The Wealth and Amorality of the 20’s
The 1920s became the age of the prosperity in the American society. With the endless stream of money coming from consumerism and excess, the human nature reveals its hidden face. In his masterpiece The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald managed to reflect the state of the American society in all colors and shades. The author succeeds in exposing the reader to the extent of importance of wealth and social status creating the mise-en-scene and characters peculiar of the 1920s. Despite the low sales of the book, the New York Times emphasized that “it was not the book for the ages, but it caught superbly the spirit of the decade” (xiii). A young James Gatz fell in love with Daisy Fay, in whose house he was able to get only wearing his uniform as an officer in the army. His dream of wealth and having an exclusive place in society pursued a definite purpose to marry Daisy. But as the author emphasizes, Gatsby could achieve his ultimate goal only after having entered the world of the rich. In the bourgeois world, where everything involves the calculation, a man without a name could not be the husband of the girl from high society, even if she sincerely loved him. Gatz managed to fulfill his ambitious dreams when …show more content…
With great artistic skill Fitzgerald detailed those who had too much money to spend, and too much time to spend. Fitzgerald passionately hated them for the fact that the wealth allowed them to take any actions to satisfy all their whims. The writer took the mask off the American aristocracy, showing their moral squalor, spiritual deafness to the fate of others, the corrupting influence of possessing the material means to the hearts and minds of the masses. Fitzgerald skillfully revealed the essence of the ruling class, opened the mysterious veil that hid the low inside from prying
The 1920s became the age of the prosperity in the American society. With the endless stream of money coming from consumerism and excess, the human nature reveals its hidden face. In his masterpiece The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Fitzgerald managed to reflect the state of the American society in all colors and shades. The author succeeds in exposing the reader to the extent of importance of wealth and social status creating the mise-en-scene and characters peculiar of the 1920s. Despite the low sales of the book, the New York Times emphasized that “it was not the book for the ages, but it caught superbly the spirit of the decade” (xiii). A young James Gatz fell in love with Daisy Fay, in whose house he was able to get only wearing his uniform as an officer in the army. His dream of wealth and having an exclusive place in society pursued a definite purpose to marry Daisy. But as the author emphasizes, Gatsby could achieve his ultimate goal only after having entered the world of the rich. In the bourgeois world, where everything involves the calculation, a man without a name could not be the husband of the girl from high society, even if she sincerely loved him. Gatz managed to fulfill his ambitious dreams when …show more content…
With great artistic skill Fitzgerald detailed those who had too much money to spend, and too much time to spend. Fitzgerald passionately hated them for the fact that the wealth allowed them to take any actions to satisfy all their whims. The writer took the mask off the American aristocracy, showing their moral squalor, spiritual deafness to the fate of others, the corrupting influence of possessing the material means to the hearts and minds of the masses. Fitzgerald skillfully revealed the essence of the ruling class, opened the mysterious veil that hid the low inside from prying