, focusing too much on conservative and old-fashioned values. Due to the …show more content…
Daisy Buchanan symbolizes the corruption and materialism that was a distinct aspect of 1920s culture. In “Jazz Age,” it is discussed that “...the ideal Daisy embodies in the novel is the original idea of america, corrupted by materialism in the modern age.” Daisy’s materialistic viewpoint is shown when she refuses to marry Gatsby because he is poor. In this moment, Daisy proves that she values material goods over happiness. Not only does she depict the corruption within herself, but in doing so corrupts Gatsby. Gatsby ultimately blames himself for her decision to leave him saying that “...he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself...As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities…” (Fitzgerald 156). This moment drives him to turn to life of crime in a fruitless attempt to win her back. However, this theme of materialism is not solely portrayed through the characters in the novel, but the landscape as well. Contrasting to the beautiful, rich land of East Egg is the “wasteland” (“Jazz Age”) of the Valley of Ashes. The land of sad factories, workers, and ash depict the repercussions in trying to satisfy the relentless demands of those who wish to possess an excessive amount of items. People destroyed the once “virgin land” (“Jazz Age”), and chose to compensate by creating a …show more content…
Although the 1920s was significantly different in terms of discrimination, the pressures from society were just as distinct. For Gatsby, the combination of immoral actions resulted in his ultimate demise. Through Gatsby’s death Fitzgerald is critiquing the ways in which his characters got lost in their own morality, and makes a larger statement about people as a whole. While it may never be fully understood what makes a person have good morals, Fitzgerald seems to suggest that all humans are inevitably corrupt in nature despite their attempts at justifying their means. Fitzgerald subtly hints that the nature of the 1920s is reflected in his characters through their many immoral
F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925 reflecting the absurdity of the 1920s or the “Gilded Age.” The roaring 20s were a unique time in the American society with a strong contrast in wealth. A strong contrast of wealth meaning, the rich were extremely rich and the poor were extremely poor. Fitzgerald depicts the class conflicts through his characters. Tom one of the main characters portrays the superior upper class. Daisy Tom’s wife demonstrates female inferiorityinfeorioty of the time. Gatsby the upstart, earns his money to make Daisy fall in love with him. Nick the main character the observer, realizes that all the class conflict is time consuming and meaningless. Fitzgerald uses his characters to convey the wealth and class conflict in the 1920s.
The 1920s was of time of class, rich people thrived, woman started to revolutionize, music, and everything started to change. Major things happened during this time period including, discrimination against minorities and women pushing for natural rights. F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of, The Great Gatsby, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota during the 1920s into a family with high social aspirations but little wealth. He attended Princeton University in 1913 in hopes of becoming something more in life but failed to graduate. After serving for the army Fitzgerald wrote his first book and became wealthy and famous( Wiggins, Grant. The American Experience: California. 2010.pp 729). Two of many themes in the The Great Gatsby are resistance to change and the “new woman”. There were numerous events that led to these changes in the 1920s and many had a huge significance to the nation and still affect us today.
“What’s most appealing about ‘Gatsby’ might be its mood of witty hopelessness, of vivacious self-destructiveness” (Rothman 1). Both the novel and film portray the self-destructive behavior that every character participates in. Fitzgerald often saw this behavior in American culture and expanded on it, as explained by Rothman, “Fitzgerald understood the pleasures
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.
The great gatsby is a classic american novel that is not afraid to look at the negative sides of society. In fact, that is the main basis of the whole novel. People so disgusting, but yet still so very real. People are not always so relatable in their faults. In fact, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s world of dazzling colors and extravagant parties, it is probably the more untouched part of society that people try to shove in the back of their minds. Fitzgerald shows the less than beautiful nature of the glamorous people in his stories through character development, or lack of it. With this along with his overarching themes of decay, a reader can see the message the author is trying to convey.
Fitzgerald shows that Americans are greedy people who only truly care about their materialistic desires. That people can be judging others for their lack of materialistic goods like money. Daisy was born into a very important, rich family. This is something Gatsby was never apart of with his family. Before Gatsby went off to war him and Daisy loved each other. But after Gatsby left for war, Daisy ended up marrying a wealthy man named Tom. She left him for a reason of her own. The reason has to do with the materialistic decisions and desires of Daisy. We find out that reason once Gatsby attains his prestigious wealth and big mansion. Daisy is in love with the place and cant get enough of everything there. “He took out a pile of shirts, and began
Fitzgerald illustrates rampant materialism to demonstrate social stratification and the ultimate decline of values and nobleness surrounding the American Dream.
Additionally, possessing materialistic good and wealth is all people want at this time. No matter where someone lives, the want for wealth and materialism is always there. People may have everything and still want more whereas there are people who do not have anything but the idea of materialism. It is all anyone wants and they manage to get it one way or another. Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, lives in the Valley of Ashes with her husband but she wants to leave that place and live the American Dream. Unfortunately, it is not in her husband’s reach because they do not have much money which leads Myrtle to want so much in New York when she is with Tom. Nick describes what Myrtle is doing when he says, :… she bought a copy of Town Tattle and a moving picture magazine, and in the station drug-store some cold cream and a small flask of perfume…’I want to get one of those dogs.’” (Fitzgerald 27).
At a first glance, The Great Gatsby, seems like it is just a story of the wealthy people who lives the desired, dream life. However, if one reads carefully between the lines, they would encounter the colossal amount of symbols and messages dispersed throughout this one novel. One of the main messages the author gives out is the criticism of materialism. Myrtle, the wife of poor mechanic struggles to escape from her miserable life and Gatsby, struggles while he is eager for regain his lover who has married another man. They are both examples of people who has been corrupted by this idea and chooses to adopt the new, perfect figure that they desire to be. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel, The Great Gatsby, uses clothing to demonstrate how materialism
Having married a wealthy man, Daisy possesses all of the finer things in life. Nevertheless, these fine material objects are unable to conceal her shallow and superficial nature (Cowley 20). Not only is her affluence powerless to hide these negative qualities but, in actuality, it accentuates Daisy’s artificial nature by highlighting the importance that she puts on meaningless things such as fancy parties and fashion. She pettily judges people and objects by their material value (Bewley 23). When Daisy observes Gatsby’s cache of fine shirts, she is impressed by this grand demonstration of materialism: “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. ‘It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such -- such beautiful shirts before’” (Fitzgerald 93-94). Daisy’s admiration for these trivial objects shows that she is consumed by the materialism of the era, and that she values the love of money over true love (Bewley 23-24). For this reason, Daisy is unwilling to divorce her well-established and influential husband to marry Gatsby. Her decision to remain committed to Tom does not stem from any moral righteousness or recognition of the sanctity of marriage. In fact, Daisy has demonstrated her disregard for higher moral principles by her dishonorable action of
Through the course time, adversities of people can be seen apparent in literature and popular culture of the times. The lack of power and privilege to certain groups of people, and social statuses, was a great source of adversity to many during the 1920s. One major group that suffered from unequal power and privilege during this period were women. This can be thoroughly shown in the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald himself is considered to be a member of the “Lost Generation” and was directly impacted culture and views of the 1920s, which affected his characterization of many in his novel. Fitzgerald's misogynistic view of women leads to conflicts and portrays women incorrectly. These conflicts are shaped by their
The American Dream. This mentality of individualism, discovery, and the pursuit of happiness has always been and continues to be a staple of American culture. F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel The Great Gatsby, explores the disintegration of the American dreams in the 1920s in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess through characters, such as Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson, and Daisy Buchanan, who are seeking the happiness they desire. However, in order to obtain such happiness, these characters fall into the trap of materialism and decayed moral values. By depicting characters’ emotional isolation as a means of coping with the empty pursuit of pleasure, Fitzgerald criticizes the superficial effect of the unattainable
The moral decay of society during the 1920’s was represented through the characters in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. People became selfish as their wealth increased, and they didn’t care at all what they did to other people, as long as they ended up okay in the end. Dishonesty became accepted, and that led to a downfall of society. Because of the character’s lack of morals and responsibility, Gatsby, an innocent man, died.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, the 1920’s was a “throwaway culture, in which things (and people) are used and then abandoned” (Evans). This is true of the lives of the wealthy elite who ruled the East and West Eggs, causing the domination of materialistic thought. The substitution of money for integrity ultimately provided a way for corruption to take deep roots in the characters. The frivolous lives and relationships described by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby depict the emptiness of the shallow 1920’s era.
“Force always attracts men of low morality,” (Albert Einstein). A moral being is someone who can be seen as honest, considerate, and loyal. These traits are the essential components to creating a well-rounded person; however, these characteristics were void in the context of The Great Gatsby. In Fitzgerald’s so-called, “Jazz Era”, people were vulgar and ignorant of the true virtue of the American Dream. From the organized crime of New York to the intrapersonal relationships of the partygoers, morality appeared to be omitted from the American society. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, Tom was the most immoral character because his lack of honesty and devotion for those around him led to Gatsby’s death.