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Great Gatsby And Jazz Times Essay Research

Great Gatsby And Jazz Times Essay, Research Paper


In his Jazz Age novel, The Great Gatsby, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald portrays


society as snobs who bask in the wealth of the age. The novel was written in the


heart of the Jazz Age and depicts it flawlessly. After World War I, many


companies that had been making war supplies returned to creating their unique


products. (ELCO) ?The Jazz Age was a time of prosperity, but also a time of


many downfalls. It was an era of change ? a time when people began to do what


they wanted to do instead of following social norms.? (ELCO) This caused


industry to "boom", and the economy accelerated with frightening


speed. Some people became very wealthy, and in Fitzgerald’s novel, these are the


people of the "eggs", especially East Egg. However, some people,


although not poor, were certainly what they would have considered middle class,


and there was a huge gap between the two classes. (UWAC) One of the main causes


of extreme wealth in the Jazz Age was the accessibility of credit. During the


war people saved every penny. After the war was over, and the economy rushed


into a higher level, everyone started spending extravagantly. Credit was


convenient, accessible, and widely used. (UWAC) Fitzgerald’s main example of


extreme wealth was Gatsby himself. The reader sees that much of Gatsby’s wealth,


like the rest of the worldly community, is spent frivolously. Income disparity


was a characteristic that followed closely with extreme wealth. The difference


between the classes at this time was significant. As Daisy realizes the


difference between herself and Gatsby, her former lover, she is overwhelmed with


grief. Although she, as well as Nick, was of the middle class, her outpouring of


emotion displays to the reader the differences in the wealth of the two classes.


Gatsby, who believed that he was comfortable, felt uneas

iness at the sight of


Daisy’s tears. Despite the fact that many people believe that money can make you


happy, Gatsby realizes that his fortune will not win Daisy?s hand. He begins


to re-evaluate all of his possessions by the amount of importance that his true


love puts on them. (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1148/index.html)


Income disparity as well as extreme wealth was common in the Jazz Age. After


World War I, the economy grew and the people, in general, prospered. Primarily


Gatsby displays extreme wealth. Income disparity is shown through Gatsby’s


relationships with Nick and Daisy. (ELCO) Another aspect in which the novel


depicts the Jazz Age is the reference to the American Dream. ?Gatsby, like Tom


and Daisy, "goes East" to pursue his dream, perhaps the American Dream


but, unlike them, becomes a victim and fails in his vision.? (UWAC) ?His


dream, the novel suggests, is also that of America, with its emphasis on the


inherent goodness within nature, on healthy living, youth, vitality, romance, a


magnanimous openness to life itself, a dream of the East which has been dreamed


up in the West.? (UWAC) Gatsby pursues the green light, the want for natural


possessions, and eventually is destroyed. Daisy is the one who lures Gatsby into


this drive for material. This can be seen as the possible future for America


herself, which is depicted, through the actions of Gatsby. Gatsby is the perfect


example of America in the jazz age. America just like Gatsby failed to look at


their westward destiny and focused on the limelight of the east.


UWAC (University of Wales Associate College) http://io.newi.ac.uk/rdover/between/gatsby.htm


Numerous pages from this site including Art, Literature, Movies, Fashion http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1148/index.html


ELCO (Eastern Lebanon County School) http://www.iu13.k12.pa.us/elco/Academics/Social_Studies/Care/ITTP_2/roaring.html

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