Common Themes In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

History is said to repeat itself. Common themes can be found throughout the history of the United States of America, a major one being a divided nation due to differing beliefs. Whether it be the Anti-Federalists versus the Federalists or the Union versus the Confederacy, America is no stranger to divisions in ideology. In the 1920s, the older generation, or traditionalists, did not want change and believed in the old ways of life, such as institutionalized religion, and a women’s role in society. The modernists, the younger generation, entered a period of experimentation, disillusionment, and fragmentation, seen through more rights and the development of a new culture. They decided they needed to reevaluate the world around them. F. Scott

The Jazz Era led to a new type of woman emerging: flappers. Flappers were young, energetic women who embraced their true identities and loved freedom, however, they were heavily belittled by the older generation. Fitzgerald’s novel highlights the stark contrast between the new women, and the old, Victorian Women. Daisy, Gatsby’s love interest, grew up in an “old money” household and represents the Victorian Women. When she is telling Nick about her daughter, she expresses that the best thing her daughter can be is “a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 16). Daisy wants her child to grow up pretty and naive because she has been taught that that is a women’s place in society: a decorative object, and it is better to not know that than to know the truth and feel trapped. Unbeknownst to Daisy, a new era of women was rising. One of them being her close friend Jordan. Nick describes Jordan as someone who “instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible” (Fitzgerald 39). Jordan does not want to be with someone aware of her free and wild spirit, feeling more comfortable blending into the shadows of traditionalist society. Yet, her personality is exactly what makes her a new woman. She is more cynical than others around her and is independent, causing her to not want to be reliant on a man. Many women at this time wanted this newfound sense of independence, as well. From 1890 to the 1910s, the rate of marriage was at a steady increase, reaching its peak in the 1910s. At that time, the ratio of divorces to marriages was 1 to 11. In the 1920s, the rate of marriage suddenly decreased, and the ratio of divorce to marriage was 1 to 7 and extended to 1 out of 5 marriages ending in divorce by the 1930s (Document H). This