The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

   There is an obsession with advertising present in Fitzgerald?s The Great Gatsby.  The billboard in the valley of ashes is held above the rest of the town and represents society worshipping advertising.  The god of

The novel Great Gatsby and the short poem America go great together both describing their views on America during this crazy time period of change. Great Gatsby was written by a man named F Scott Fitzgerald he wrote this book in 1925 during Great gatsby was written by a man named F Scott Fitzgerald he wrote this book in 1925 during the times when the American dream was the same for everyone.The 1920’s were the age of miracles Fitzgerald had said: "it was an age of art, it was an age of excess, and it was an age of satire." Fitzgerald loved to write books about love and greed like his book The Beautiful and Damned and This side of Paradise. Claude Mckay grew up loving writing and making poems. He was known for his during the Harlem

Fitzgerald is writing a satire that comments on American ideal by showing the desire for wealth, the carelessness of the wealthy during the 1920s, and the attainment of a dream.

“The past is never where you think you left it” (Katherine Anne Porter). People intentionally not willing to leave their past due to the prehistoric memories because the good memory they had. Relevant to Porter’s evince in the novel of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby a guy who cannot leave his past, constantly wanting to change everything back to the past with his former lover Daisy but never succeeds due to people’ desire of meliorate their lives. During this process the novel also reveals that there’s no distinction of careless between people in the 1920’s and the corruption of American Dream. Fitzgerald uses color symbolism to reveal the unfaithful condition of living and the loss of purity also the descended moral

—F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. New York: Scribners, 1994. pg. 352.

The story of The Great Gatsby is a novel that consists of a historical American context during the Harlem Renaissance. This was an excellent novel published in the 1920’s and was considered one of the best novels of its time. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald was an incredibly talented poetic author. Fitzgerald was able to emphasize and create the mood of the generation in a political time. The novel The Great Gatsby is a remarkable novel but also a very sad one. The novel took place during an age or era known as the “Roaring Twenties” which was a time of American wealth. Politics and corruption at the time is possibly what made Gatsby to be the business man he was.

The Roaring Twenties era was a time of not only of crime, changing action and roles of women, but also of many other different social and cultural trends. The 1920s was the Progressive era that was a response to the Gilded Age. The Progressive era was filled with many reformers that aimed to reform the social issues like the women’s movement who had started a temperance movement to prohibit people from drinking. The 1920s was also a time of a social gap where the wealthy got more rich and the poor increased and stayed beyond the poverty line. In the Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes, automobiles, crime, and homes symbolize the social classes, and other cultural and social trends of the 1920s.

It is evident that Fitzgerald admires the pursuit of the ‘American Dream’, for he uses beautiful imagery, “a fresh, green breast of the new world”, “trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house”, “a transitory enchanted moment man

F. Scott Fitzgerald was the model of the American image in the nineteen twenties. He had wealth, fame, a beautiful wife, and an adorable daughter; all seemed perfect. Beneath the gilded façade, however, was an author who struggled with domestic and physical difficulties that plagued his personal life and career throughout its short span. This author helped to launch the theme that is so prevalent in his work; the human instinct to yearn for more, into the forefront of American literature, where it would remain a common topic of writing to this day. Far below the partying and drinking front of F. Scott Fitzgerald lay a common man who wrote from the heart, and held nothing back.

Fitzgerald predicted the fall of morality in society long before today and reflected on it throughout the novel with his use of

     F. Scott Fitzgerald is seen as one of the greatest American writers, admired by his contemparies and by modern audiences of today. Fitzgerald was very much in tune with the early twentieth century American culture. He is credited with capturing the ‘Jazz Age’, which he described as “a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken”. Fitzgerald observed the culture around him with a critical eye. Despite being able to depict America like few others could, many see Fitzgerald’s writing as an indictment on its values.

In the book, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby is exemplified through many symbols and idols. Fitzgerald uses cars to represent wealth, success, status, and glamour. As Friedrich Nietzsche states, “There are more idols in the world than there are realities.” Nietzsche’s quote shows how idols and symbols are used to create impressions. Images are powerful and set a stage for others to judge one’s character, enabling human beings to avoid seeing what realities are. Idols are potent enough to mask the truth. In the novel, despite Gatsby 's own insecurities, he is viewed as an idol in society. Idols impact and influence Gatsby’s life and those living around him. Gatsby’s car represents an idol, illustrating his wealth, capturing attention, creating impressions, and covering misconceptions throughout life in the West Egg.

The constant staring of these large eyes represents not only God looking down on the characters but also the idea and concept of morals present in every character. The eyes continue to stare down on the characters because of their carefree lifestyle. Almost every character in the novel is neglecting their morals by forgetting what is truly important in life, since they are more concerned with how they can become wealthy and achieve a higher social status. “Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.” (Fitzgerald 27-28). As Fitzgerald describes, this billboard has not been kept up with and appears to be rather worn down and practically disintegrating. As stated, this billboard symbolizes not only God but also the spiritual and moral values of those in society. Therefore, when it is mentioned that their society is not paying any attention to or acknowledging the advertisement, it clearly represents the characters constant disregard of their values. If the theme of this novel were thought to be achieving the American Dream, one would consider this billboard to simply be an image of God watching over the characters and their actions

After World War I, America offered the potential for boundless financial and social opportunities for those willing to work hard—an American Dream. The American Dream is defined as someone starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards prosperity and or wealth and fame. Establishing fame, becoming wealthy, having lavish luxuries, and a happy family would come to symbolize this dream. For some, however, striving for and realizing that dream ruined them, as many acquired wealth only to pursue pleasure. Even though the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby appear to relish the freedom of the 1920s, their lives demonstrate the emptiness that results when wealth and pleasure become ends in themselves. Specifically, the empty lives of three characters from this novel— George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan—show that chasing hollow dreams results only in misery.

“The Great Gatsby” and “Washington Square” are both novels that greatly depicted their time period and how society viewed men and women. “The Great Gatsby” is about a young man named Gatsby who tries to reignite an old relationship with his new found wealth. Gatsby essentially dedicates his entire life to get Daisy back while she has long moved on. “Washington Square” is about a young girl named Catherine who tries to find love with a man named Morris, but has to deal with the strict control of her father. Catherine’s aunt, Lavinia Penniman, was meddlesome in Catherine’s life which also greatly ruined Catherine’s and Morris’ relationship. These books focus on image, illusions and relationships. I will be focusing on various relationships in both novels.