The Moral Decay of the Materialistic Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.
The 1920s were years of unprecedented corruption in America, both politically under the Harding Administration and economically with the 1919 World Series. Fitzgerald, unlike many of his contemporaries who feared what acknowledging corruption would bring them, not only acknowledges this corruption but highlights it in his The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses many motifs, such as hope, dreams, class, and wealth, within the love story of Gatsby and Daisy in order to convey a deeper thematic message to the reader. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characterization, symbolism, and point of view in The Great Gatsby to convey to his readers how money, power, and greed corrupts Gatsby’s world.
The Roaring Twenties, known as the decade of the 1920s in the Western World, consists of dramatic changes in social values. The cultural differences between the 1920s and the Victorian era changes people's behavior, where they become more free-will, youthful and carefree, despite of being more conservative before. People are more open-minded and found satisfaction through the “open pursuit of sex, money, and booze” (Berman 53) as they suggest their wealth and status in the society. New York City had become one of the cities where materialistic wealth has become the key of happiness and the standard to judge people's success, further leading Americans to pursue each other in a negative, acquisitive way. Through the different scenes and characters of the famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores how the society twisted the original idea of
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, delves into the American Dream and its challenges during the Jazz Age. Similarly, the Great Depression of the 1930s had a lasting impact on American society, reshaping its core values. This essay will explore the connections between Fitzgerald’s work and the influential era of the Great Depression, highlighting how both address themes of wealth, disillusionment, and societal decay. In The Great Gatsby, characters like Jay Gatsby and Tom and Daisy Buchanan embody the extravagance of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald vividly depicts the lavish parties, grand mansions, and ostentatious displays of wealth that characterized the time.
Fitzgerald portrays the Twenties as a generation of decayed social and ethical values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pride. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz tune—epitomized in the exceptional character of Gatsby and through the opulent events that Gatsby throws every Saturday night. This hedonistic lifestyle resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American Dream, and is how ‘New Money’ is portrayed by F. Scott. Fitzgerald in his novel The Great Gatsby. Due to the unrestrained demand for cash and pride the noble characteristics behind wealth were lost.
Emma Lazenby English Honors III Ms. Maggert 16 March 2018 Materialistic Happiness Richard Branson once said, “Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are.” Jay Gatsby strays away from this idea that maybe money and acquisitive items are not everything. The death of the American Dream is symbolized by Gatsby’s ultimate demise, and represented by Nick Carraway's change of views among the rich, and how capital led him to idealize Daisy Fae.
How does having money lead to material gain? In the Roaring Twenties, people from all social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. This awareness is a result of the jump on the Stock Market and the World War1. There were clear distinctions among social classes according to location, amount of material possessions and the way one acted. Fitzgerald explains these differences by giving the characters in his novel the Great Gatsby different social classes and he also shows these social divisions in the way the characters behave.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the life of Jay Gatsby in the 1920’s. The novel shares his love story and his loneliness. A major question the author raises is how does wealth impact class structure and society? Fitzgerald answers this question through the distinction between “New rich” and “Old rich” and the significance of East and West Egg.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic representation of the decadent excesses and moral decay of the 1920s. Although the period has long passed, Fitzgerald's critiques of the wealthy class still holds today. His judgments on the affluent elite's careless and corrupt behavior are valid in today's society, as shown by examples such as the actions of a teen in The Onion's "Wealthy Teen Nearly Experiences Consequence" and the recent scandal involving the Murdaugh family in the New York Times "A Family Tied to South Carolina's Lowcountry Is Torn Apart by Violence. " This essay will show how Fitzgerald's criticism of the affluent is still relevant today by analyzing these instances and comparing them to the people and situations in The Great Gatsby.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”
On top of this, it also shows how Tom knows this and provides her with what she wants to fulfill her desires and marry him. It is untraditional to be married to someone while not being in love with them or using them for your personal desire for wealth. This critique is further shown right before the wedding. Daisy is having second thoughts on the wedding as she thinks of who she is really in love with, Gatsby. Daisy takes off her pearls and says, “Take ‘em downstairs and give ‘em back to who they belong to.
An important theme in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the corruption of morals because of wealth. It doesn’t matter if one comes from old or new money, wealth will corrupt the morality of even the humblest. The first example of wealth corrupting morals is in the indifference to infidelity between the married Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. The next example of wealth corrupting morals is seen in Jordan Baker’s actions to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Third, Jim Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth lead to the corruption of his morals.
The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.
In the 1920’s, social classes were divided with a large gap. The poor wanted nothing to do with the rich, and the rich wanted even less to do with the poor. In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses the class structure in the 1920’s to redefine poverty. While the rich people in the novel are material rich, they are still “poor” socially and psychologically. Poverty is shown in a differently in this book than other books being written in this time era, and in doing this, it shows the rich what they are, and how they treat others from a different perspective.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby shows little, if any attention to political issues at the time. In the 1920s, also known as the “Jazz Age” the lifestyle is mostly driven by the wants and desire of individuals. Fitzgerald raises the lack of political concern at the time derived from the characters of the novel. The main political conflict is the fissure between the rich and the poor.
