The Great Gatsby And The Critique Of Modernism

During the Modernist movement, many writers were inspired to express their thoughts on events that occured at the time. Their thoughts were expressed in various forms; some being through novels, and others through “literary critiques”, as a way to portray their perspective on the movement. Modern texts include: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, J.D Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, and S. Irenaeus’ The Critique of Modernism. Though all these authors took different approaches in portraying their views, they all managed to shares common themes; one prevalent theme being the rejection of the past. Modernism, as a literary movement, sparked creativity in many writers throughout the nation. Some took it upon themselves to write pieces

Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, being one of them. The Great Gatsby also expresses the idea of rejecting the past through various forms of metaphors and excerpts. “Gatsby and I in turn leaned down and took the small, reluctant hand. Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don 't think he had ever really believed in its existence before.” (Fitzgerald 62). Gatsby had been ignorant of the fact that his love interest, Daisy, had in fact moved on after his departure, and went on to create a family of her own. He was essentially not accepting reality for what it was and living life in denial. Unfortunately, he continued to show signs of hopelessness throughout the novel; “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you."… after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house—just as if it were five years ago,” (Fitzgerald 59). His obsession with Daisy led him to believe that what she had with her husband was nothing and that her love for him never ceased, even after all the time had passed. “I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn 't believe it would come, and perhaps he no longer cared,” (Fitzgerald 84). In the end, it was Gatsby who suffered the consequences of having an unattainable dream and never accepting reality for what it was. He spent his life imagining his future with someone who didn’t do the same, and when

Writers such as, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and J.D Salinger, presented us with two exemplar novels that displayed the overall theme discussed: rejection of the past. Both The Great Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye have main characters that dealt with problems that stopped them from moving forward in life and be stuck in their self created notion of the past. However, U unlike the previous novels, The Critique of Modernism did not necessarily express the ideas of modernism through metaphors and symbolism, but in forms of written responses from “critics” on how they believe modernism is defined. Nevertheless, all three literary pieces express ideas of modernism linking with the rejection of the past and use examples in displaying