Examples Of Modernism In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many examples of modernism. Fitzgerald shows many modernism techniques like loss of control, alienation, corruption of the American Dream, breaking society’s rules and feeling restless. Fitzgerald also shows modernism through the fragmented writing.

Once Nick Carraway, the narrator, moves into a small home in West Egg, he soon comprehends that East Egg and West Egg are completely different. Carraway realizes the East Egg is where the upscale residents live and West Egg is more economically disadvantaged as he explains, “I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (Fitzgerald 5). East Egg residences extremely wealthy people whose wealth has been passed down the line for years, while West Egg houses the hard-working people who build up their wealth. Furthermore, Thomas C. Fowler defines that living in a wealthy, luxurious geographical environment can reconstruct a character into a conceited personality explaining, “Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans” (174). This theory is correct because the residences’ in East Egg are spoiled, selfish people finding themselves in a wealthy and treasured lifestyle.

Jay Gatsby is a self-made man, he turned himself from a farm boy to one of the richest men in America at the time and bought himself a beautiful mansion on West Egg, Long Island with the other new millionaires. In contrast to the newly rich, there are those who have inherited their wealth from family before them such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan. These people were lucky to be born into their lives and reside on East Egg along with other family’s with “old money”. Readers come to easily

Many novels are written as a means of scrutinising the details and flaws of a specific society. The author’s purpose is to use the novel as a lens through which they can offer their own critical perception. The highly praised novel The Great Gatsby provides such a view into 1920s America, an era which was often described as the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring 20s,” mainly due to the +and carefree nature of the wealthy. This higher class, who were essentially safeguarded by their money, lived life as if it was an endless party. It is this particular group that F. Scott Fitzgerald mainly targets when providing his criticism

Jay Gatsby is a self-made man, he turned himself from a farm boy to one of the richest men in America at the time and bought himself a beautiful mansion on West Egg, Long Island with the other new millionaires. In contrast to the newly rich, there is those who have inherited their wealth from family before them such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan. These people were lucky to be born into their lives and reside on East Egg along with other family’s with “old money”. Readers come to easily identify that despite their different

One strong theme of modernism in literature is the attack and or decline of The American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that everyone, men, and women, have an equal opportunity to achieve wealth, success and or happiness through determination, and hard work, in other words, the pursuit of happiness. Two writers that illustrate this theme of modernism are F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Ernest Hemingway, author of The Sun Also Rises.

The Great Gatsby written in 1925 was a novel that expresses F. Scott Fitzgerald’s concerns for the direction that America was headed in during that decade. During the novel he repeatedly gives examples of the contrast of the economic classes; the thriving upper class in extravagant living conditions while the lower class lives in filth like “fields of ashes.” To criticize the American upper class during the nineteen twenties, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses vivid imagery in his revelation of Gatsby’s facade to give the reader an idea of the contrast among the classes of the early nineteenth century and how it continues to last.

The Great Gatsby is often considered to be the great American novel. However, this notion must be challenged because the ideas that F. Scott Fitzgerald presents in his classic masterpiece clash with the distinctly “American” ideologies that citizens of this great country have been spoon-fed since birth. Ideas such as capitalism, the American Dream, and self-actualization are presented in one form or another and then systematically dismantled to show just how fragile they really are. In his famous novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes the despondency of class struggle and other Marxist ideologies through literary devices such as setting, imagery, and character development. Ultimately, Fitzgerald offers a negative critique on how social

After narrator Nick Carraway spies his neighbour Gatsby stepping outside of his mansion in the nightly hours, Fitzgerald writes, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling” (24). Fitzgerald writes the orientation of Gatsby’s trembles to be toward the incubation of his objective, the Buchanan estate, across the unconquerable bay, symbolic of the animosity against those of self-made riches onset by the generational bourgeoisie. To a reader of the modern era, however, the means by which wealth is acquired is of inverse respectability to that when viewed from the perspective of someone from the Gatsby era. As Nick counts description of him and Gatsby’s neighbourhood of West Egg, he details it in contrast of East Egg as being “the less fashionable of the two” (7), then going on to append this description by calling it a “most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (7). The difference between East and West Egg is invisible to those whom they do not foster. To their inhabitants, and by definition to Gatsby himself, however, this divide is insurmountable and is ultimately what elicits Gatsby’s compensational flaring of

It is home to people such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan who represent “old money,” which has been in their families for generations. Fitzgerald creates the illusion that those who live in East Egg are the height of society and live the ideal life (Eble). Their reluctance to attend Gatsby’s “heathenous” parties and strong dislike of East Egg’s occupants reveal this faulty view. “They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together” (Fitzgerald 6). People of lower statuses can never achieve the prestige of those who live in East Egg because they lack the required social breeding (Verderame “Social Class”). As a result, West Eggers often look down on others for not having as much money and causes separation between people like Daisy and Gatsby for no other reason than Gatsby not being raised in the same lavish environment. East Egg also represents eastern America, symbolizing the transition of wealth and power from the western frontier to the city

Fitzgerald presents West Egg as the “less fashionable of the two”. The West Eggers are the working class. Their money is their own, and they have not had the benefits of old money. Outside of Gatsby, most East Eggers live humbly, as illustrated by Nick Carraway’s small summer cottage. Upon further evaluation, the reader can see that Fitzgerald also applies his statement to the manner in which the wealth is acquired. West Eggers, represented by Gatsby, obtain their money through unrespectable and even illegal means. These people are looked down upon by the East Eggers, as they obtained their wealth on their own, making them the

"My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, 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 millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month." (Fitzgerald 13). This quote shows Nick describing his house as small, but also talks about how he lives in a rich community with nice views and millionaires, and he feels out of place because he doesn’t have as much money as his neighbors. “One way to look at The Great Gatsby is as a story about a poor boy who makes good, which is to say, a poor boy who becomes rich…” (Michaels). Gatsby works hard and tries to become rich to impress Daisy. Unfortunately in the end, their contrasting social classes do not allow them to be together. “On week-ends, his Rolls-Royce became omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains…” (Fitzgerald 42). Gatsby does a lot of different activities in his young age such as going to parties. Like Tom, he is very rich and has an abundance of nice, expensive things such as cars, but Gatsby does not have as much freedom with his money. "Oh, I'll stay in the East, don't you worry,' he said, glancing at Daisy and then back at me as if he were alert for something more. “I'd be a God Damn fool to live anywhere else." (Fitzgerald 13). West Egg isn’t as

“Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold.”(Proverbs 11:27) The Great Gatsby takes place in the roaring 20’s. The 1920’s was a good time in America, the country was flourishing and money was plentiful. During this time,the prohibition, alcohol was illegal which led to bootlegging or the illegal production and distribution of alcohol. The most popular music of the time was Jazz hence the 20’s nickname, the Jazz Age. Jazz was most commonly played at parties. Nick Carraway expressed modernism, was characterised by the author and expressed judgment of other characters.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald has always been known to be one of the best representations of literary modernism. This novel set the bar for modern American literature in the earlier decades as well as the present day. The characters populating The Great Gatsby are a reflection of the generation the author grew up with. In many ways, Gatsby and his friends could be seen as the perfect representation of the people Fitzgerald was known to associate with, as well as a minor reflection of himself. Through his characters’ dreams, their social status’, their pasts, and their blatant materialism, F. Scott Fitzgerald managed to present a detailed portrait of Modernism and the dilemma of the modern man in his now classic novel.

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author presents us with the story of a young man, Nick Carraway, who moves to Long Island in order to work as a salesman in New York City in the summer of 1922. During this novel, the sense of place is carefully portrayed through the modernist approach described by the narrator, Nick. The novel addresses issues of modernist concern like feminism, the effect of World War I in society, a man’s place in a possibly godless universe, and the development of technology. Throughout Nick’s accounts, the reader is immersed into his world where he can clearly see how his sense of place develops and his modernist sensibility is explored. Modernism, a literary movement of the 19th century, challenged the conventional way of presenting art and all other aspects of social life.