What Is Gatsby Like In The 1920's

During the 1920's F. Scott Fitzgerald created one of his biggest masterpieces; The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby whispers bits and pieces of the social and cultural aspects of the roaring 20's. Though the novel is rather straightforward, F. Scott Fitzgerald also added in several twists that form a stir in the reader’s mind. The 1920's, also known as the Roaring Twenties, or the Boom, was a period of new social conventions in America after Word War 1. Fitzgerald composed the expression, “the Jazz Age,” in 1922 to recount the flamboyant era that emerged after the war. There was a sense of chaos in this period. Women wore shorter hair, shorter clothes and many took up smoking as a newfound habit. When the troops returned from the

However, this did not stop very many people. At Gatsby’s unrestrained parties, there were numerous accounts of intoxicated guess at Gatsby’s parties, which indicates that there must be illegal businesses taking place. Gatsby himself was affiliated with the illicit business; he was involved in bootlegging. Since alcohol was immensely popular in the twenties, selling it, under the table, made people excessively wealthy in a short period of time. Although it is not clarified by Gatsby himself, it is assumed that this is how Gatsby keeps his wealth. Tom remarks, “I found out what your 'drug stores' were…He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the

However, in the novel, Fitzgerald portrays it as "West Egg," "East Egg," and "The Valley of Ashes." West Egg inhabited the newly rich citizens, who either earned their wealth through hard work, or illegal means, such as Gatsby. On the flip side of West Egg was East Egg. East Egg inhabited the people who gained their money long ago through family or professions. These are the more sophisticated, narcissistic citizens, such as Tom and Daisy. The next class is the lower class with no money, they are located between East Egg and are located between East Egg and New York City, in the novel. During the 1920's social class was a big deal and it is even portrayed in the novel. The Great Gatsby reveals all classes through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who lives in a small house at West Egg. The mind blowing part about the class separation is that the upper class people had little to do with the lower class citizens. This was odd because a lot of the lower class people did most of the upper class peoples work, such as house cleaning and yard