“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.… Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.… And one fine morning—” (Fitzgerald 180). In this quote from The Great Gatsby, Nick attempts to describe the nature of Gatsby’s hope and draws the parallel to all of our hopes and dreams that we have as Americans. F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American novelist and short-story writer, was an amazing author who used his work, just like in the quote above, to write about the Roaring Twenties and the hopes of Americans during that time. His earlier works show an idealistic feeling for the potentials of life at college and in “The East,” he attained the sobriquet of “the spokesman of the Jazz Age.” His third novel, The Great Gatsby, is one of the most powerful portrayals of American life and the pursuit of the great American dream during the 1920s. Throughout this paper, Fitzgerald’s excellent job in conveying the lifestyle and pursuit of the American dream through his characters, in both The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams”, will be reflected upon. Fitzgerald’s life influences on his works, why he is regarded as a historian of the 1920s and how Fitzgerald uses his characters to reveal the Roaring Twenties era, will all be explored.
Fitzgerald, during his youth, showed a talent for dramas, first writing original plays for amateur fabrication. While at Princeton, he composed stanzas for the university's well-known Triangle Club productions. Before he had the opportunity to graduate, he volunteered during World War I for the army. Due to his enlistment, he spent the weekends writing the original drafts of his first novel. The work was a success and accepted in 1919 by Charles Scribner’s S...
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There are countless great authors in the world nowadays. Conversely, many believe that authors of the past were considerably more enjoyable. One of these fecund authors is F. Scott Fitzgerald. The end of his ephemeral life may not have been the best; nonetheless, it was his younger years that breathed life into his writing.
The 1920’s was a time of great change to both the country lived in as well as the goals and ambitions that were sought after by the average person. During this time, priorities shifted from family and religion to success and spontaneous living. The American dream, itself, changed into a self centered and ongoing personal goal that was the leading priority in most people’s lives. This new age of carelessness and naivety encompasses much of what this earlier period is remembered for. In addition, this revolution transformed many of the great writers and authors of the time as well as their various works. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, perfectly symbolizes many emergent trends of the 1920’s. More importantly the character of Jay Gatsby is depicted as a man amongst his American dream and the trials he faces in the pursuit of its complete achievement. His drive for acquiring the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan, through gaining status and wealth shows many aspects of the authors view on the American dream. Through this, one can hope to disassemble the complex picture that is Fitzgerald’s view of this through the novel. Fitzgerald believes, through his experiences during the 1920’s, that only fractions of the American Dream are attainable, and he demonstrates this through three distinct images in The Great Gastby.
Fitzgerald illustrates with artful tact his view of the United States in the 1920’s. He shows lawlessness, surrealism, and vibrancy throughout his novel, utilizing literary techniques such as imagery, indirect characterization, ambiguity, and the lexicon used. F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves the reader blown away by the events that transpired over the course of the short one-hundred and eighty pages of The Great Gatsby. The 1920’s are embodied by Mr. Scott’s novel; he gives an incredible story while handing over a valuable glimpse into the age through his eyes.
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.
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During the 1920's America was a country of great ambition, despair and disappointment. The novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of this decade, it illustrates the burning passion one man has toward his "American Dream" and the different aspects of the dream. Fitzgerald's work is a reflection of America during his lifetime. The Great Gatsby shows the ambition of one man's reach for his "American Dream," the disappointment of losing this dream and the despair of his loss.
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.
In the Fall of 1913, F. Scott Fitzgerald entered in Princeton to pursuit a major in literature. "While in collage, he wrote musicals for the Princeton Triangle Club and also contributed pieces to the Princeton Tiger and the Nassau Literary Magazine." (St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 1) Fitzgerald was enormously devoted to his literary life. After some years of collage, he was starting to be careless when it came to his studies....
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