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.

Modernism is described as an early twentieth century philosophical movement that disconnects from old traditional habits, resulting in a search for contemporary thought and expression. Lorraine Hansberry’s 1950s play A Raisin in the Sun is a story of the Youngers, an African-American family living on Chicago’s South Side. In the play, Lena Younger, the eldest of the family, decides to use a small portion of her husband’s insurance check to buy a house so that the family can comfortably live in the suburbs. Another important text is F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The novel takes place in 1922 Long Island, New York. The novel is centered around Jay Gatsby, an extraordinarily wealthy man who holds a nostalgic love for Daisy Buchanan. Nick is identified as the narrator in the novel and from that, he is able to observe the extravagant parties, alcohol use, infidelity, and failure to individuality and isolation in the characters. F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, is a good example of modernism for it centers around the characters and their sense of isolation. Lorraine Hansberry’s 1950s play A Raisin in the Sun also identifies characteristics of modernism through the everyday struggles of urban and industrial housing as well as segregation.

Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to portray Gatsby’s desperation to get Daisy back. On pages 25-26 it says, “…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. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light” (25-26; Ch.1). In chapter 9 it also declares that “Gatsby believed in the green light” (189; Ch.9). The green light represents Gatsby’s hopes, dreams, and ultimate goal to get Daisy back. E.E. Cummings uses symbolism to show how the women and men are wasting their time and living carelessly. Lines 5 and 7 in cummings’ poem states that, “Women and men (both little and small)…they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same” reveals that the townspeople just did what they had to do to get by (In 5,7). It also shows how they lived without a purpose. The author uses the seasons, “autumn winter spring summer” to demonstrate how time constantly passes by (In

Since the Great Gatsby had created by F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American representative writers which establishes the position in the history of modern American literature in the 1920s, and became the spokesman of the "Jazz Age" and "lost generation". The United States in the twentieth Century twenty's, the jazz era, a heyday age when economics is pretty developed. Most Americans has begun to truly feel the war has brought them to the material benefits, they with unprecedented enthusiasm closed national door to pursuit excessively wealth and pleasure in the peacefulness. Themselves thought they were one of the most brilliant eras and indulge Chapter 2 background of the article. From the perspective of the novel art, I find

Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent an abstract idea or object of quality, is used in literature in order to communicate a deeper meaning of the plot. In the highly praised novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbols are mentioned frequently to provide insight, such as the glowing green light Gatsby finds himself mesmerized with. The green light Gatsby reaches out to catch at the end of Daisy’s dock represents he hopes and dreams he has for himself, and it is symbolic of Daisy as his ultimate goal, not only romantically, but her money and social standing. Fitzgerald use the greenlight as a symbol of Gatsby goal because what Gatsby wants was on the other side of the dock and how the greenlight is Gatsby’s hope.

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.

F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott Fitzgerald is in many ways one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. In his first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald epitomized the mindset of an era with the statement that his generation had, grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, and all faiths in man shaken(Fitzgerald 307). Aside from being a major literary voice of the twenties and thirties, Fitzgerald was also among The Lost Generations harshest and most insightful social critics. In his classic novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald blatantly criticized the immorality, materialism, and hedonism which characterized the lifestyles of Americas bourgeois during the nineteen-twenties. Collectively, Fitzgeralds novels and short stories provide some of the best insight into the lifestyles of the rich during Americas most prosperous era, while simultaneously examining major literary themes such as disillusionment, coming of age, and the corruption of the American Dream. The life of F. Scott Fitzgerald is marked by as much, if not more, romanticism and tragedy than his novels. Throughout Fitzgeralds life, he unsuccessfully battled alcoholism, depression, and himself, in a quest for both personal and literary identity. At the age of twenty-three, Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, to critical raves and unimaginable economic success. Shortly after the publishing of this novel, Fitzgerald was able to coerce Zelda Sayre into marriage. This

The valley of ashes, this is a symbol that represents the decline of the American dream or quest. The valley of ashes, in this book is an area between West Egg and New York covered in ashes. This valley represents the people who live between the East and West Egg, the working-class men who are struggling to live there. “This is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens” (Fitzgerald 23). In this quote, the narrator is referring the farm to be fantastic, a fantastic farm that grows ashes instead of wheat. The valley of ashes represents the aftermath of the cunning obsession to earn money.

The Great Gatsby was written during the 1920s, which is also known as the Roaring Twenties. In the narrative F. Scott Fitzgerald gave a critical view of this time. In the 1920s and the 1930s there was a lot going on, for example bootlegging, drinking, criminal activity, and an evolution of jazz music. The women were also going through an evolution, in 1920 they got the right to vote and since then they changed a lot and they became known as Flappers. Women not only wanted to take care of their families but also wanted to have a career. “The independent New Woman, who rejected marriage for career and political action who often rooted her emotional life […] was gradually discredited. In her place came the flapper, who celebrated her sexual independence

In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, he uses an abundance of symbolism to convey the theme of not being able to repeat the past. Some primary examples of symbolism used are the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, the rain just before Gatsby meets Daisy for the first time in five years, and the clock that Gatsby knocks over while meeting Daisy. The three of these things are all concrete objects that represent the central idea of what’s in the past is stuck there. They all function together to support this central theme by working toward the purpose that there is only one direction in life: forward. The symbols in The Great Gatsby assist the theme of leaving the past in the past by showing that no matter how hard one person tries to regain what they once had, it is simply impossible.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the reader sees a common theme of corruption of the American Dream. In the 1920’s, the times are changing in America and morals are becoming looser and the lifestyle of the wealthy is more careless. New fashion, attitude, and music is what nicknamed this era the “Jazz Age,” greatly influencing Fitzgerald’s writing. He created similarities between many things in pop culture and the journey his characters Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Myrtle are taking to achieve the American dream. Through the use of the lively, yet scandalous, jazz music from the 1920’s, Fitzgerald reflects the attitudes of the characters in The Great Gatsby at the end of innocence and prevalence of

The Roaring 20s, The Jazz age, the 1920s were a time of great prosperity in the United States. The 1920s were an era of change, both politically and socially. Americans began to move into cities, rather than living on farms, and the nation's wealth more than doubled. Buying the same goods, listening to the same music, dancing the same dances, and overall having the same values, people felt united. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, these values are reflected in the characters’ lifestyles. A recurring theme in the novel is that money cannot buy a person’s true happiness, and this theme is exhibited in the various characters actions, choices, and what they value most in their lives.

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,

In literature, a romantic hero tends to have idealistic views and they do things based on their emotion rather than their logic affecting their lives drastically. Many Romantic heroes have been rejected by society, and some might be obsessed with a lost love. Romantic heroes are usually on either a physical or an emotional adventure, and many times the Romantic hero's journey begins with a desire to fulfill something for themselves and ends up serving a greater motive. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a great example of romantic American Literature. Fitzgerald portrays the life in the Roaring ‘20s, interpreting the conditions at that time in New York City. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is an important character in the plot of the story. In the novel, Gatsby displays the fundamental characteristics of a modern romantic hero by making extraordinary achievements, using emotion to make crucial life decisions, and rejecting the set norms.

Modernism is defined in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly began emerging