F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay - 1889 Words

In America the repercussions of World War 1 resulted in, the roaring twenties, a time period characterized as an era of economic prosperity. The stock market sky-rocketed, advances in technology were distinct and demands were shifting, but what value prominently elevated above everything else? Wealth. The widespread wealth was desired and people valued social class with such high regard that to attain these two fixations became the standard â€Å"American Dream† of the 1920’s. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction exposes an era of poor social and moral values, and it was a miserable desire for wealth that progressed this. Fitzgerald utilizes the setting, a combination of the time period and geography, to reveal the message that it became†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢When are you going to sell me that car?’ ‘Next week; I’ve got my man working on it now.’ ‘Works pretty slow, don’t he?’ ‘No, he doesn’t,’ said Tom coldly. ‘And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all.’ ‘I don’t mean that,’ explained Wilson quickly. (Fitzgerald 28) In this quote Fitzgerald illustrates the crucial contrast between the rich and poor when George Wilson, a resident of the Valley of Ashes, confronts Tom Buchannan about the car he is interested in. In reality does Tom need the car? No; nevertheless he goes out of his way to assert his superiority over the lower social class when he essentially makes George take back his comment. During the roaring twenties there was an enormous dissimilarity between the miserable struggles of the poor and the trouble free rich. It became impossible to reach this unrealistic goal of immense wealth when they couldn’t get out of the poverty stricken town they inhibit. Fitzgerald distinctly highlights this when George and his wife, Myrtle, finally have to opportunity to leave the desolate setting and she is killed. â€Å"’I’ve got my wife locked up in there,’ explained Wilson calmly. ‘She’s going to stay there till the day after tomorrow, and then we’re going to move away.’[†¦] A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting – before he could move from hisShow MoreRelatedF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby937 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers. Fitzgerald uses the Roaring Twenties as the setting of this novel. The twenties were a time of promiscuity, new money, and a significant amount of illegal alcohol. Fitzgerald was a master of his craft and there was often more to the story than just the basic plot. 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Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay998 Words   |  4 PagesF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby â€Å"So The Great Gatsby house at West Egg glittered with all the lights of the twenties, there were was always Gatsby’s supplicating hand, reaching out to make glamour with what he had lost be cruel chance...of how little Gatsby wanted at bottom-not to understand society, but to ape it†(21-22). The Great Gatsby by F.Read MoreA Review of F Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby851 Words   |  3 PagesThe Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald created a modern masterpiece in his work The Great Gatsby, despite the novels earl ill reception. The work is a complex piece which tries to make sense of a strange concept of modernity within a classical sense of history. In the work, Fitzgerald illustrates the importance of allusion in the creation of character building, but also as a way for Fitzgerald to stray away from previous literary techniques and create motifs and themes that were entirely his ownRead More F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1411 Words   |  6 PagesF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby The greatness of an individual can be defined in terms far beyond tangible accomplishments. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsbys greatness comes from his need to experience success and his will to achieve his dreams. Nick Carraway narrates the story, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, is Gatsbys love. Daisy, however, is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant womanizer who despises Gatsby. Gatsby feels theRead MoreEssay on F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby968 Words   |  4 Pages The 1920s was a time of excess and growth. Economically, it was a time for great financial gain. Largely because of improvements in technology, productivity increased while overall production costs decreased, and the economy grew. Not only was this time filled with prosperity, but corruption as well. People who had previously worked day and night finally acquired leisure time. Some of the most wealthy people made the choice to fill this free time with gluttony and lust. Many authorsRead More F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1013 Words   |  5 Pages Wealth, Love, and the American Dream nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It has been said that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the pursuit of the American dream. It has also been said that the novel is about love, ambition, and obsession. Perhaps both are true. Combined, these themes may be understood in their most basic forms among the relationships within the novel. After all, each character’s reason for belonging to a relationship speaks very strongly of what really makes him tick;Read MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1009 Words   |  5 Pages In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters live in an illusory world and only some can see past this. In the novel, West Egg and its residents represent the newly rich, while East Egg represents the old aristocracy. Gatsby seeking the past, Daisy is obsessed with material things, Myrtle wanting Tom to escape her poverty, George believing that T.J. Eckleburg is God, and Tom believing he is untouchable because of his power and wealth are all examples of the illusion