The Great Gatsby Research Paper

The politics and events during the 1920s have a huge impact in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and are vital to understand the themes presented in the novel. The story takes place during the roaring twenties, a time of large overall economic growth and prosperity along with struggles for others. The story begins shortly after WW1, the first war of its kind that had ended in 1919, and many soldiers had returned home, which caused society to change once again. After the war, the government started to focus on large businesses to rebuild the country’s economy. Because of this, legislation was passed in favor or large businesses that inevitably benefited the rich such as lowered taxes on the wealthy. In addition, people started to move to urban areas as many agricultural businesses were suffering due to new administrative policy. This lead to many people becoming trapped as they were looking for a better life but didn’t find one after moving, such as the people in The Valley of Ashes. However, the people who invested in stocks profited greatly as stocks nearly doubled and overall the economy boomed in the 1920s. This created newly wealthy people who lavishly spent their money due to the commercial growth. Moreover, after the 18th amendment was enacted, it was illegal to sell liquor. This created a large demand for liquor as many people still wanted to drink. Those who took advantage of this new demand, started to illegally manufacture alcohol and became rich and added to the newly wealthy people including Gatsby. As a result, three different classes were created: “old money”, “new money” and “no money.” One major theme Fitzgerald heavily focuses on in The Great Gatsby is the distinct social classes and the moral, social climates that surrounded them. Another theme evident throughout the novel is the change in the American Dream by corruption during the 1920s.

At the onset of this book, the reader is introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway, who relates the past happenings that construct the story of Jay Gatsby and Nick during the summer of 1922. After fighting in World War I, or the Great War as Nick called it, Nick left his prominent family in the West of America for the North where he intended to learn the bond business. Nick was originally supposed to share a house in West Egg near New York City with an associate of his, but the man backed out and so Nick lived with only a Finnish cook. Right next door, Gatsby lived in a glorious mansion with expansive gardens and a marble swimming pool, among other luxuries. Yet Nick did not even hear about Gatsby until he went to visit his

The USA in the 1920s is remembered as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, an age of new life, of hedonism and opportunity following the horrors the Great War. The decade is synonymous with wealth, materialism and unprecedented freedom. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby provides an insight into the exciting and prosperous lives of the American people as they embark on the limitless potential of the American Dream and therefore it conveys a picture of 1920s American society. With

Was Nick’s introduction to Gatsby what caused all of the events in ‘The Great Gatsby’?

Thesis: Throughout the book The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols to describe influential items such as, The Green Light, The Eyes of T. J Eckleburg, and The Valley of Ashes.

“All these materialistic belongings paint a picture of beauty for those chasing this fictitious happiness but in reality they bring life full of stress, jealousy, hubris, and corruption…” (St. Rosemary Educational Institution). When looking back at the exhilarating, and wild 1920’s, it is easy for one to presume it was a time full of economic growth, entertainment, and leisure for the people of America. But alas, hidden underneath the glow of its prosperity, lies a time span full of deceit, fraudulency, and law breaking. Author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, expertly captures this corruption as well as the deluded hopes and dreams of the people in his book, The Great Gatsby. So, During the Roaring Twenties, the decade where The Great Gatsby was depicted,

In the classic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby centers on the lives of the rich and wealthy who lived sad, lonely lives and could not achieve happiness with their money. The setting of the novel is set around the 1920s where there was an economic boom during this period. Many political and social reforms happened during this time and it was commonly known as the “Roaring Twenties”. Jay Gatsby is one character who used his money to get what he wants. He threw large extravagant parties as a means of proclamation to get his name perceived, all in misrepresentation to get the attention of a woman.The parties brought a lot of attention for Gatsby, which also shows how he used his money to show his wealth and influence. In chapter 3 of the novel, Fitzgerald portrays the parties that Gatsby threw by analyzing specific words, images, and figurative language to develop both the allure and glamour of wealth and its destructiveness.

The Great Gatsby or The Great Fitzgerald? In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses fictional elements as well as historical facts and happenings to show how sometimes you need to breakaway from the traditional ‘old ways’ to the new and upcoming ways of life to reach an individual’s American dream. From the transition of the old to new lifestyle, the characters develop the need for always having and wanting more. Fitzgerald was able to experience the Jazz Age first hand, and through many themes he shows that the brightly-colored life also has it drawbacks and reaching the American dream ultimately cannot make the characters happy.

Throughout history it becomes apparent that all the great stories: The Odyssey, Great Expectations, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are all founded on a similar theme. The same plot line, a hero, most often the protagonist, faces danger and adversity to the highest extreme but always comes out on top. He is depicted as the pinnacle of human triumph and in essence, demonstrates a fundamental strength that all men should strive to achieve. These stories were, “ full of darkness and danger. And sometimes one did not want to know the end; How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? In the end, it is only a passing thing. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out even clearer. Those

For hundred years, the ‘American Dream’ was a positive spirit which motivates people to make progress and look forward for their new lives. Thus, the ‘American Dream’ was originally defined as people’s desire and pursuit for happiness, especially in their pursuing of success. The ideal is that each person has equal opportunity to achieve their success through hard-working. In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows how does the ‘American Dream’ affects and represents the protagonist－Gatsby, and the runs through his whole life.

The 1920s was probably the most revolutionary decade in history. With its new mass-consumption economy, cars were now available to almost anyone. The first talking pictures became a technological landmark and Babe Ruth became an American Hero. The stock market ended up making new millionaires every day. This new consumerism along with fast-money economy ended up switching the values of the generation.

The Great Gatsby is the most famous of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels. The main reason for its fame is the accurate portrayal of the zeitgeist of the United States in the 20s and how applicable its core values and themes are to modern American life. One of the most obvious motifs of the Great Gatsby is the American Dream; it is even arguable that Gatsby exists as a personification of the American Dream. Consequently The Great Gatsby is at once a romantic view and criticism of the American Dream and its effect on society. Gatsby’s progression throughout the story represents the image, results, issues with, and heart of the American Dream .

John D. Rockefeller once said, “I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure.” Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the importance of rampant materialism, excessive need for luxury and unprecedented levels of prosperity in the roaring twenties is shown through the life of Jay Gatsby. When one is asked of the 1920s, the first things that come to mind are flapper girls, jazz, the birth of mass culture, and prohibition. This was an age of dramatic social and political change with the nation’s wealth almost doubling in size. Many Americans had extra money to spend, and a new found freedom to go or do whatever they pleased. Jay Gatsby, of The Great Gatsby, was one of the many caught in the trap of desire in the 1920s.

During the Roaring twenties, social class was an important aspect of society. All different classes were for the most part separated by where people lived. In other words, by no means would anyone from a lower class be caught in an uptown setting. There are a variety of characters in the novel that come from different economic backgrounds. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald successfully uses location to differentiate social status amongst his characters while the weather and seasons of those locations help guide them.   Each character helps represent and support the differences of social class and the four main locations, The East Egg, the West Egg, the Valley of Ashes, and New York City.

The Great Gatsby is set against the background of the “Roaring 20s,” a moment described by post-war excitement, charm, success, decadence and extreme intake. As F. Scott Fitzgerald put it himself, the 20s was when “America was going on the biggest, gaudiest exercise in record and there was going to be a lot to tell about it” (Cowley 31). Not only was this a moment when the inventory exchange was attaining new levels, it was also during this period that the 18th Modify to the Structure was approved in The legislature, suspending the selling of liquor and starting up a globe of economical possibilities for bootleggers and mobsters, a lot of of whom became riches over night. Jay Gatsby, the idol of Fitzgerald’s novel, increases to lot of money driving on the tailcoats of structured criminal activity, and like several others of the “new money”, he challenges to make a new identification for himself out of all the content wealth he has gathered, all to be able to repel the conventional limitations of category and importance and win returning Flower Buchanan, the lady he likes.