1920s Literary Movement

Many literary movements were being popularized during the 1920s. History was changing, and the novels of the time reflected these changes. Many Americans now had more time than ever before to read books, quickly making novels a popular choice of entertainment in America. The American literature of the 1920s is significant to United States history because it helped shape and reflect the ideas and circumstances of the decade’s people. American History prior to and during the early 1920s helped shape the generation of the time and had many influences on the generation’s literature. In 1914, World War I began and many young men at the time were forced to go to war. Those that survived the war and made it home often had no sense of purpose and

Speakeasies and bootlegging were now a topic in American literature that reflected the times of prohibition. Women had the newfound right to vote and were becoming more liberated and independent. These events were reflected in many novels of the era. White supremacy was still widespread in the American South after the Civil War, which caused many black to move north, especially in Harlem, New York. This was known as The Great Migration. African Americans found slightly better lives in the North, and developed a community that revived black culture. Many African Americans wrote novels about their culture at this time in a movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Many great writers and works of literature belong to the Lost Generation. A very popular example is F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novel, The Great Gatsby. The book tells a story of a man who gained much wealth during the 1920s. The main character, Mr. Gatsby, had extravagant parties, and met a plethora of equally wealthy people, just as many people of the era did. His lifestyle ultimately leads to his demise, reminiscent of how the people in 1929 fell to theirs when the stock market