Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The great gatsby the times
The story of the great gatsby
The story of the great gatsby
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Great Gatsby is a non-fictional story about the incapability of wealth and power to guarantee happiness. Similar areas of unfulfillment are present, in Rules of Civility, but in a more reality based world. Indeed, in both the two novels, the narrator (guide) in the end is separated from everyone else, due to carelessness relationships around revolving around the characters. Wealth and power can assist in gaining a great reputation amongst other, however fails to give self-gratification from satisfied relationship. In novels, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Rules of Civility by Armor Towles the protagonist are all misled by their belief in an idea of the super-rich, but ultimately cannot find happiness because their relationships are unfulfilling.
Both narrators, Kate and Nick, are under the influence of the richness during 1920s and 1930s. The events in their life indicate that everything happening to them is new and have never witness before and feel like outcastes. In parallel, both the reluctant narrators become involved with the super-rich from the modest backgrounds.
The 1920s was time for dramatic, social and political changes. Societies went from being rural based to more urban. The cities included numerous parties hosted by the rich. Nick Carraway’s character also experiences such changes in his lifestyle as he is exposed to these new atmospheres. He has just moved in the city of New York in a village called “West egg”. After meeting Daisy, Nick hears of a man named Gatsby, a wealthy well repudiated man that throws big parties and ironically, is Nick’s neighbor. Nick has always had a suspicion about someone form the big mansion next door is watching him. Until one day he gets an invitation to ...
... middle of paper ...
...tagonist are all misled by their belief in an idea of the super-rich, as they have previously only been exposed to modest backgrounds. They also encounter disappointment by seeking authentic relationships from inauthentic characters. These events result in both protagonists feeling isolated and regretful of their actions. Both characters in the end, ultimately cannot find happiness because their relationships and surroundings are unfulfilling.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Austraila: n.p., n.d. The Great Gatsby. Planet EBook. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
Towles, Amor. Rules of Civility. New York: Penguin, 2012. Kindle.
"The Roaring Twenties." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013
Bruccoli, Matthew J. "Fitzgerald's Eras." Fitzgerald's Eras. N.p., 28 Mar. 2003. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. .
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Great Gatsby." Barnes & Noble. N.p., 1920 's. Web. 08 Mar.
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html. October 18, 2002. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Great Gatsby. Ed. Ernest Lockridge. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. 37-53.
Characters in books can reveal the author feeling toward the world. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in America history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The book indicates the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America's moral values had diminished. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby's monitory means could not afford his only true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. (Fitzgerald, -page 42) What you wish for is not always what you want or not all that glitters is gold.
First of all, emphasis is placed on the daily struggles endured on a daily basis by the middle-class. Much like George and Lennie, they worry about having enough money to survive, for shelter and for clothing. Also, there seems to be the fear of loneliness that seems to surface throughout the novel. Despite the on going quarrels between George and Lennie, the two men are afraid of being alone on their own. In addition, it seems the two main characters find themselves in positions that are beyond their control. These are the conflicts one finds in this novel.
In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money, power, and the fulfillment of dreams is what the story’s about. On the surface the story is about love but underneath it is about the decay of society’s morals and how the American dream is a fantasy, only money and power matter. Money, power, and dreams relate to each other by way of three of the characters in the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby is the dreamer, Daisy cares about money, and Tom desires and needs power. People who have no money dream of money. People who have money want to be powerful. People who have power have money to back them up. Fitzgerald writes this book with disgust towards the collapse of the American society. Also the purposeless existences that many people lived, when they should have been fulfilling their potential. American people lacked all important factors to make life worthwhile.
Way, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 87-108.
Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925. Print. The.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. The.
In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, all the characters are, in one way or another, attempting to become happier with their lives. The characters in the novel are divided into two groups: the rich upper class and the poorer lower class(West egg and East egg) though the main characters only try to make their lives better, the American dream they are all trying to achieve is eventually ruined by the harsh reality or life.
In the past century in America, one of the decades that has stood out most as a time of change is the 1920s. In a post-war economic boom, the decade was a time of cultural and societal change. Among the parties and the more relaxed way of life, Americans experienced new wealth and luxury. Capturing the essence of the Roaring Twenties is a daunting task, especially because of the many different factors contributing to the decade’s fame. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald managed to capture and define the spirit of the 1920s through his novel.
A soft breeze lifts off the Sound and brushes Nick Carraway’s face as he emerges from the shadows into the moonlight. His eyes first gaze across the bay to the house of Tom and Daisy where Nick sees past the walls to people who “...smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together...” (Fitzgerald: 187- 188). Nick’s head then turns to his side where he views Gatsby’ s mansion. His heart swells for the man who was unable to let go of the past, and move toward his future. With the two houses juxtaposed in his mind’s eye, Nick ponders his experiences in the East, and enters the car to take him home with a new perspective on life. Nick’s maturity becomes evident as his perspective of society becomes more realistic as a result of his observing the consequences which occur in unhealthy relationships.
The American dream has an inspiring connotation, often associated with the pursuit of happiness, to compel the average citizen to prosper. In Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s infatuation for Daisy drives him towards wealth in order to respark his love. Due to Daisy’s rich background, the traditional idea of love becomes skewed because of the materialistic mindsets of people in the 1920s. In the novel the wealthy are further stratified into two social classes creating a barrier between the elite and the “dreamers”. Throughout the novel, the idea of the American dream as a fresh start fails. As Nick, the narrator, spends time in New York, he realizes the corruption pursuing goals. Characters such as Gatsby and Myrtle constantly strive toward an the American dream, which Nick realizes to be fruitless in the end.
Fitzgerald, F.Scott. The Great Gatsby (London: Alma Classics, 2012) The Great Gatsby first published in 1925
middle of paper ... ... Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.