America in the 1920s represented disillusionment, rise of new money, and business God and morality. The Great Gatsby takes place in the 1920s. These three main ideas reflect off this book and gives different perspectives on each characters lives on how they were affected by the war.
In Frederick Lewis Allen’s document, disillusionment can be defined as loss of faith in one’s values and ideals. Many Americans were so affected by World War 2, that everyone behaved in a careless, free spirit type of way. “It was impossible for this generation to return unchanged when the ordeal was over… Their torn nerves craved… speed excitement, and passion…”(Doc A). Even when the war ended, people didn’t go back to living their normal lives, instead they continued having fun and partying. This generation was known as the Decade of Bad Manners, because people behaved unmannerly. “You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow, she went on in a convinced way. Everybody thinks so -- the most advanced people” (F. Scott Fitzgerald). This relates to document A because it shows how how depressed people were during the war and it led them to live life
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Many people were disillusioned, but believed that there was good in the Negotiable Legal Tender, which consisted of profits of American Industry and American salesmanship. “There was an epidemic of outlines of knowledge and books of etiquette for those who had got rich quick and become socially at ease” (Doc C). People felt that they had to become wealthy to be accepted into the society of the superior class. However, in the Great Gatsby, the new rich and the old rich were both separate classes even if they had the same amount of money. “My house looks well doesn’t it?... It took me just three years to earn the money that bought it” (F. Scott Fitzgerald). This shows how fast people were able to make money in the 1920s, because it took Gatsby only three years to become a wealthy