Often regarded as one of the most brilliant pieces of literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald offers a peek into the intricate and exciting American life in the 1920s. The excitingly vivid novel describes the seemingly extravagant lives of those living the “American Dream” in the Roaring Twenties. Nick Carraway, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and of course Jay Gatsby seem to have it all, but are wealth and carelessness really something to be lusted after? The themes explored in this novel pack quite a punch despite the story’s short length. Fitzgerald explores the ideas of the wealth of this time period and its negative effects, the unrealistic American Dream, and love while recounting the lives of professedly perfect characters.
Even today, people, and Americans, in particular, seek to be wealthy. An abundance of cash and the idea of having a comfortable living is the goal of essentially everyone. The …show more content…
Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as a period of withered social and moral values . This is evident the overarching cynicism, greed, empty pursuit of pleasure, and a “wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” that is characterized in the novel (68). The recklessness that led to decadent parties and wild music, epitomized in the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night, resulted conclusively in the corruption of the American dream. With it, the desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals, and people with money tended to be especially careless. The rise of the stock market after the war led to an increase in the national wealth as a whole and materialism, as people began to spend and consume at never before seen levels. Now, essentially anyone from any social background could become wealthy. People especially made money by selling bootleg alcohol during the Prohibition, just like
Even today, people, and Americans, in particular, seek to be wealthy. An abundance of cash and the idea of having a comfortable living is the goal of essentially everyone. The …show more content…
Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as a period of withered social and moral values . This is evident the overarching cynicism, greed, empty pursuit of pleasure, and a “wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world” that is characterized in the novel (68). The recklessness that led to decadent parties and wild music, epitomized in the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night, resulted conclusively in the corruption of the American dream. With it, the desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals, and people with money tended to be especially careless. The rise of the stock market after the war led to an increase in the national wealth as a whole and materialism, as people began to spend and consume at never before seen levels. Now, essentially anyone from any social background could become wealthy. People especially made money by selling bootleg alcohol during the Prohibition, just like