Many people, especially from the lower social classes, wanted more than anything to become rich and part of the upper society. In Gatsby's case, his motivation is Daisy, a girl from Louisville with whom he fell in love. When Gatsby realized that he wasn't good enough for her because s... ... middle of paper ... ...ly belongs. She can never truly leave this place and what's even more ironic, she is killed by what she craves acceptance from and longs to be apart of, the aristocracy. Society during the 1920's was masked by drinking, parties and extravagant wastefulness of money, but underneath there was misery throughout all the classes.
This had a profound effect on his life as he often viewed himself "more or less valuable as a direct result of having or not having money" (Wood). His early fascination with wealth provided the perfect foundation for him to incorporate the idealism of wealth into his novels. In addition to his early life, Fitzgerald became accustomed to wealth during the 1920's, a period of rapid change and conspicuous consumption. Because of this, he witnessed both the waste and glamour in 1920's society (Bruccoli). He illustrates this in his novel This Side of Paradise as Amory Blaine states that he "is sick of a system where the richest man gets the most beautiful girl if he wants her" (Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise 322).
All of these influences and themes culminate in many different forms of literature including poem, short story, and essay. A drastic shift from the Puritan and Quaker writings of the colonial period in American literature, the romantic movement was heavily influenced by a changing colonial world. The United States, closely following a revolutionary victory, began pushing west. Our founding fathers believed diligently in the Manifest Destiny that declared the United States would one day stretch “from sea to shining sea.” Such an exciting and promising time catalyzed the creation of a new literary period and influenced its writers to greatly love and appreciate life. Also influencing American literature at the time of the romantic movement was the high level of immigration the United States was facing.
Old rich people were educated and polite while the new rich were just looking for a good time. At partys the newly rich got drunk and displayed despicable behavior which the old rich frowned upon "She was appalled by West Egg...by its raw vigor that chafed...and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.”(Fit. 113). It is unfair to think that people who were born into wealth were treated with higher respect than those who worked terribly hard for it, but the old rich viewed those who followed the American Dream “as the hollow men as the stuffed men”(Eliot 17-18).
In the 1920s, prohibition, the ban on alcohol is in full force in order to better society, alcohol was seen as the corrupter of people’s judgement. Ironically prohibition caused society to decay, despite the many boons happening at the time. Beneath the seemingly prosperous country lies corruption, inequality, and despair. The corruption is so obvious, that author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a book on this subject called The Great Gatsby. His main character, Jay Gatsby, spent his whole life trying to become rich enough to win the heart of a now married Daisy.
Even though each character cheats in his or her own different way they all do it for the same reason, which is to be wealthy and have high social class. The theme for this novel is sometimes it is worse to live a life full of lies and riches than to live a life of normality. Jay Gatsby is in love with Daisy and wants to spend the rest of his life with her but unfortunately, when they first met, he couldn’t. In the novel, Gatsby says that the only reason Daisy didn’t marry him was because he was poor. So in order to win Daisy, Gatsby had to be rich.
The American Dream in The Great Gatsby The American Dream is a powerful thing in the lives and hopes of its citizens, as shown in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. It is, and was, faith in individualism, expectation of progress, and mainly the belief in America as a land of opportunity. However, it also is differs from person to person. This plays a great part in Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. His book took place in the 1920 's, which is also called the 'Roaring 20 's '.
Franklin had a very unique dream and it inspired many people. In his autobiography he states, “…I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection…I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous…” (p. 71 Lit. Book). He was determined to arrive at mor... ... middle of paper ... ...can Americans in this time period redefined the limits of freedom by stretching its boundaries to more categories of the American population. The American Revolutionary Period was a time of extreme progress.
This movement brought literature of fireside poetry to the American Hero. Over the course of the American Romantic Period, focusing on emotions, changed the way Americans comprehended upward mobility in the American dream, which in turn changed the way authors wrote and lived their lives. The numerous characteristics of the romantic period helped shape the era. Romantics obsessed over the idea of individuality. They felt the need to have self-expression.
She uses the people around her to fit into the social scene and boast her wealth and fake happiness, which obstructs her morals and emotions as a human being. Daisy valued life holds no true meaning for her. She treats others horribly without a ... ... middle of paper ... ...after he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby’s affair. (137) Even though Tom is an adulterer himself, he cannot stand the thought of his wife doing the same. He is a jealous hypocrite, who lusts for all the power and puts shame to his name and affluent life.