Vibha Kandikattu Mr. Guzman English 11 L4 19 March 2024. The American Dream in the 1920s: Disillusionment and Moral Decay The 1920s, often romanticized as the Roaring Twenties, stands as a pivotal era in American history characterized by profound social, cultural, and economic shifts. Central to this period was the concept of the American Dream, a fundamental belief in the possibility of upward mobility, prosperity, and success through hard work and determination. However, amidst the glittering facade of prosperity, the pursuit of the American Dream intersected with themes of disillusionment and moral decay, casting a shadow over the decade. The American Dream, rooted in the nation's founding ideals of liberty and opportunity, evolved significantly …show more content…
This crisis of faith extended to longstanding notions of patriotism, duty, and honor, leaving many feeling adrift in a world stripped of its moral compass. Moreover, the economic disparities of the 1920s exacerbated feelings of disillusionment and resentment among those left behind by the decade's prosperity. While the wealthy elite revealed themselves in the excesses of the Jazz Age, millions of working-class Americans struggled to make ends meet in the wake of economic downturns and wage stagnation. The stark divide between the privileged and the non-privileged fueled a sense of injustice and disillusionment, laying bare the fundamental inequalities that lay beneath the surface of American society. In addition to economic and social disillusionment, the 1920s also witnessed a crisis of cultural identity and meaning. Many people felt disconnected from their humanity and the world around them due to the rapid pace of technological innovation, the widespread availability of mass media, and the influence of consumer culture. The commodification of leisure and entertainment, epitomized by the rise of Hollywood and the popularity of spectator sports, contributed to a sense of cultural shallowness and alienation,
The novel by Scoot F. Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” is a well written synopsis of 1920s societal dynamic in America. The book follows the protagonist Nick as he describes the life and society in New York. He meets a man by the name of Jay Gatsby, who lives his life around only one desire to be reunited with love of his life Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby's quest leads him from a peaceful existence to WW I, from poverty to great wealth, from separation to the arms of the women he loves, and eventually to
had to endure a lot of ups and downs along the way. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s relentless pursuit of wealth and social status, exemplifying the American Dream in the 1920s, not only reveals the hollow core of such ambitions but also critiques the moral decay and disillusionment embedded within this ideal. Reaching a certain
Exploring Moral Deterioration and Dream Pursuits in The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic novel, The Great Gatsby, pursuing the American Dream is a driving motivation and a destructive influence on the characters engulfing the glittering world of 1920s America. Fitzgerald tells a tale of moral decay and disillusionment, against lavish parties, posh mansions, and simmering social tensions. Characters like Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan are in a spiral of ambition, wealth,
millionaire Gatsby, who is known for his lavish lifestyle and large parties. Gatsby attempts to reunite with his past love and integrate himself into an old-money lifestyle during the 1920s Jazz era, these events later result in him dying alone and being buried with few friends and family, symbolizing the disillusionment of the American Dream. The role of socioeconomic status and the resulting characters' fate in The Great
Fitzgerald shows disillusionment and carelessness to be a cause of moral decay. According to Nick, Tom and Daisy never thought about the consequences of their actions, as they “were careless people… 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, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” This decay of moral value and carelessness can be seen when Daisy, who is meant to love and care
Great Gatsby “Can't repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously, ‘why of course you can!’ (Gatsby 116) "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel set in the 1920s, narrated by Nick Carraway, who recounts his experiences living in West Egg, Long Island, and his interactions with his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby, a mysterious and wealthy man, throws extravagant parties in hopes of attracting his lost love, Daisy Buchanan, who is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and arrogant man. Throughout
The period known as the Roaring Twenties, also called the Jazz Age, is a social era ranging from the years 1920-1929. These years began at the end of the First World War and wrapped up just before the Great Depression hit America..Early modern literature illustrates the change of lifestyles and morals of people in America during the social era of the Roaring Twenties. These years were a time of social and political change in America. During this period, the wealth of America was higher than it had
this time were F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Two of their most widely known novels, The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises respectively; reflect the author’s experience in WWI, and despite their seemingly contradicting depiction of early 1920’s life, both are stories that illustrate the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation In an article by the Montgomery College (n.d), they stated that the phrase the Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein who, after a mechanic working on her car did
Connection back to thesis statement (1-2 sentences): This novel underscores how the American Dream is doomed to fail in a society that prioritizes materialism and social status at the expense of the decay of societal values. Required topic sentence (One way that the author shows the main purpose or theme). What does it show or prove? Why does it matter? - Why? Even though Gatsby becomes wealthy and successful, his hollow core of ambitions leave him
Zhang expresses, “With the death of Gatsby, the people who holds the faith in the light is not existed anymore, which indicates the disillusionment of the American Dream… So, besides the disillusionment of dream, the green light also represents new hope and the ceaseless struggle towards our dream” (41). In the novel, Fitzgerald uses the death of Gatsby to show the decay and disappointment of the American Dream. The dream is not as beautiful as the imagination suggests. In reality, the symbol of the
Tempered by post-WW1 detachment and cynicism, 1920s America pursuits of pleasure make idealistic love precarious as the ‘foul dust’ ruins dreams. Fitzgerald employs the ideals of Courtly Love, however it is corrupted by material amoral values evident in the relationship between Jay Gatsby and Daisy
may seem to highlight the glorious lives of those richest and most powerful, a more comprehensive approach to this text is required to delve past the surface themes of thwarted love between a man and a woman, and into the deeper set themes such as moral demise. Fitzgerald claimed to be a moralist at heart, preaching about the degeneracy of the wealthy. Yet, on the other hand, Fitzgerald longed to live big himself. These conflicted feelings to do with wealth come through readily in his work. Throughout
The Wasteland Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and Elliot’s The Wasteland are two stories that similarly express the modernist post-war disillusionment. Both stories comment pessimistically on the direction that our world is moving in from the post-war modernist perspective. Both men looked past the roaring twenties, and realized that this time period was actually a moral wasteland. The final paragraphs of The Great Gatsby sum up their mutual lack of faith in American culture to improve. Fitzgerald uses
It is through ¬¬¬¬¬the comparison of Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s (EBB) poems, Sonnets from the Portuguese, written in the conservative Victorian era, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s (F) modernist novel, The Great Gatsby, of the ‘Jazz Age’, that we witness the impact of context and see how perspectives vary as a consequence; this leads us to a heightened appreciation of each text in their respective time, but also in correlation with each other. Both Sonnets of the Portuguese and The Great Gatsby explore
‘inalienable right’ to the ‘pursuit of Happiness.’ This ambiguous phrase, ‘the pursuit of Happiness’ was originally inserted into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson and is a clear and overriding concern in The Great Gatsby. In the 1920s, when the novel is set, America was experiencing a newfound level of prosperity; the economy was booming and the possibility of gaining wealth became an achievable reality. As a result, the pursuit of happiness in The Great Gatsby is far from the founding