Social Issues In The Great Gatsby

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was an era of dramatic social and political changes. Between 1920 and 1929, the nations wealth more than doubled, causing many Americans to fall into a “consumer society.” People bought a lot of the same goods, listened to the same music, and even dressed and danced the same. For some people though, this new culture brought more conflict then celebration. Although, for others, the 1920s were truly “roaring”, which is portrayed wonderfully in the movie The Great Gatsby. In the film, Nick Carraway, a bond-seller, is persuaded by his doctor to write a therapeutic account of what had put him in a sanitarium for depression. Nick journal describes how, seven years earlier, in 1922, he had moved to

From the luxurious parties and cheep liquor, to the Wall street booming and crazy stock market, quiet a few social issues came out of this era. The most developed theme through the movie would have to be that of social stratification- when a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. (source) To society, getting rich is easier than being accepted. It is quite evident in the film that some groups of people have greater status, power, and wealth than other groups, causing them to be higher in society. Leading to the creation of a nation that pitied ‘lesser

The film is good at giving small details to portray what the 1920s would be like, from the grand parties, tremendous wealth, fancy cars, communication etc. I do feel as though the film lacks the actually factual information. In my opinion, the film wouldn’t be the top choice if an individual was looking for a film that described the 1920s in itself alone. I personally think that the film is very popular for its love, more known as its fantasy of love story, than the actual era representation