Examples Of Modernism In The Great Gatsby

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless classic, The Great Gatsby, the story narrows in on an enigmatic and charming character of Jay Gatsby. Starting off as a poor Midwest child, the young Jay Gatz transforms into the titular character that the novel is named after, and becomes an extravagant social elite to win over Daisy Buchanan. It is later discovered that the reputation and status that Gatsby built for himself was simply a mirage formed by deception. Through Gatsby, the charming hero who depicts himself as a social elite based upon elaborate lies to capture his love, Fitzgerald is able to critique the corruption of the precious American Dream.

Known as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Great Gatsby by F. Scoot Fitzgerald has created controversy in 10th grade literature realm. Due to the questionable morals and adult symbolism, many critics are concerned about the influence the book may have on teenage readers. However, many supporters have pointed out that these thematic elements are a warning rather than an invitation. The Great Gatsby should be taught in in 10th grade literature, due to the literary, contemporary and historical value of the book which far outweighs the negative aspects.

“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story narrated by Nick Carraway who was a young man that moved from Minnesota to New York. Nick moves to New York in the summer of 1922, right in the middle of the roaring twenties with the hopes of learning more about the bonds business. Nick moves to West Egg and his house neighbours a large, Gothic mansion belonging to Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway is a first person narrator, more specifically he is a peripheral narrator. A peripheral narrator has their own part in the story but are not a main character and they witnesses the main character’s story and tells it to the reader. An important fact to note that Nick Carraway is an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is a narrator who

A life of luxury requires an arduous journey of dedication to achieve it. To embody the American Dream, one must strive to succeed. However, some may go too far in the process, and make irreversible decisions. This dream of copious amounts of wealth causes multiple characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s well-known novel The Great Gatsby to perish from selfishness. Based in the roaring twenties, also known as the jazz age, Fitzgerald sheds light on a major problem in society. Since a poor farm boy in North Dakota, to a rich gangster in New York, Jay Gatsby has been in pursuit of the American Dream. This dream lead Gatsby to believe that money and wealthy can buy anything, even happiness and love; ultimately leading to his downfall. Daisy Buchanan, who also believed in the American Dream, wished to marry Gatsby, however she could not due to the immense differences between economic and social class. By becoming a gangster, Gatsby achieved an equal wealth status; however this banished him to a life with a tainted past. The green light on Daisy’s dock was Gatsby’s only way to hang onto his goal. To clear his past and attain the ideal American Dream social status, Gatsby tried to woe Daisy into marrying him, believing his money alone would be enough to win her love. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates how the American Dream causes destruction and corruption in society.

James Gatz, also known as The Great Gatsby would be considered the wealthiest man in 1920’s New York, having everything while having nothing. Gatsby could be considered the “American Dream”, starting from the bottom to the top. However, his origin like any achiever is shrouded in mystery. Charisma, persistent, selfless, and even emptiness, traits that best fit Gatsby like, a glove fits a hand. The author Scott Fitzgerald, crafted Gatsby as this great man to show that any man can achieve greatness but can as well lose it all if careless. And, so Gatsby is a perfect character to analyze, understanding what kind of a man he is through his personality traits

When I was in grade school, I had a big crush on a girl. Her name was Jill Reynolds, and she was dating a boy named Adam Green. He was born into a very wealthy family and everything was given to him on a silver platter. The day I met Adam he was wearing extravagant clothes, the common person could not afford to buy. He was tall, slender and his black, wavy hair was brushed to the side. I was jealous of Adam because he was wealthy, handsome and courting the girl of my dreams. I’ve dreamt of being with Jill ever since I’ve known her. Like me, Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby follows his dream of capturing Daisy’s heart, even if he knows he might not secure her in the end, this forms the primary theme of the novel. By weaving together the motifs of materialism and lies/illusion throughout the plot, F. Scott Fitzgerald expresses an important theme.

Another representation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s critique of society in the 1920s in The Great Gatsby is exhibited at Gatsby’s parties. In the novel Gatsby throws big expensive parties full of random individuals who just show up uninvited at his mansion. In The Great Gatsby it illustrates “ people were doing “stunts” all over the garden while happy vacuous of laughter rose toward the summer sky. ”(Fitzgerald 51). In this passage it shows how individuals acted during the 1920s by partying and enjoying life in ways seen previously as abnormal.

In a materialistic society, one measures the worthiness of its members according to their wealth. For many Americans across many generations, material possessions have determined social status and overall value to society. This rating system has been the subject of blistering critique from early on in human society when money was deemed “the root of all evil”, to the 1920’s when F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a criticism of materialism in his book The Great Gatsby. Americans today still try to acquire the lavish trappings of the wealthy. Although equating money to happiness is no longer socially acceptable by most people, the want for more materials and tendencies to depend on alcohol in times of trouble that Fitzgerald critiqued is still valid today.

In the Great Gatsby, characters often have opposing thoughts and feelings of one another, and once these characters gained more wealth, their original beliefs were amplified. Fitzgerald asserts that the American Dream has become materialistic, which is symbolically represented by both Tom and Gatsby’s achievement of the American Dream leaving them without feelings of satisfaction. (Possible thesis change to suggestion #3 from #1) With all of his wealth, property, and parties, it is clear that Gatsby has achieved the American Dream. However, Gatsby considers himself surrounded by strangers in his parties while “trying to forget the sad thing that happened to me”(Fitzgerald p67).

In the timeless story, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, readers are constantly on the edge of their seats as the drama throughout the tale unravels. In this melodramatic, tasteless, glamorous, sentimental, enduring book the love of Gatsby and Daisy grabs the heart of the readers—keeping them wanting more. Other than the two lovebirds The Great Gatsby is a widely known for the controversy over whether the book has a romantic or realistic theme and the idea of the American Dream which is portrayed in the story.

The American dream was originally about discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness. However, in the 1920s depicted in the Great Gatsby easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this dream. During the Roaring Twenties when the ideal American lifestyle was being portrayed and everything was at an all time high. After the end of the First World War, moral and social values diminished and portrayed the Jazz age in which moral degradation and the recklessness of the 1920s. As a result, loneliness, disillusionment and loss were being portrayed throughout this period. In the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is an average man who falls in love with an unattainable society. As long as Gatsby has faith in life’s possibilities and regaining Daisy’s love he continues to strive until eventually he does not succeed and ultimately dies. Furthermore, Fitzgerald manages to portray modernism by presenting the flaws in society during the 1920s such as the wasteful lives of the wealthy in the novel, as none of them were portrayed as people who wanted to achieve something worth fighting for and rather were portrayed as people who would spend money for the sake of portraying themselves as wealthy and superior to the other classes in society. This novel is a symbol of the American Dream being disintegrated through the desire of money and pleasure, which overtook more noble goals. Through, the analysis of the main character, Jay Gatsby and the journey of his past,

“Gatsby is in modern times the central artistic expression of the American experience.” According to Ross MacDonald, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, was about “American idealism destroyed by American greed”. (Thompson p.152) This theme of a misinterpreted American Dream was portrayed throughout what is said to be one of Fitzgerald’s most influential works, The Great Gatsby.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, the title character, Jay Gatsby, is truly a classic romantic. This is demonstrated repeatedly throughout the novel as Gatsby displays his intense devotion to Daisy. An example of the immense romantic dedication Gatsby feels towards Daisy is shown through his strenuous efforts to learn about her life. While conversing with Nick, Jordan mentions that Gatsby has “read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy’s name”(Fitzgerald 79). This quote describes a man who is willing to do whatever he can merely to learn about the woman he loves. He is even willing to import newspapers from over seven hundred miles away just for the miniscule possibility that the

Early twentieth century marked the beginning of American modernism. From the outside, the modern era seemed extravagant; the Jazz Age, the roaring twenties, all cultivated the excitement of upper-class Americans. America had just defeated Germany in World War One, and was beginning to industrialize on a large scale. New technology like the automobile and the airplane sprang to life, along with the advancements of cities. However, underneath the veneer of the extravagance, a lonely, isolated life existed for many Americans. The new advancements in society overwhelmed many, and paradoxically, set them back. Immigrants flooded into the country with hopes of attaining wealth and happiness the American dream. David Trask, and author for the

While the current generation may not truly understand the decadent and rebellious energy of Gatsby’s era, major themes such as the decline of the American Dream, and the shallowness of human relationships still remain relevant to the modern society. In a way, characters in The Great Gatsby are representative of “the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired” in regards to The American Dream. Despite the optimistic belief in the possibilities of upward mobility in social status and financial stability, the attempts of “dreamers” in the novel were left unfulfilled. Jay Gatsby, a man of humble upbringings, longed after a life of wealth and status. His dream of being accepted by Daisy and the elite society of the East Egg not only ended in failure, but also his own downfall.