The Great Gatsby Research Paper

"The Great Gatsby" by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is one of the most well-known American Classics of the 20th century. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on Sept 24, 1896. He started writing at a young age and wrote short stories and for the school newspaper. In 1913, he enrolled in Princeton University where he continued to do a bit of writing for musicals. A few years after enrolling, he left Princeton and joined the military. He met his future wife, Zelda, while in the military in 1917 but she wouldn't marry him until he could support her financially. Fitzgerald wrote his first novel "This Side of Paradise" in 1920. The novel was a huge success and propelled him into a career of being one

He became an alcoholic and his wife went mad. Fitzgerald and his wife moved back to America in 1931 where he died of a heart attack in 1940. The 1920s was a very exciting and wild time for America. During this era America hit a new high economically. Money was pouring into the U.S which led to many Americans becoming very rich. Due to this sudden increase of wealth, America turned from the modest, simple, and conservative ways of the pre-world war 1 life and now followed a life where gaining wealth, fame, and living gaudy lifestyles became the new norm. Many things inspired and led to Fitzgerald writing "The Great Gatsby" and one of those things were simply the literary movement in which he was part of. The literary movement of the 20s was called Modernism. Modernism was a movement that lasted from 1910-1945 and changed everything from writing to poetry to art. Modernism was essentially, "…a literary and artistic movement that was centered around a deviation from every norm it could think of paired with radical experimentation." (American Literary

Gatsby's goal for the past five years has been to gain as much money as possible, not caring how he earned it, to get the attention of Daisy. To some people this may seem like an admirable trait because it shows his determination and persistence but this trait ruined his life. Since all Gatsby did was earn money and fixate on Daisy he didn't make any friends so when he lost Daisy he didn't have anything to live for anymore. If Gatsby hadn't died then he would have lived a very sad, lonely life. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Great Gatsby". There were many things that led me to become so interested in this book. One of the reasons I became so interested in this book was because of Fitzgerald's clear presentation the America in the 1920s. Fitzgerald portrayed the era so well that I felt as though I was in the story, living in the 20s along with Nick and Jay. Different people have different opinions as to what the overall message of this book is but I believe the message to be a warning. Whether Fitzgerald intended to or not, I think he gives a clear warning of being careful of where your desires lay. If you are overly worried about gaining fame or wealth then those things can very easily become your life and, just as easily, destroy your