An era of flamboyance, rebellion and vivacity: this sums up the roaring twenties. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the Jazz era through the eyes of the main character, Nick Carraway. He is first described as the perfect narrator, however this is an unending dilemma. Through dishonesty, cockiness and lack of the proper self-perception, the reader is able to find out that Nick embodies many imperfections of his time. One is also able to perceive how Nick is heavily influenced by the changes regarding this thriving era.
Honesty is said to be Nick Carraway’s most significant virtue, thus he describes himself as “one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald, 59). Ironically, this is a lie. The event that …show more content…
The roaring twenties set the stage for materialistic virtues by favoring the artificial. This is specifically mentioned in an article named F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of Excess by the journalist Joshua Zeitz. In his article, Zeitz states that Fitzgerald exposes the immoderations of the era, in which Americans enjoyed consumerism and excess at all costs. This greedy reality in which the book takes place is the reason why the characters, especially Nick, rarely portray genuine feelings or deep emotions. Regarding this, Nick says: “ I am full of interior rules, that act as brakes on my desires”(58). Even though Nick says this specifically referring to his confused feelings towards Jordan, this reveals Nick’s emotional aloofness as a whole. Materialistic societies often constrain one’s abilities to properly follow ones desires. Nick notices that Tom and Daisy also depict this lack of humanization and moral, specifically when Gatsby dies and they run away without showing the slightest concern. Nick says: “ They were careles 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). By this, Nick reveals that the society in the 1920’s relies on wealth as their to cure to all the damages that emotional or common issues might bring; wealth is the Jazz age’s
Honesty is said to be Nick Carraway’s most significant virtue, thus he describes himself as “one of the few honest people I have ever known” (Fitzgerald, 59). Ironically, this is a lie. The event that …show more content…
The roaring twenties set the stage for materialistic virtues by favoring the artificial. This is specifically mentioned in an article named F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Age of Excess by the journalist Joshua Zeitz. In his article, Zeitz states that Fitzgerald exposes the immoderations of the era, in which Americans enjoyed consumerism and excess at all costs. This greedy reality in which the book takes place is the reason why the characters, especially Nick, rarely portray genuine feelings or deep emotions. Regarding this, Nick says: “ I am full of interior rules, that act as brakes on my desires”(58). Even though Nick says this specifically referring to his confused feelings towards Jordan, this reveals Nick’s emotional aloofness as a whole. Materialistic societies often constrain one’s abilities to properly follow ones desires. Nick notices that Tom and Daisy also depict this lack of humanization and moral, specifically when Gatsby dies and they run away without showing the slightest concern. Nick says: “ They were careles 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). By this, Nick reveals that the society in the 1920’s relies on wealth as their to cure to all the damages that emotional or common issues might bring; wealth is the Jazz age’s