The 1920s lead to a major change in American society because it was a point in time when people decided that if you live in America you should live the American dream. They believed that money was the key to living out this dream making some people go against their morals and values to acquire excessive amounts of money. The problem with this was that many people would marry an individual for their money leading to many people being heartbroken and without money. F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" and "The Jelly Bean" use the literary elements of irony, foreshadowing and symbolism to show how the mixing of money and love always lead to heartbreak which was how society was when these two pieces were written. Irony is all throughout both of …show more content…
For example, in the Great Gatsby, George and Mrytle live in a place called the Valley of Ashes which symbolizes that their marriage is dead which allows Gatsby to try and steal Mrytle away from George. Another use of symbolism in The Great Gatsby is associating the color white with Daisy throughout the book to show that she is pure and perfect in the mind of Gatsby which is caused by his blindness to see that she has parasitic tendencies.. The Jelly-Bean uses symbolism in a similar way by making Nancy represent false happiness in Jim's heart which eventually lead to him being heartbroken because he was blinded by the idea of how perfect he thought she was similar to Gatsby. When the two females are symbolized it helps further the theme by creating the concept of that they aren't just characters in a story but also lessons to be learned and retained after the story is over. Overall the use of symbolism sets up the possibility for the reader to further understand a certain characters impact on another either emotionally or
The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a destructive war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of disruption associated with modernity and a break with traditions.The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic prosperity and many people became rich and wealthy. Some people inherited "old money" and some obtained "new money". However, there was the other side of prosperity and many people also suffered the nightmare of being poor. In the novel,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy character
Symbolism is arguable one of the most important literary devices in all of literature. Not only is it used to help explain key plot points in a story, but it is also used to highlight certain aspects in a story you might not have noticed originally. In the novel The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism through color to express mood, different characters, and a variety of themes though the story. Colors like white, yellow, and blue each have their own meanings to be explored by not only the readers of the paper, but the readers of the book.
During the 1920s, many people thought money was the key to happiness. They thought money could only have a positive impact on their lives and keep them content. However, these people neglected to realize the negative effects that wealth would have on both themselves and the large impact that it has on society. Amidst their joy, they were unable to see that and wealth does more harm than it does good. F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, illustrates his perspective on the 1920s. This story takes place on Long Island in the Summer of 1922 and follows the life of narrator Nick Carraway and the many interesting encounters he has with his friends, such as Jay Gatsby as well as Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald is able to convey these negative
Without using depth of thought, The Great Gatsby is essentially a love story of the impossible forbidden desire between a woman and a man. The primary theme of the novel, however, shows off a much larger, less romantic scope of the novel. Though most of its primary plot takes place over simply a few short months through 1922’s summer, and is set in a small area in relative proximity to Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a a view on the 1920’s in America, and uses a lot of varied symbolism with it, in particular the loss and dismemberment of the American dream in an era literally named after the amount of wealth and industry it produced in material excess. Fitzgerald is able to showcase the 1920s as an era of dying social and moral values, evidenced in its overwhelming pessimism, desire, and unfulfilling pursuit of pleasure. The carelessness of the parties and celebrations that led to wild jazz music, exemplified in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night, eventually was created, in the corruption of the American dream, as the rampant desire for wealth and pleasure surpassed more worthwhile ideals.
Many authors use symbolism to help their readers grasp the concepts they are trying to convey. They take concrete items or ideas to represent something abstract.
The 1920’s was an interesting time where social and political ideas were changing; women gained the right to vote, the jazz age created a large popularity in music and dancing, but most importantly, wealth became a new way to express one’s class in a society as people moved from rural areas to cities. The Great Gatsby is a significant example that F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in order to show how one’s wealth can affect the people they meet and the way people treat each other. Along with wealth, this book is about love, both from the past and from the present, that soon twists into a tragedy when Gatsby was killed while protecting the other, all in the name of love. Everything Gatsby did was to impress or protect Daisy because he was deeply
On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of failed love between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The main theme of the novel, however, is comprised of a much larger, less romantic scope. Fitzgerald portrays the roaring twenties as a time of corroded social and moral values. This is shown by the empty pursuit of pleasure, gluttony, and pure shallowness of the rich. Some of these materialistic views of the societal decay of today can be seen by the rich and famous in everyday life.
The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism.The green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are just a few examples. In Thomas C. Foster’s book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he writes about symbols and what they mean. The Rockpile in the literature book is another story that uses symbolism.
The Corruption of the American Dream and Society, first took place in the 1920’s, also commonly known as the “roaring twenties”, when this new ideology erupted. Therefore, this idea of the free market and opportunity took over the market industry, especially in stocks. People started seeing possibility to become very wealthy without anyone to stop them. They ended up liking this lifestyle which boosted the decay of the American Dream and Society. Where people could care less about the true meaning of American Dream which is about freedom, hard work and prosperity; instead, people had begun to care a great deal about social status. In addition, The Great Gatsby, which is set in the heart of the “roaring twenties”, where F. Scott Fitzgerald ties his thoughts and his life experience of this damaging effect on the people into his book. Using the main characters he shows us how the men and women in his life were, how they were caught up in all of this. In addition to the downfall of the American Dream the reader can also pick up the themes of corruption of Society and the emptiness behind the glamour of the Jazz Age from the characters.
The great Gatsby conveys one of the themes which would be “love”. One example of that using symbolism would be the green light at end of daisy’s dock. Gatsby would always stare amazingly at the green light, he bought the house across the water to be closer to daisy. He can’t be away from her for so long. Another example would be when daisy said in chapter 7 on page 119, “You always look so cool”. Maybe that’s implying that he always has dressed very nice and doesn’t go anywhere looking any kind of way. Even though Daisy had those moments where she didn’t love Gatsby, she deep down still loved Gatsby and will forever love him. Daisy knew that her husband Tom wasn’t always loyal, but she chose to stay with him but constantly entertaining Gatsby, which is what made Gatsby come to his senses to tell Daisy that she should tell Tom that she “never loved him”. The fact that Gatsby loved Daisy so much he was willing to go
Symbolism is strong throughout the novel; from the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizing how close Gatsby is to Daisy (yet still so far away), to the valley of ashes representing the lost hopes and dreams of the people in the city. There is also the mantle clock, a symbol of lost time
Through his portrayal of the negative aspects of the 1920s reflected in the characters of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald contends that the 1920s represented a gilded era where the only true value was money, indicating that the American Dream was cheapened by the abundance of wealth in the nation.
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.
Symbolism is a literary technique that is used to clarify the author's intent. Sometimes it is used to great effect, while other times it only seems to muddle the meaning of a passage. In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne uses objects and people as symbols to allegorically reveal his message to the reader.
For example, Faulkner uses symbolism as one of the literary devices in the story to help the readers understand it. He uses the inside of her house to insinuate to Emily’s disintegrating mind. The interior of her house was slowly decaying just like Emily was. The inside of the house had a smell “of dust and disuse—a close, dank smell” and “the leather was cracked” on her furniture. This relates to Emily because as she gets older she becomes more demented. The lime was also symbolic in the story because the towns people used it to hide the horrendous smell coming from Emily’s house. “They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime in there, and in all the outbuildings.” The lime the towns people used was a symbol of trying to hide something unknown or embarrassing. They were complaining about the smell coming from her house for a while so they finally used lime to cover the