Highly regarded as a classic, one of the greatest works of literature in American history is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel explores themes of American society and the coveted American dream through the life of Jay Gatsby, told through the perspective of his neighbor and friend, Nick Carraway, during the summer of 1922 in Long Island, New York. Furthermore, The Great Gatsby can be analyzed through the lens that Alexis de Tocqueville makes in Democracy in America. This view focuses on the observations that Tocqueville makes regarding the democratic system of the United States. Additionally, the insights of one of America’s most iconic figures: Abraham Lincoln allows for further insight into the many complexities of The Great Gatsby. His beliefs in equality, …show more content…
The Great Gatsby can be analyzed through its setting and a comparison of themes, which are supplemented by Democracy in America and the speeches and writings by Lincoln, are more deeply highlighted. The setting of The Great Gatsby further lays the foundation needed to understand the key ideas relating to the themes of the novel. The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920’s Jazz Age, surrounding different portrayals of wealth, extravagance, and luxury common in this age. After losing his previous relationship due to lack of wealth, Gatsby wishes to flaunt it in order to revive this relationship. The narrator, Nick, is not rich by any means, but is neighbors with Gatsby and cousins with Daisy Buchanan, coincidentally the woman who Gatsby loves and the wife of the arrogant and bigoted Tom Buchanan. The extreme wealth of Gatsby and the Buchanans majorly contributes to the sense of the “roaring twenties” lifestyle with lavish