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.

In the book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Jay Gatz as a man who is willing to do anything for love. He could also be considered as a romantic hero. However romantic hero does not mean a person that does everything for love. Romantic hero means someone who is rejected by his/her actions, or by society. “According to James Smith Allen, the term Romanticism has as many meanings as commentators. However, one can sketch a general definition of the movement based on its predominant rejection of classical rationality, objectivity, and universality in favor of an emotional, subjective, and personal response to the world…...the Romantic hero was a frequently a familial and social outcast, and defined him or her self via notions of

Cultural Criticism is the beliefs and interpretation of cultures in the eyes of other people rather one is more dominant or the others are inferior to them. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” time period was divided up into social classes which were determined on a person’s will. The narrator Nick Caraway is a middle class man trying to make it in life financially, so he decided to move from the East Egg to the West Egg New York to get away from paying 3,000 to 4,000 dollars for renting a house. Cultural criticism explains a meaningful understanding which is shown in the novel with: social status, racism, beliefs, and ethnicity.

“‘I’m glad it’s a girl and I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’”. This is a very vivid quote written by F. Scott Fitzgerald that helps identify one of the many themes in his book The Great Gatsby. This specific quote speaks of the topic I will be addressing which is money and materialism. This theme takes shape and form in many different ways and through different people throughout the book, and is shown through Fitzgerald’s characters Myrtle, Daisy, and Tom.

F. Scott Fitzgerald includes many motifs and symbols within The Great Gatsby. One important motif is the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald ultimately uses the eyes to show disapproval and criticism of society and how God watches over everyone and everything. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg represents the all seeing, overlooking eyes of God. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg develops religion as the desire of wealth and social class have replaced spiritual values in American society during the 1920s.

The 1920s was an age of rebellion and freedom. No one could deny the energy of the young generation and their youthful decisions. Some of the social activities that rose up in the 1920s are still very popular in the world we know today. There was a certain pressure in the air that people had to do these new things to fit in with the world. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the characters have a great weight on their shoulders because society was telling them to live a certain way.

Many of the most trying and eye-opening experiences America had ever encountered took place during the years of 1919 and 1930; ranging from the end of the war to the stock market crash, the nation stayed together and developed many inventions and ideas that would drastically change the future of America. Most of the time when people speak about the 1920s they describe them as roaring. They have mental pictures that reflect women in flappers dancing with wine glasses filled to the brim in one hand and a lite cigarette in the other hand. They imagine men in expensive tuxedos buying lavish and luxury items such as cars and mansions. They think of works of literature such as The Great Gatsby that depict the 1920s as a place where people were free to do what they wanted when they wanted, whether it was legal or not. The twenties are considered a time where people had more money than they needed and they spent it accordingly. However, that is not the entire concept of the 1920s. The twenties were not just a time of over spending. They were a time of fear. People had never had nor seen this much money in circulation. They had especially not grown custom to witnessing people spend the money on items they did not need.

Many people claim that The Great Gatsby is the quintessential American novel. This is due to the reoccurring theme of the book of the rise and fall of the American dream. The book is very significant because of its relation to the time period in which it was written and the actual events that were taking place in the world in and around the 1920's. This period was called the "Roaring 20's" because of the economy at the time was through the roof and people were taking advantage of the overall wealth, both independently and as a whole. (Gevaert, 2) New York City was a symbol of what America has become in the 1920's: a place where anything goes, where money is made and bootleggers

The idea of self-invention is recreating yourself with an alter identity or ego. I agree that people who try to reinvent themselves are doing it for either a positive or a negative reason. The way you related the idea of self-invention to two characters in The Great Gatsby depicted the to ways for reinvention. Myrtle Wilson changed her appearance to feel worthiness around other, yet she stilled remained recognizable. However, Myrtle did attempt to act differently as well as changing her appearance. Daisy Buchanan who sets standards of what is expect able in her 'high' society. Also, I agree that there is a distinct line between reinventing yourself in a healthy way versus doing it for the wrong reason, such as to please

When I was in Chicago over christmas break, I spent most of my time with my boyfriend Kemani. Christmas was only a few days away and I wanted to get him something. I asked did he have an idea of what he wanted, he said a jersey, some jordans, and a video game. He got everything he asked for. I went all over looking for these specific jordans and I finally found them. I went out my way to make sure he was happy. The total came up to about three hundred seventy dollars. Whenever he asked for something or wanted something I got it with no problem. Like me, Gatsby In The Great Gatsby learns a valuable lesson that 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.

All the money in the world can be spent on feeling like one means something in society, but with all that money, love and happiness still cannot be bought. Society has taught people that love equates with expensive gifts and gaiety rests in mansions, but these things are all material objects. Materialism develops when the weight of possessions is greater than spiritual values, such as love, kindness, and character. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the main character, Jay Gatsby, buys a mansion across the lake from his previous lover to attract her with his lavish parties and riches hoping to make her fall in love with him again. Gatsby’s possessions

The Great Gatsby Motifs The theme society and class in The Great Gatsby relates directly to the motif of the parties. The parties showed how each class acted at the party or how it was hosted based on their rank in society. At Gatsby’s parties it was described as “…they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park.”

The Great Gatsby’s parties were always filled to the brim with members of the upper class. The people were beautiful, established, and accustomed to excess. From the outside, the United States appeared to be just as prosperous as the partygoers. However, this was far from the truth. The lower class struggled with in America in the same way the upper class struggled with morality. F. Scott Fitzgerald captures both ideas with his novel; he shows us specific examples of people distracted from ideals by the influence of money.

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments […]. (1.2). In the novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott FitzGerald portrays not only lying but the consequences of lying which is one of the main focuses throughout the book, and is shown between multiple characters that later face the consequences because of their lying. Lying in The Great Gatsby is expressed by multiple characters from different social classes and some pay the price for their actions while the higher class doesn’t pay for their mischievous deeds.

The development of American Literature, much like the development of the nation, began in earnest, springing from a Romantic ideology that honored individualism and visionary idealism. As the nation broke away from the traditions of European Romanticism, America forged its own unique romantic style that would resonate through future generations of literary works. Through periods of momentous change, the fundamentally Romantic nature of American literature held fast, a fact clearly demonstrated in the fiction of F. Scott Fitzgerald. In an era of post-war disillusionment, when idealism succumbed to hedonistic materialism, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s romantically charged novel,