Change In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

There was a great time of change during the 1920’s when the novel takes place. Many women were becoming more outgoing, and people were finding opportunities in New York City. Some did not like where the world was heading while others did, which caused people to be displeased with their own lives. So how does the novel demonstrate this era of change? In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the author argues that dissatisfaction with life can potentially lead to desperate behavior; this is illustrated through the various settings throughout the novel, including Tom and Myrtle’s apartment, the Valley of Ashes, and Jay Gatsby’s Mansion. Tom and Myrtle’s apartment illustrates how two people can be unhappy with their current life. Throughout

In the valley many tragedies occur because of the displeased lives that live there. The Wilson’s are one of the most notable catastrophes of the valley. This unfortunate mishap starts at the garage that George Wilson own. The garage itself was lackluster and “the interior was unprosperous and bare” much like George (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 20). George and Myrtle had been living in the garage for ten years and it was lifeless and did not offer much adventure or vitality. This garage understandable was the cause of her unhappiness with who she was. Another contributor to her misery was her husband’s low income. Her rash decisions led to George finding out that she was having an affair with someone, which ultimately caused her untimely demise. Myrtle wanted to get away from her misery which is why “she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting” trying to get “Tom’s” attention (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 85). The people in the car were not Tom, Nick, and Jordan like she had seen earlier that day and were instead Daisy and Gatsby. She desperately wanted to get away from her mundane life and ran to “Tom” in hopes of abandoning the squalor named her life. Her frenzied actions led to her death, which caused George’s life to also pitfall. Myrtle’s death caused George to be dissatisfied with his life. The Valley of Ashes had consumed Myrtle and

When Gatsby met Daisy, he was poor and not “worthy” to become Daisy’s husband. Gatsby wanted to live a happy life with Daisy, so he went off to fight in the war to gain notoriety. He did all of this because he desperately wanted to have Daisy to himself. After Gatsby became rich, he threw parties and Nick heard “music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights” (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 28). These parties would last for hours and would even go on until morning. The parties would attract all different kinds of people because you did not have to have an invitation to join in on the festivities. There was a very specific reason why Gatsby made sure his house was a hotspot for people and that reason was Daisy. Gatsby never enjoyed the company of those whose came to his parties, nor did he have any friends. His only goal in life was to have Daisy and be married and happy together for the rest of their lives. After Gatsby “has” Daisy he does not throw anymore parties and lets his house start to get sloppy. When Gatsby shows Daisy his home, he reevaluates everything he owns and wants to change it to appease her. A way in which he did this was that he “had dismissed every servant in his house a week ago and replaced them with a half dozen others” (Fitzgerald, 1925, p. 71). He fired his staff because he did not want them to talk about Daisy and his relationship. Gatsby could have also