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The Theme Of Spirituality In The Great Gatsby

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It is evident that composers postulate how moral concerns of an individual and audience are shaped by a particular era. Similarities and differences of morals are highlighted through a comparative study, providing insight into concerns of an epoch. The Great Gatsby (TGG), published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, emphasises the materialistic nature and morals of the 1920 's, highlighted through an individual 's corrupt understanding of love and desire to achieve freedom. Contrastingly, Elizabeth Barret Browning 's (EBB), Sonnets from the Portuguese (SFTP), produced in 1850, explore the pure love and freedom a woman can experience due to a high level of spirituality. A comparative study explores the effects context has on a composer and, …show more content…

An individual’s appreciation of spirituality is dependant on the era in which they live, where TGG and SFTP give insight to the divergent morals as a product of religion, or lack of. The lost generation of New York City in the 1920 's highlights those individuals who lost direction and purpose in life due to the values present in the secular society. Comparatively, the Victorian era was a society structured around religion that shaped the morals and beliefs of the time. The 1920 's produced existentialists who worshipped material possessions and 'lived in the moment; ' the past and future merely illusions due to the secular society and the horrors of WW1. Fitzgerald, through the symbolism and connotations of travelling, explains that the Buchanan 's "drifted here and there unrest… wherever people… were rich together," emphasising how their materialistic nature lead to a lack of purpose and little spirituality. Such "careless people" like the Buchanan 's exemplify a search for meaning and purpose through diction, "smashed… things… up… and… retreated… into their money or their vast carelessness.” Their Christian values were discarded after WWI, similarly to Fitzgerald who abandoned the Catholic religion he practised as a child as his beliefs no longer aligned with the religion when he became an adult. In addition, the personification of "the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg" and his "persistent stare" and "frown" allude to a new consumeristic god of secular NYC in the 1920 's. ‘Immoral’ behaviour of individuals at this time, through participating in sinful behaviour such as illegal drinking, disappointed Eckleberg 's "blue and gigantic," eyes, connotations alluding to an ocean; transparent and fluid. TGG is a platform that presents a mirror to the audience and asks them to question their religious beliefs. They are compelled to examine their morality and compare it to individuals in 1920 's NYC who deserted their religious values and turned to an

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Nick noticed that, “Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life” (Fitzgerald 176). The Western lifestyle does everything it can to be more like the privileged, wealthy Eastern lifestyle, but the East does everything it can to be less like the nonprivileged poor Western Lifestyle. This desire for the poor to be like the rich combined with the desire for the rich to not be like the poor creates society’s unhealthy divisions of

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The Analytical Gatsby Fitzgerald has countless themes in his novel The Great Gatsby. One of these many themes is that even when no one is around to witness your actions there is always a moral force that knows what you have done, this moral force keeps the actions of the community under a strict moral code. This theme has been amplified by the use of a Motif, a giant billboard of T.J. Eckleburg which only shows two large eyes behind a large pair of glasses. This Motif helps you visualize how the community associates the moral force into their lives, also it shows that even when no one is watching God is.

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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.

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Jeaniene Frost once said, “People can perfect whatever facade they want, but everyone holds their sins close to their skin”. This quote relates to The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They both talk about the action of putting out to the world that you are someone else different than who you actually are, but your secrets always stay lurking in the background. The Great Gatsby is trying to show that putting out a facade of someone who you aren’t can have dire consequences. One character who puts up a facade is Jay Gatsby.

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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

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In “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald presents editorial on an assortment of topics, — equity, control, insatiability, treachery, the American dream. Of the considerable number of subjects, maybe none is more all around created than that of social stratification. The Great Gatsby is viewed as a splendid bit of social discourse, offering a clear look into American life in the 1920s. Fitzgerald deliberately sets up his novel into particular gatherings in any case, at last, each gathering has its own issues to battle with, leaving an effective indication of what a problematic place the world truly is. By making unmistakable social classes — old cash, new cash, and no cash — Fitzgerald sends solid messages about the elitism running all through each stratum of society.

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The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis “They were careless people…” says Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby. In a story depicting the 1920s during a time of prosperity, growth, and the emergence of the America as a major global power, this statement may seem to be contrary. But in reality, Nick Carraway’s description of his friends and the people he knew, was not only true, but is an indication of those who were striving for the American dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the American Dream is foolish, the people who pursue it are immoral and reckless, and this pursuit is futile. First, F. Scott Fitzgerald proposes that the American dream is foolish.

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