The Jazz Age was a period of time that lasted from 1916 6o 1929 that had American prosperity and high living. It was an exciting time to live, but it caused many people to live with moral corruption and decay. People in the nation were arguing over outlawing alcohol, and when the Volstead Act was passed, Prohibition became official. However, after the law was passed, a black market for illegal alcohol was created. Many people gained new wealth from creating and selling illegal alcohol. If one was part of the wealthy class, the Jazz Age would have been a prosperous time to live. Through his use of social commentary, Fitzgerald reveals the moral climate of the Jazz Age, as well as the contributing personal character traits. Moral corruption
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Many of the characters in the novel, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker, are self-centered and careless. In the first chapter of the novel, Nick goes to his cousin Daisy’s house one evening. The first thing that Daisy says to her cousin was, “‘Do they miss me?” she cried ecstatically. [Nick replied with,] “The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there’s a persistent wail all night along the north shore’” (9). When Nick describes the gloomy scene, Daisy seems glad that everyone seems to adore her so much that they are still mourning her departure. She responded by telling Tom, “‘How gorgeous! Let’s go back, Tom. To-morrow!” Then she added irrelevantly: “You should see the baby” (9). Daisy is shown to be very self-centered because she invited Nick to see her baby as an irrelevant afterthought. After Nick saw Tom for the last time he reached the conclusion that, “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). In the end, Daisy was the reason that Gatsby was killed. Her desire for money is what caused Gatsby to resort to bootlegging to reach his American Dream. Then her …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, the author uses social commentary to portray the moral decay and the negative character traits people of the Jazz Age possessed. The American Dream was desired by many people, but because many poor people were not able to reach it, they had to resort to criminal ways to earn money. Many of the wealthy people during this age was that many of the people were careless and self-centered. The ultimate message of Fitzgerald’s book was that people’s desire to become wealthy could cause moral
Many of the characters in the novel, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker, are self-centered and careless. In the first chapter of the novel, Nick goes to his cousin Daisy’s house one evening. The first thing that Daisy says to her cousin was, “‘Do they miss me?” she cried ecstatically. [Nick replied with,] “The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left rear wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there’s a persistent wail all night along the north shore’” (9). When Nick describes the gloomy scene, Daisy seems glad that everyone seems to adore her so much that they are still mourning her departure. She responded by telling Tom, “‘How gorgeous! Let’s go back, Tom. To-morrow!” Then she added irrelevantly: “You should see the baby” (9). Daisy is shown to be very self-centered because she invited Nick to see her baby as an irrelevant afterthought. After Nick saw Tom for the last time he reached the conclusion that, “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). In the end, Daisy was the reason that Gatsby was killed. Her desire for money is what caused Gatsby to resort to bootlegging to reach his American Dream. Then her …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, the author uses social commentary to portray the moral decay and the negative character traits people of the Jazz Age possessed. The American Dream was desired by many people, but because many poor people were not able to reach it, they had to resort to criminal ways to earn money. Many of the wealthy people during this age was that many of the people were careless and self-centered. The ultimate message of Fitzgerald’s book was that people’s desire to become wealthy could cause moral