Lifestyle In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby Showcasing The 1920s. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald represents all sorts of different lifestyles in the roaring twenties. From rags to riches, there is a character for each category. Throughout the 1920s, America went through drastic changes. Just as some of the characters experienced transformations throughout the novel. The first example of the 1920s lifestyle in The Great Gatsby is wealth. America underwent drastic changes at the start of the twenties, it became a very wealthy and prosperous place to live. Gatsby's life is a great symbol of America before and during this flourishing time period. He started his life out poor, with only a dream of being the Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island that he is now. "For over a year he had been beating his way along the south shore of Lake Superior as a clam-digger and salmon-fisher or in any capacity that brought him food and bed. (98) This quote shows that Gatsby did not always have the luxuries of his big warm house as a young man, he had to work for shelter. After that and other struggles, he decided he was going to become a successful and wealthy business man. Just like America, that after the trials of the war, went on to the twenties and thrived financially. The second example of the 1920s lifestyle

Not everyone could be as well-off as the "Gatsbys" and "Nick Carraways" of the time. A character in the novel that represents this group of people is George B. Wilson. He runs a car dealership, but not the kind one would picture in their head. Nick described Wilson's shop as, "The interior was unprosperous and bare; and the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner. It occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must be a blind." (25) Mr. Wilson represents the group of people that were not prosperous in the twenties, such as farmers and most blue collar