“You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say,” (Fitzgerald). F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most well known authors from the modernist era. One of his best known works, The Great Gatsby, focuses on the money driven society of the Jazz Age. The explosive 1920s shaped New York City into a fun-loving society which portrayed wealth through extravagant parties and excessive spending. The narrator, Nick Carraway, provides insight into this intricate world of wealth through his description of the great love that Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan shared. The non-linear plot, lack of moral framework, and isolation portrayed in The Great Gatsby provides an inside look into the fragmented world of the 1920s upper class. …show more content…
A central feature of this modernist style was fragmentation of the real world. Due to the war ending, America was left feeling broken, after such a crippling war. Authors such as Fitzgerald used this to their advantage while writing. Specifically in The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick Carraway tells the story of Jay Gatsby in small pieces; only revealing what the reader needed to know at that moment. This created a sense of mystery, which followed Gatsby throughout the novel. Overall, the story progresses in order, while periodically returning to the past. The constant switching between past and present creates a fractured reality, which then transfers to the actual lives of the characters in the story. For instance, when Nick goes to the Buchanan’s for dinner, Tom suddenly leaves, although the reader does not realize it yet, something is brewing behind the scenes. As they continue to speak, Daisy becomes distressed to the point where she throws her napkin on the table and goes into the house. The reader and Nick are both oblivious to the situation, but later finds out due to Jordan’s mention of an affair