The Great Gatsby Influences

There is a reason why the 1920s were nicknamed the “Roaring Twenties”. The twenties were a time period where, for the first time in American History, people had lots of excess money. What do people do with excess money? They spend it. People were partying, drinking, and dancing to jazz. Fitzgerald coined the term the “Jazz Age” for this period, because of how fast moving it was, like jazz. Fitzgerald lived and wrote the Jazz Age, however when he wrote it, he often would portray the hidden truth. This is especially evident in his novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald depicts the tragedy behind the American Dream during the Jazz age using rhetorical strategies such as metaphor and symbolism.

In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the Jazz age to reflect how now, in society has once again become a jazz age.

My first connection that I will discuss is the American Dream. The American Dream is an ideology set in the United States that ideals freedom through success achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. The texts that I will discuss will examine the flaws within the ideology and whether it is actually attainable. My first text that I will discuss is The Great Gatsby. This text links to my connection because it reveals that you can’t attain the American Dream no matter what the circumstance. Gatsby, a man who was a clam digger on the shores of Lake superior and a young military officer seems to have achieved the American Dream but in the wrong way. Tom says to Gatsby and Nick that he “found out what your [Gatsby’s] drug stores’

We look back in history in order to learn from our mistakes and to help society progress in the present and in the future. “The Great Gatsby” was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. Fitzgerald wrote this piece during the 1920s after WWI and it perfectly replicates the time period. The narrative captures the essence of the Jazz Age by depicting characters, showing power struggles and by defining the societal conflicts of the time. The novel tells us about different influences on the 20’s such as the Prohibition Act, the success of Wall Street, and aspects of the American Dream. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald possesses the social constructs and ideas of the Roaring Twenties.

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he speculates that the influence of alcohol has concerning effects in various ways throughout the three parties. During all three of the parties there was at least one thing that was influenced by alcohol, even though they were all different, alcohol was the variable. The first party took place at Daisy and Tom’s mansion in The East Egg, Tom was drinking causing himself to be very dominant and violent making the atmosphere very tense, “You did it Tom. I know you didn't mean to but you did do it” (Fitzgerald 12). In the second party at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in New York, Tom lashes out striking Myrtle in the face causing a nosebleed, “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is arguable one of the greatest and most iconic novels of the 1920s. Joshua Zeitz review in F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of Excess, exposes the true nature of the nation’s most prosperous decade. A tale of betrayal and love told the story of a poor boy who rises up to become one of the most love and admired man, which is all based on a lie. During the 1920s there were numerous nationwide dynamic changes, shift in social classes, and the embrace of the Jazz Age.

The lifestyle of the 1920s was much different than what it was like before. In the 1920s, World War I had just ended. After the war, people decided to live life more abundantly. The standard of living increased, and people were able to spend their money on items that they needed as well as more luxury items. The 1920s was called the “Roaring Twenties” because it was about having a “roaring” good time. Throughout the book The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the scenes of the 1920s and the characters within the novel to critique the values of the Jazz Age.

F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to the Jazz Age, in The Great Gatsby, to create context for the setting of the book. Gatsby's parties were wild and exemplified how people lived during the book's time period of the roaring '20s. Everyone forgot about their problems by dancing the night away and becoming drunk for the fun of it. Jazz music led this time period because it showed how much American lives were changing through its beats. This music was very different from popular music before the

“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.” (Fitzgerald, 1925). The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925, and takes place in 1922. The novel greatly exemplifies the time period that it takes place in, known as “The Roaring Twenties” or “The Jazz Age”. One way of exemplification is prohibition and the Volstead Act. According to David J. Hanson from Potsdam.edu, the Volstead Act, which took place in 1919, established National Prohibition of alcoholic beverages (Hanson, 2013). Fitzgerald made his characters Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby very similar to himself. Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald too was in love with a girl of a higher social class. She had money, and he didn’t. Daisy told Gatsby that rich girls don’t marry poor boys, so he went and made some money and got rich, then went back for Daisy. Both of them had a ‘golden girl’ that liked them, but wouldn’t marry them because they had no money. They both fell in love with their golden girl while stationed in the military. Fitzgerald wrote his book in order to make money to impress his soon to be wife, Zelda. He didn’t even want to sign a deal with the publishers to make a percentage of the profits, he just took some money up front and let the publishers keep all the money that the book made. Nick Carraway is also similar to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Like Carraway, Fitzgerald believed that people on the East Coast had lost all of their

The Roaring Twenties was a time of exuberance like none other, where people and America’s society focused on self-indulgence and happiness like never before. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the ideal portrayal of this time era. In a time shortly after war, this novel captures the audience, forcing them to participate in the setting and with the characters. Jay Gatsby, the focal point of this novel, is used as a representation of this era in American history and as an example of the pursuit of the American Dream. Fitzgerald uses vivid diction that captivates the reader and his symbolism creates a lasting, universal impression for all who pick up the novel. Throughout the following, I will use Fitzgerald’s diction,

As Fitzgerald became attracted to the life of wealth and privilege, he enrolled at Princeton. While at Princeton, Fitzgerald was profoundly influenced by the spiritual teaching and literary encouragement of Father Sigourney Fay.

The way a person writes can be influenced by several factors. In The Great Gatsby written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, this novel is loosely based on Fitzgerald’s own life. The Great Gatsby is not only based on Fitzgerald’s life, but it was also influenced by his long-time love affair with Zelda Fitzgerald and his long time addiction to alcohol. The time period in which this novel was written was influenced heavily by the end of the War, this time period was also known as The Roaring Twenties. The novel The Great Gatsby, was influenced by the time period, it was written in, it was also based on the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, himself.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 “The Great Gatsby” tells a good story, but the real artwork is in how the story is delivered. The story is imbued with Fitzgerald's sense of a dream that is stronger than reality, in which the main character, Jay Gatsby's love for Daisy is a romantic illusion. The book exists in its own arena of expertise that it is difficult to understand why so many people, film directors, theater producers and dance designers are now determined to adapt it into different forms. After reading the Great Gatsby numerous times, I have come to appreciate all the literary nuances that contribute the Fitzgerald’s seminal masterpiece. The diction, perspective, chronology, and dialogue create an experience for the reader that can lead

There are different types of experiences that Fitzgerald had throughout his life. Some experiences could be happy, exciting or some could be sad, disturbing. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, MN (“F (rancis)”). He died on December 21, 1940, in Hollywood, CA (“F (rancis)”). Fitzgerald’s father’s name was Edward Fitzgerald, and his mother’s name was Mary (Mollie) McQuillan (Matthew). When Fitzgerald was a child, he did not get the chance to make childhood friends because his parents moved different places before he started his school. “Fitzgerald attended the Newman school in Hackensack, New Jersey and while he was in school; he continued to write for school publication” (“F (rancis)”). After he graduated high school, he attended Princeton University class of

No other writer is as closely associated with the nineteen-twenties as F. Scott Fitzgerald, the modern writer who coined the term “Jazz Age” and immortalized the essence of the 1920’s. The reckless parties and glamorous atmosphere a common theme throughout his books, with underlying critiques on American culture hidden within the array of rhetoric Fitzgerald so expertly employed. None of Fitzgerald’s books describe the 20’s character quite as well as The Great Gatsby, a book that takes place between the midwest and New York, following Nick Carraway over the course of two years. The narration emphasized that morality was at an all time low, and audacity was at an all time high during this extravagant decade. Fitzgerald fittingly used this time period as the setting for his novel as it allowed him to accentuate the dependency on social classes and the weak morals of this era while still maintaining realistic components.