Why Is Jazz Important In The Great Gatsby

Improved Essays
Coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald himself, the Jazz Age was the period that The Great Gatsby was set in. Synonymous to the name “The Roaring Twenties”, the Jazz Age was named for the prevalence of jazz music rather than the wealth of the time. The Jazz Age was an age of prosperity, prohibition, dancing, parties, and robust, lively music. The music that was born during this era was entertaining, refreshing, and it reflected the feelings of the decade as a whole. The Great Gatsby is a novel of unexpected events, animated tempo, and improvisation; all things that are valued in jazz music. However, this novel critiques the values of the Jazz Age itself.
Jazz in The Great Gatsby, is found in one place repeatedly: Jay Gatsby’s mansion. Jay Gatsby throws

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Great Gatsby Recklessness

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Fitzgerald helped the reader relate to the age of the flamboyant 1920’s. The overall carelessness displayed by the majority of the characters that led to their downfall reflects the careless of the 1920’s its expected demise. Sadly, The genius hidden in The Great Gatsby didn’t resonate in the minds of those taking part in The Roaring Twenties. However, in present time looking back at the era, the book is highly praised for its creative depictions of such an explosive…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The “Jazz Age”, 1920s, was one of the best decades for America. During the 1920s, there were lots of advances to society; including radios, Ford cars, the stock market, and women’s voting rights. Many hard working people were prosperous with “New Money” because of all the new businesses and industries being created, but not everyone was happy with these advances. Wealthy people that never had to work to become rich, also known as “Old Money”, did not like the new generation of wealthy people that was growing at this time. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he creates a story that criticizes and compares both the people of “Old Money” and “New Money”.…

    • 1962 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Great Gatsby Influence

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural “explosion” that happened in Harlem, NY. All of these progressive ideas help to shape “The Great Gatsby” and all of the characters’…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the 1920’s, The Great War was coming to an end, and new beginnings were being formed. The United States was prospering with new jobs and new industries, but suffering through the prohibition of alcohol. The novel The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and takes place in the 1920’s. Nick Carraway, an old money bondsman, has just moved into West Egg, a town in New York City where, particularly, people with “new” money stay and rent their home. Nick lives next to a mystery of a man named Jay Gatsby.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The roaring twenties was a time of drastic change on culture and society. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby had a great influence on American literature. Fitzgerald showed the struggles of pursuing the American dream. Not only showing the struggles of pursuing the American dream Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby to show how society had changed after having its first major war.…

    • 1256 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Glitz and glamour were used to describe the energetic age of the 1920s in American society. By creating a fantasy world where some of the most influential people have an excessive amount of money, The Great Gatsby leads many to think that the Jazz Age was anything but entertaining. In history, the time period was full of financial benefits and new roles for genders. It is remembered by economic prosperity, advances in technology and culture, and changing social roles. Men came home from the war, while women were getting more freedoms outside the home.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flappers, jazz, and illegal booze together create the trinity of chaos that is the roaring twenties. F. Scott Fitsgerald’s The Great Gatsby is set in the money, love, and party rush of the 1920s, where, after the war, God is no where to be found, and everyone’s true love is short dresses and alcohol. The Great Gatsby portrays several characteristics and struggles of the 1920s as described in Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen, which includes post war disillusionment, the upcoming of the nouveau riche, and business replacing God.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, F. Stott Fitzgerald shows the change in America’s morals in the “Jazz Age” using characters like, Daisy, Gatsby, Tom, and Myrtle. The Great Gatsby, shows the change in our society after World War I, by using characters who had changed over time. This time period known as the “Jazz Age”. During this time America’s morals were changing and society was changing as well. The first appearance of morals changing, is when Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle showing that husbands were not staying faithful to their wives and families after World War I.…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reality In The Great Gatsby The roaring twenties were the times of higher wages, new technologies and extravagant parties to celebrate after the devastating war. It was the time of great economic prosperity…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The definition of success has been widely used as a catalyst for people who are hungry for more in life. What exactly is the definition of success, and why is it such a desirable concept? Being successful consists of inheriting good character and morals in order to achieve your goal in life. Hard work and dedication are both instrumental when it comes to getting what you want.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1920s was referred to as “the Jazz Age” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and rightly so. At that time, Jazz was on the rise and was a making a push to mainstream music. The genre’s influence that we know of today was aided by dance styles emerging at the time. Jazz was also aided by “Two appliances- the phonograph and radio.” Those two made the music more accessible, which meant more listeners and more influential is different regions.…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Symbolic Music in The Great Gatsby Music. Another language of modern society. The Great Gatsby is a famous novel written by Scott Fitzgerald that tells the story of a man by the name of Jay Gatsby who has big dreams and ambitions. Although he is quite wealthy and achieves part of that dream, he lingers upon the desire to marry his dream girl, Daisy Buchanan. This novel is popular for its utilization of music from the Jazz Age.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is set in the Roaring 20s, which is defined by the technology and life styles that changed a nation. Americans had a higher salary after WWI, and they had more to spend it on. Life seemed grand for the dapper citizens of the 1920s, yet all that glitters is not gold. Fitzgerald portrays the dark and sinister side of the Roaring Twenties. The Great Gatsby provides an assessment of the gilded life of the 1920s and its underlying corruption.…

    • 1826 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Roaring 20's Essay

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There was staggering amounts of racial inequality and although women could then vote, there was still the expectation that they should be housewives and they barely gained the right to have control over their right to use contraceptives. F. Scott Fitzgerald died before The Great Gatsby ever became a success, and that was likely because the portrayal of the 1920’s was a little too accurate for those living then to accept. An in depth read of the book reveals people caught up in newfound money and social class, partying and drinking and pretending to be happy despite troubles too deep to truly ignore. In the end, nobody is really happy at all. This is the very foundation of the Jazz Age.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s take on the “roaring 20’s” in The Great Gatsby is amazingly accurate; events in the book parallel the lives of Americans in the 20’s, and on a larger scale, American society itself. With this connection between fiction and reality, Fitzgerald conveys a variety of themes within the story. The primary vehicle of Fitzgerald’s message is none other than Jay Gatsby- the principle character of the novel; Gatsby himself stands as a symbolization of the “rising” class in society, or those who have the ambition to attempt to ascend in the socio-economic hierarchy, despite humble beginnings. One such themes, that is heavily imparted is the theme of idealism, and this is done mainly through Gatsby. Gatsby’s idealism represents an…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays