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What Does Modern Society Mean In The Great Gatsby

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Modern Societies Society today is considered as modern. Everyday, new trends, new styles, new models, and new looks are presented to the world. However, that is not what being modern means. To be modern means to be ambitious and to work hard to live in a way that’s desired for oneself. It means to express one’s opinions with the intent of leaving the traditional ways of the past, to improve the society in which one lives in. To be modern also means to live in a society where technology is part of everyday life. These attributes are seen in many literary texts that represent this modern society, in one way or another. The perfect example of being ambitious to in a modern world, is in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was a man that worked very hard to achieve his goal of throwing lavish parties, in hopes of reeling …show more content…

But expressing one’s opinions with the intent of improving the society in which one lives in, is considered modern. Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Harrison Bergeron, writes about a society in which everyone is equal, and no one is allowed to show their individual beauty, by wearing handicaps. Two characters, however, dared to challenge authority. “‘Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen, she said in a grackle squawk, ‘has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous’ (Vonnegut).” Not soon after, a dancer dared to join him in beautiful rebellion. In the end, the boy and the dancer are shot. These two figures truly showed what it means to be modern, by expressing their opinion, and challenging and being challenged by higher powers. There aren’t a lot of people that will take a bullet for doing something that will bring about change, but modern is a time of change, and opinions are the only things that can bring about the change wanted for

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Social classes represent the hidden structure of America, as well as in several other countries in the world. If one is unsatisfied with the social class they are born into, however, is it possible for them to change it? The answer is yes, they can, as per evidence from real life situations and from The Great Gatsby. Some might say that it is impossible to change the social class one is born into. In their opinion, if that person is born poor, consequently they will certainly die poor.

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Modern versus tradition is the ideology of many, usually used to show the differences of past generations with the current generation. Modern can be characterized by or using the most up-to-date techniques, ideas, or equipment. Society, typically, associates modern with the use of technology and the internet. Yet, there are those among us who do not believe that the use of modern technology is resourceful. Those who are uncomfortable with the advances generally use the traditional way of interpreting and sharing information.

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the novel illustrates the patriarchal society of the 1920s and the oppression of women within it. The novel shows traditional gender roles being strictly enforced through the character of Daisy Buchanan and also presents contrast through Jordan Baker, a strong independent woman challenging the gender roles imposed upon her. This serves to highlight the societal restrictions and traditional expectations faced by women during this era and the emergence of a new generation of women who sought to break free from these constraints. Some critics renounce this, stating that the novel reinforces patriarchal societal norms rather than challenging them. This essay will argue that the novel presents a distinct

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955 Words | 4 Pages

“Harrison Bergeron” is a short fiction written by Kurt Vonnegut, the story is set in the year 2081, and it talks about a futuristic society where all people are equal. No one is smarter, beautiful or stronger than the other, and if someone happens to be better than the others they find themselves compelled by The United States Handicapper General to wear what they call “handicaps” in order to bring down their abilities to the most basic levels as the others. Throughout the story, Vonnegut expresses a strong and vigorous political and social criticism of some historical events in the US during 1960s such as the Cold War and Communism, television and American Culture and Civil Rights Movement. “Harrison Bergeron” was published in 1961 during that time several events were happening around the world in general and in the US in specific which was engaged in a series of political and economic crisis with the communist Soviet Union know as The

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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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Yack defines it as “focusing our attention on what it means to live with the consequences of distinctly modern ideas and practices” (Yack 1997:26). This definition of the modern age doesn’t have the clear starting point of the temporal definition, but it gives a sense of the importance of the types of ideas and practices that make the modern age important. These definitions of the modern age are also problematic, as was the term modernity. For while the modern age may be delineated as occurring after a specific date, not all things that happen after that date are substantively modern.

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Consistent non-traditional practices will cause your downfall. This ties in with the idea of Modernism in the 3 literature pieces: The Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Great Gatsby. In all these pieces, non–traditional practices cause fallout between several characters. The Modernist theme, the critique of traditional values in a culture, results in the downfall of the marriages between characters in The Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Great Gatsby. The theme, the critique of traditional values, is shown in different ways throughout The Death of a Salesman.

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710 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, reveals significant experiences of an individuals can have an impact to change their thoughts and purest traits. Gatsby significant experience of meeting Daisy, impacted him to chase materialism to reacquire Daisy by stepping foot into illegal means; changing his once pure traits and thoughts to improve himself have been distorted by chase of materialism. Gatsby had pure thoughts and traits. Gatsby was a farm boy, who had parents struggling. Gatsby had morals and goals.

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During the 1920s, America seemed to be a land of glamor and luxury. Underneath the beauty, however, was a vast underworld of crime: bootleggers and gangs ran rampant, controlling even members of the government. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, he tells a tale of that decade, which appears glamorous but is filled with corruption. The novel makes a naturalism argument about the impossibility of changing social class, revealing that only a facade of mobility can be achieved through debaucherous actions.

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Look Back In life we as humans all have different personalities. In Particular we have different opinions on what it means to be modern. Being modern was also known as being classy, known as as the upper class of rich and wealthy people. Also, how different being modern was back then and how we see being modern now.

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The impact of truth and morality by one’s social class How does one’s social class affect one’s honesty and morality? In the book, Fitzgerald makes commentary on various themes, such as the American dream and the passing of time and so on. Of the various themes being illustrate, none is more developed as the impact of social class on one’s moral identity. The book offers vivid peak into the everyday society in time period of the Jazz age. The idea of one’s morality due to one’s identity is being illustrated and explored in the book, as the author, Scott Fitzgerald suggests that honesty and morality are interconnected with one’s authority and social status.

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The contemporary world has been referred to by many names. The modern age is considered to be the age of information or the age of technology. Though these different names do not define the Zeitgeist of today’s world, they all point to main cultural functions that can be observed and seen. The spirit of the times of today’s world is the idea of selfish individualism, or ego. Machiavelli states that human nature is cruel and self-interested.

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The biggest question remaining after the reading of the book is what is Fitzgerald saying about American society? Is Fitzgerald insulting American society? Fitzgerald’s main ideas of American society in The Great Gatsby are about social class and status. The majority of his comments towards these subjects relates to the cars, houses, and money that people have. How does Fitzgerald throw Gatsby into the book?

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In the novel written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”, there is a theme of broken world/social breakdown, where everyone or thing in these categories is divided, this is shown in the division of the East and West “Egg”. Within marriages or within social groups there is a sense of a broken system. What we see in the first chapter is that the people of the east and west egg are in a different social status. The east egg is the division of the eggs that has more wealth whereas the west is the less “elite” of the two. Despite all his wealth, we see that nick lives in the west egg.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

1. Society and Class The Great Gatsby is offering a peek into American social life in the roaring 20s. The 1920s is a time of economic growth since the World War One had just ended. Fitzgerald presents a picture of America he observes around him.

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