The son of deprived farmers, Gatsby had built himself up from practically nothing, and he sprang from his Platonic conception of himself into a man who truly represented the American Dream (Fitzgerald 98). Scott Fitzgerald mentions in her novel an incident of prohibition of sale and the production of liquor to tame youths who had become overindulged in alcoholism. She was incurably dishonest. . Myrtle explains that she married George because she thought he was a gentleman, suggesting she hoped hed raise her class status. WWI was a war of trench warfare, chemical weapons, shrapnel artillery, and other gruesome technologies that had never been seen before. It contains thousands of paper examples on a wide variety of topics, all donated by helpful students. Gatsbyis now seen as both a product of and a record of the 1920s. Print. to reacquaint himself with Daisy through massive parties instead prove to be areas where those yearning for liquor could obtain their desired alcohol with little to no regard toward their host; this is exemplified in the fact that Owl Eyes is the only character other than Nick to attend both Gatsbys lavish parties and his funeral. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's ego and self-centered personality . Anyone can read what you share. 146-152. Want to write the perfect college application essay? (2022) 'American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"'. The various social climbers and ambitious speculators who attend Gatsbys parties evidence the greedy scramble for wealth. They were careless people, Tom and Daisythey 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. Cars are clearly used to display wealth and status - even Tom, normally secure in his superiority, wants to brag to George Wilson aboutthesuper-fancy Rolls Royce heborrows from Gatsby. Tracing historical development in the US, Scherer and Ross inform that only 16 percent of homes in America had electricity by 1912 (82). ." When his dream crumbles, all that is left for Gatsby to do is die; all Nick can do is move back to Minnesota, where American values have not decayed. For instance, inThe Great Gatsby, it's taken for granted that the Jewish gangster Meyer Wolfshiem would need the WASP-y face of Jay Gatsby to make some of his deals, since Wolfshiem wouldn't have been allowed to join or participate important political and business networks. The outcome of these cultures was the decaying American dream. Car ownership increased mobility between cities and outer suburban areas, which enabled the wealthy to work in one place but live in another. Cars also now created a totally new danger, particularly in combination with alcohol consumption. Myrtleboth working class and a womanis thus trapped between a rock (her gender) and a hard place (her lack of money), and perhaps for this reason receives the cruelest treatment of all. Gatsby, like a peacock showing off its many-colored tail, flaunts his wealth to Daisy by showing off his many-colored shirts. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? Nick and Gatsby live in this community. 1. . This analysis can enrich an essay about old money versus new money, the American dream, or even a more straightforward character analysis, or a comparison of two different characters. This began during WWI as more women began to work to make up for the men fighting abroad, and as more professions opened up to them in the men's absence. board with our, See Similarly, modernism writers experimented with form and style rather than sticking with traditional forms of prose and poetry. . Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air" (2.56). Print. It was all very careless and confused. The survivors of the war - both the veterans and those who came of age during the fighting - were called the Lost Generation. "Al Capone Does My Shirts a Novel by Gennifer Choldenko, Hobbes Materialist Nature of Philosophical Principles. August 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. Fitzgeralds characters that each selfishly overcome different hardships with corrupt solutions represent the immoral mindset of success-hungry people in the 1920s proving that the culture of Fitzgeralds time was accurately mirrored in his novel. Glittering with lyrical prose, F Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel tells the story of 1920s high society in Long Island, the golden age of excess before the Depression. Interested in the other ways that The Great Gatsbyera matters to the plot of the novel? Meyer Wolfsheim and Gatsbys fortune symbolize the rise of organized crime and bootlegging. From new money to consumer culture to lavish parties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel depicted the heyday of the 1920sand foreshadowed the doom that would follow. At the end of the book, class dynamics dictate which marriage survives (Tom and Daisy), which one is destroyed (George and Myrtle), and which one will never come to be (Gatsby and Daisy). These gardeners cleaned the leftovers of the products that had been consumed during Gatsbys parties that were dominated by haphazard expenses. Nick compares the green bulk of America rising from the ocean to the green light at the end of Daisys dock. (1.4), "My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionairesall for eighty dollars a month. We touched on this a bit with the quotes, but all of the characters can be analyzed from the point of view of their wealth and/or how materialistic they are. By Matthew Walther Mr. Walther is the editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a . American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby". Why does Tom insist on switching cars with Gatsby when they go to the city? Check out our articles onGatsbys title, its opening pages and epigraph, and itsfirst chapter. Although many previous events eventually influenced the 1920s, there are two crucialpieces of background history that you have to know. Web. The production and distributionof alcohol became the province ofbootleggers - the original organized crime syndicates. . By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. He spends his life believing that if he makes enough money and acquires enough possessions, he can transcend his lower-class birth and become equal to Daisy and Tom. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. So Gatsby ultimately provides a pretty harsh, pessimistic view of women's roles in 1920s America. ), happiness, or family. August 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. In fact, during Chapter 8 when we finally get a fuller recap of Daisy and Gatsby's early relationship, Nick notes that "It excited [Gatsby] too that many men had already loved Daisyit increased her value in his eyes" (8.10). Gatsby's comment about Daisy's voice explicitly connects Daisy the character to the promise of wealth, old money, and even the American Dream. Luckily, FreeBookSummary offers study guides on over 1000 top books from students curricula! Caroline Brown . Upon noting the degradation of morality among youths in the 1920s, Samkanashvil claims that the American youths were incredibly concerned with nobility (75). They even went to the extent of assimilating masculine ways and fashions into their lifestyles. Gatsby was Fitzgerald's third novel, and in writing it, he consciously set out to write something more artistic and creative than his previous two books. Gatsby's notoriety comes from, first and foremost, his enormous wealth, wealth he has gathered to win over Daisy. Discount, Discount Code The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in the novel was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive This revelation marks a society that embraces and protects a culture of impunity that is driven by both greed and erosion of social morals in the 1920 American society. When Nick tells Gatsby that you can't repeat the past, Gatsby says "Why of course you can!" Despite not being as wealthy as Tom and Daisy, his second cousin, they see him as enough of a peer to invite him to their home in Chapter 1. No one has time to read them all, but its important to go over them at least briefly. After all, Tom's money secures her fancy apartment and allows her to lord it over her guests and play at sophistication, even while Nick looks down his nose at her. Like 1920s Americans in general, fruitlessly seeking a bygone era in which their dreams had value, Gatsby longs to re-create a vanished pasthis time in Louisville with Daisybut is incapable of doing so. Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters In The Great Gatsby. Alongside the juxtaposition of the Midwest and the East, Fitzgerald also reflects the culture of the 1920s with descriptions of Prohibition and the law breaking that came as a result. . Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. The Great Gatsby is regarded as a brilliant piece of social commentary, offering a vivid peek into American life in the 1920s. All rights reserved. In this sense, better economic fortunes in America, together with the rising mass production in the 1920s normalized the culture of consumption so that products that were consumed by the wealthy members of the society became now affordable to persons in the lower social economic classes. When describing Gatsbys parties, Caraways says that there was frequent musical noise emanating for his neighbors house throughout all nights in summer (Zeitz 22). While Gatsby, Myrtle, and George all end up dead, Tom and Daisy get to skip town and avoid any consequences, despite their direct involvement. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? Everyone who comes to the parties is attracted by Gatsby's money and wealth, making the culture of money-worship a society-wide trend in the novel, not just something our main characters fall victim to. New York, NY: Institute of American History, 2005. Please wait while we process your payment. (2022, August 12). New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2000. So money here is more than just statusit's a shield against responsibility, which allows Tom and Daisy to behave recklessly while other characters suffer and die in pursuit of their dreams. Fitzgerald captured this period of rapid post-war growth and the frenzy surrounding the era with insightful examples of the eleterious effects of superficial behavior. Print. The second nickname refers to this period's changing social norms and daring artistic movements. jazz music is a fixture of Gatsbys parties, and almost every song that Fitzgerald describes is a real life piece of music. It took him about two and a half years to write and edit it, in between a failed play production, financial struggles, and a move to France. Is Nick from The Great Gatsby a Trustworthy Narrator? In the era of writing The Great Gatsby (1920s), America had experienced an immense economic growth. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. He accurately describes and critiques this materialistic society in order to leave a lasting impact on the public to recognize the inevitable failure of their economy and success waiting. Daisy herself is explicitly connected with money here, which allows the reader to see Gatsby's desire for her as desire for wealth, money, and status more generally. Hardly anyone shows up to Gatsby's funeral since they were only attracted by his wealth and the parties, not the man himself. He is a self-made man (in all respects) and as such, is admirable. Learn more about how The Great Gatsby was received when it first came out, and also read about the life ofits author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. 20% Knowing the hot-button issues of the novel's day gives you a good second way to support arguments about the importance of a particular theme, or your reading of the meaning of a symbol. Tom's restlessness is likely one motivator for his affairs, while Daisy is weighed down by the knowledge of those affairs. New York: Scribner, 2004. The jazz age was born during the 1920s era in the American history. As discussed above, moneyand specifically having inherited moneynot only guarantees a certain social class, it guarantees safety and privilege: Tom and Daisy can literally live by different rules than other, less-wealthy people. Here are ways to think about frequently assigned topics on this the theme of money and materialism. ensure the integrity of our platform while keeping your private information safe. Understanding historical context helps you in all sorts of ways: Having a richer interpretation of symbols, motifs, and themes. Money and materialism in the plotKey quotes about money/materialismAnalyzing characters via money/materialismCommon assignments and analysis of money/materialism in Gatsby. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he displays the corrupt moral values of the society and culture, also their assumptions, Jay Gatz is alienated because of his class he is killed as a result of alienation. (7.106). I couldn't forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. Furthermore, the rest of that quote explicitly describes Daisy as "High in a white palace, the King's daughter, the golden girl" (7.106). America at this time experienced a cultural and lifestyle revolution. So all three women push the boundaries of their expected societal rolesDaisy's affair with Gatsby, Jordan's independent lifestyle, and Myrtle's affair with Tombut ultimately either fall in line (Daisy, Jordan) or are killed for reaching too far (Myrtle). Characters such as George and Toms wives exemplify the rebellion that is characterized by dwindling moral standards. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. IvyPanda. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Only the most affluent couple pulls through the events that conclude the book. This marked a shift both in how black culture was understood and appreciated by the rest of the country and in how womens rights were progressing, as well discuss in the next sections. Similar to Wolfsheims unethical lifestyle, the character of Tom Buchanan also proves to reflect the judgmental attitudes of several biased and racist people in the novels era with his claims that civilization is going to pieces and if we dont look out, the white race will be. A prime example of such an immoral character is Meyer Wolfsheim who, as Gatsby nonchalantly stated, fixed the World Series back in 1919 (Fitzgerald 73); the character of Wolfsheim acts as a representation of the man who was actually responsible for the crime, Arnold Rothstein. Wed love to have you back! Only after amassing a large fortune does he feel able to make his move. Unsuccessful upon publication, the book is now considered a classic of American fiction and has often been . In The Great Gatsby, money is central to the idea of the American Dream. Nevertheless, it was still very much frowned on, and being a housewife and having fewer rights than man was still the norm in the 1920s. "Old money" families have fortunes dating from the 19th century or before, have built up powerful and influential social connections, and tend to hide their wealth and superiority behind a veneer of civility. Daisy and Tom have similar traits, which support materialist culture that was prevalent in the 1920s American society as portrayed in The Great Gatsby. ' The Great Gatsby' follows Nick Carraway, who meets the mysterious multimillionaire Jay Gatsby after moving to New York. Every character in The Great Gatsby draws inspiration from the American Dreams promise of wealth and prosperity. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. 1. If you understand the history of Prohibition, you'll make better sense of some plot and character details inThe Great Gatsby: Police emptying out confiscated barrels of beer into the sewer. You can connect modernism withthe novel's descriptions of East Egg and West Egg extravagance. In other words, while he opens the book with his father's advice to remember "all the advantages [he's] had," Nick seems to have a chip on his shoulder about still not being in the highest tier of the wealthy class. "She's got an indiscreet voice," I remarked. Gatsby suffers the most from the promise of social mobility inherent to the American Dream. Most suppliers of alcohol during Prohibition were highly esteemed since one who could live on the edge and without restraint was admired (The Great Gatsby Literature 151). In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker. To get a really good sense of why characters in the novel do what they do, it's useful to know the specific historical circumstances they are dealing with. Women were granted the right to participate in voting. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Wondering what the world was like when Jay Gatsby struck it rich in bootlegging? Meanwhile, Tom's mistress Myrtle, a car mechanic's wife, puts on airs and tries to pass as rich through her affair with Tom, but her involvement with the Buchanans gets her killed. The wealthiest characters own cars and use them to commute between Manhattanand Long Island. Perhaps this attitude was tempered at Yale, where he would have been surrounded by other ultra-wealthy peers, but in any case, Nick's cynical, sarcastic attitude seems to be a cover for jealousy and resentment for those even more wealthy than him. After all, her voice is "full of moneythat was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. The Great Gatsby reflects the trends of the 1920's through the transformation of James Gatz, the differences between the houses in West Egg and East Egg, and the unflattering picture of the era. In the novel you can see what happened to it during the 1920s. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. 264-276. . Suffrage had been a huge goal of the womens movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so this victory caused women to continue to push boundaries and fight for more rights during the 1920s. Almost 1 in 4 people now had a car! Print. In other words, wealth is presented as the key to lovesuch an important key that the word "gold" is repeated twice. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. This happened because of advances in mass production due to the assembly line, and because of rising incomes due to the economic boom. Nick laments, I stared at (Wilson) and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before-and it occurred to me that there was no difference between men (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 158). on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% "American Culture in the Novel "The Great Gatsby"." You'll be billed after your free trial ends. West Egg residents or new money (Fitzgerald and Bruccoli 54) are perceived by East Egg counterparts as upstart outsiders. She indeed admires East Eggs people with mega envy together with intense animosity. (See our article on this novel's publication and reception history for more.). (In a uniform she had no idea he was poor, especially given his sophisticated manners). A person from any social background could, potentially, make a fortune, but the American aristocracyfamilies with old wealthscorned the newly rich industrialists and speculators. In contrast to Tom and Daisy's expensive but not overly gaudy mansion, and the small dinner party Nick attends there in Chapter 1, everything about Gatsby's new wealth is over-the-top and showy, from the crates of oranges brought in and juiced one-by-one by a butler to the full orchestra. Myrtle mentions this with regard to her husband, George, whom she mistook for someone of better breeding and hence greater prospects: I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasnt fit to lick my shoe. Similarly, Gatsbys pursuit of Daisy is bound up with class. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Daisy nearly backed out of her marriage to Tom the day before her wedding, and Tom had an affair within a year of the wedding, but the couple is well-suited because of their shared class and desire for fun and material possessions. Few characters in literature or indeed life embody an era quite so tenaciously as Jay Gatsby does the Jazz Age. In Fitzgerald's most popular novel, The Great Gatsby, jazz appears as constant background music. A new version of the dream emerged. And furthermore, Daisy's willingness to stay with Tom despite his affairs underscores another aspect of women's roles during the 1920s: that divorce was still very uncommon and controversial. Your privacy is extremely important to us. Getting a deeper grasp of character. Daisy, for her part, only begins her affair with Gatsby after a very detailed display of his wealth (via the mansion tour). Although her husband is immensely loyal to her, she possesses a strong desire to have everything else. He sarcastically describes the "consoling proximity of millionaires" on West Egg and wryly observes Tom and Daisy's restless entitlement on East Egg. In the final chapter, Nick calls Tom and Daisy careless people who smashed up things and . Scherer and Ross remark that Americans purchased durable goods in the 1920s, thus increasing their spending on clothes and various mass-produced items (105). In 1921 to 1924, the American GDP grew from $ 69bilion to about 93 billion (Woods 213). Modernism was all about breaking with the past. . Woods, Clyde. The novel includes Nick's anti-Semitic description of a Jewish character - Meyer Wolfshiem. Jordan Baker is the best example of this kind of woman. Fitzgerald conveys a message warning against the perils of materialism during the course of the novel. Jordan temporarily flouts expectations by ""[running] around the country," (1.134) playing golf, and not being in a hurry to marrya freedom that she is allowed because of her money, not in spite of it. The work examines the results of the Jazz Age generation's adherence to false material values. She even breaks down in tears after Gatsby shows off his ridiculously expensive set of colored shirts, crying that she's "never seen such beautiful shirts" before (5.118). This claim implies that they thought that money could make them more authoritative than other people. IvyPanda, 12 Aug. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/american-culture-in-the-novel-the-great-gatsby/. (See our brief biography of Fitzgerald to learn more.). As Caraway describes the nature of Gatsbys parties, it is clear that even though Americans enjoyed prosperity that was associated with the jazz age, they also feared its social implications. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. The epigraph of the novel immediately marks money and materialism as a key theme of the bookthe listener is implored to "wear the gold hat" as a way to impress his lover. And, fascinatingly, this is the first moment of the day Daisy fully breaks down emotionallynot when she first sees Gatsby, not after their first long conversation, not even at the initial sight of the mansionbut at this extremely conspicuous display of wealth.