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Being Modern In The Great Gatsby

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Being Modern What does it mean to be modern? Being modern means to be updated with the times. People will always want to fit in and keeping up with the times is part of that. Things like clothing, technology, and beliefs all affect the meaning of “modern”. Long ago, being modern involved having a horse-drawn carriage or women wearing Crinolines (poofy dresses). Now, it would be to have a touchscreen phone or an Xbox. Being modern has a vast amount of meanings, but, at one point things were modern in the past. As talked about in The Great Gatsby, everyone wanted to have fame and money. Ambition was what made the world go round. “Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion …show more content…

One of her husband’s, the mayor always wanted her to dress in the best clothes. Janie always had to cater to his needs as that that’s the only thing women were “good for” back in those times. Joe forced Janie to wear a wrap on her head to hide her beauty. “Whut make her keep her head tied up lak some ole ’oman round de store? Nobody couldn’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat” (Hurston, 47). Now, wearing hats and such are apart of fashion instead of making you less admirable. Technology changes are also a big part of being modern. As said in The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine, “Ultimately, nonbiological entities will master not only the sum total of their own knowledge but all of ours as well” (Kurzweil). It explains that eventually robots will be smarter than humans in the future. This will change what being modern means. The world being taken over by robots would revolutionize everything. Or technology now would look ancient to them. Even though some people still live in the past they still physically live in the present. Women being able to vote could also be what makes you modern. Following the laws we have now would also do the same. As I said before, being modern has a various amount of

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